Back again,
just had to put a couple of pix into photbucket.....
this is probably how this is going to run, type a bit - add some pix and type some more - in chapters.
I'll take a break ( 1 minute to 1 week) as I need it.
Chapter 2
Classic 5 spoke wheels.
The original wheel is no longer available - it hasn't been in production for some time - but as it was shown to me, just about anyone here will be very hard pressed to pick the difference in what has replaced it....
The replacement wheel is called the "revised"..... I'm going to divulge just how you will spot the difference - the revised has a very slightly narrower "coned" spoke - but you'll have to get up early to pick it..... it is very, very minimal - the Dragway people can pick them instantly ...... it took me a few seconds to spot it.....
The "revised" wheel looks like this....
What I want you to look closely at is the spokes and their placement in the wheel - particularly where they are fixed (yes - these are two piece wheels - the centre is alloy - the rim is chromed steel).
In the revised wheel, you will notice that the coned spokes angle out from the centre hub - this is a distance of 5/8" (important in the coming chapters).
This wheel is currently available and retails for $429 each including nuts and domes - for 13 x 6 or 7 and 14 x 6...... yes, very expensive - but you'll learn a bit more about this as my tale goes on.....
These are the wheels I would dearly have loved to have put on my old bus...... but can't - not even with knocking out the inner guards and lip of the rear fenders........
Before we get into a cat-fight....... I can only tell you what I have found with my car - the wheels currently available and the altered running gear I am using......
I make absolutely no comment on who, what or how others have managed to achieve running these wheels ........ OK?
I have been working with someone else on this forum for a little while - and we are currently in two minds as to the direction each will take.....
Back to the wheels....
All steel rims for classic wheels have a 2" outer rim - from where the spoke is mounted to the outer edge (where the tyre and weights are fitted) - some have probably jumped ahead and know exactly why am taking the time to explain the importance of these spokes......
There is a relatively recent addition to the 5 spoke wheel..... and is known as the "new" (funny that) edition classic 5 spoke and looks like this..
from the side on view, you will notice that the spoke is narrower...
The next pic depicts the position of this narrower spoke and also clearly shows that they run vertically - not set outwards (angled towards the rim)
This is the BIG difference in fitting these to our models......
Many modern vehicles have been designed to have wheels fitted where they are mounted onto hubs almost at the outer end of the suspension - our poor old things were not..... if you look at your steel wheel - you will note there is a recess where the wheel actually "steps back" behind the hub...
It is probably for this reason Dragway have created this wheel ... I am only assuming here - but you willl agree there are fewer and fewer of our older type vehicles in the market place.....
By creating this wheel, it affords us an extra 5/8" clearance from the outer rim to the closest part of the outboard body..... at the rear, it is the lip of the guard .... closely followed by the inner guard which tapers narrower as you move up into the arch......
Now - the acid........
After my first visit to Kinglake - I came away pretty confident I could still get the revised wheel to fit..... I was told that I would have to "roll" the lips of the rear guards but would still have problems.....
The measurements I was given were 4 1/8" for the "revised" and 3 1/2" for the "new"....
These figures are calculated by running a straight edge along vertically along the wheel mounting face of the brake drum or disc hub......
I fitted a 24" ruler to two studs of the rear wheel mount with the car sitting at ride height.
From that vertical straight edge, I ran a 6" ruler at right angles to the inner guard and rolled over lip......
pix - to save you another 1K words......
My desired 4 1/4" soon got "totalled"..... bearing in mind - this is for wheel touching and does NOT inlcude tyre...... read on......
What became obvious, was that I barely had 3 1/2" and this was the absolute "interference" fit for the "new" wheel - it does not afford any "bulge" extension for the tyre - nor spring lateral movement......
There are, however, a couple of considerations.......
The wheel is actually mounted 3/16" recessed into the brake drum - you MUST understand that this is for an HR rear brake drum - I cannot recall how the FB/EK drum is cast - I feel it is a flat face and your measurements will result in what the HR does allowing for this recess.....
This now gives us a (wheel mount face) clearance from the body of 3 11/16" ...... just 3/16" to spare - not including tyre ....
The HR disc brake hubs on the front do not present any issue - except the clearance of the wheel over the caliper - many people have in fact gone to LH/X Torana calipers - they have one piston which is mounted inboard and affords quite a bit more room for the mount face of the hub to pass over....... read on - we'll get to the front in a later chapter......
The rear.... revisited....
Over the next few days, I spent many hours on my back under the car - with rulers, straight edges, levels, jacks and stands - lifting this, stretching that and for the life of my lack of intelligence - I could not conceivable find any way that either of these wheels were going to fit.....
Posts on the forum in the meantime were offering some comforting hope...... I must be the biggest dummy out - it is well beyond my intelligence on how you can fit a wheel and tyre (absolute stretch and almost vertical walled) requiring 3 5/8" into a clearance of 3 11/16" decreasing as it goes upwards.........
The next week I made the trek back to Kinglake and took many pix and measurements with me - resulting in confirmation that these would not fit the rear unless the body is altered to accommodate them........
I drove the poor chap mad....... questions, questions, questions... I could see that he needed to get back into the factory - he was absolutely daubed in alloy dust and "buff"....... but I must state - very hospitable and open to all suggestions......
Understanding my passion for these wheels - he offered me an option which I do not believe would have arisen if not for my persistence ....
It seemed they were going to do a run of 14 x 6 rims for our stud pattern the following week..... his offer... if you are extremely carefull - come and pick one of these up and take it home to trial fit it..... I jumped.......
This is the end of today's chapter folk....... stay tuned - there's heaps to come......
frats,
Rosco
your detail is hugely appreciated.
so the brain works enough to absorb all the info, 
