Porsche Fuchs wheels on Speedster

I just picked up my next speedster car..

The Silver one with black top on the Samba.com in Missouri - i am driving down to pick it up on Friday. ( pending wife approval )

Anyways - i want to rock polished fuch wheels.

The pan is 69 with adjustable front end -

He converted it to wide 5 lug pattern already.. I want some fuchs wheels not sure which size / offset will work on my car..

Any experience? Anyone got any for sale.

Here is car..

If by wide 5 you mean 5 x 205 mm you're out of luck. There are a few wide 5 Fuchs replicas out there, but all real and new replica Fuchs are 5 x 130 mm.

Ron is right, sorry. You'll have to convert the drums/rotors which is not always as simple as task as stated (ask me how I know). Personally, I think there really is no other wheel than a wide five for a speedster. I couldn't take looking at my 4 lug 8 slot VW wheels anymore so I converted to wide fives.
All that said, there may be someone who makes a "Fuchs looking" wheel that has the wide five bolt pattern, but if you want real fuchs you better be ready to start peelin em off, the dollars I mean. Finding 5x15 fuchs aint easy and I know it sure aint cheap.
Nice car though. I suggest thinkin about keeping those sweet wide fives :)

Wide Fives rule.
I'm jus' sayin' ...

This can be done.

Replace all wheel hubs/drums with new ones drilled for a 5 X 130mm (Porsche) pattern.

You can fit stock, 6" Fuch wheels inside a normal-sided body, as far as I've heard, but you can't run a tire bigger than a 185 and for that you'll probably need a slight inward dish to insure that the tires don't rub the fenders.

Others on here are running them....hopefully someone else will chime in.

BTW: Have you priced real, polished Fuchs 5-spokes??? BIG bucks!

gn

You say he has converted it to 5 lug. Does the car have disc brakes with wide 5 lug pattern? I have 4 real Fuchs 6X15 in good condition with caps that I might sell.

I have a set of Polished 14x5.5 Fuchs used on 68 to 72 911 T's and 76 912E and 914-6's. They need a little elbow grease but they would work fine on a Speedster. You get the look with out the big bucks of the 15x6 Fuchs.

Make me a solid offer.

http://www.356registry.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21089

Fuchs?

From pictures it doesn't look like its sporting wide 5 wheels - maybe the standard Porsche 5 bolt wheels. 911 Fuchs are costly but fortunately there are different widths, diameters, and offsets available. Some of the repros look pretty authentic too for fare less $$$.

My VS came with the wide 5 and I changed to 15x6 FUCHS.

It wasn't easy or cheap!! Here is what it took....

I got 4 fully restored FUCHS from Jorge at the Sierra Madre Collection.

I bought 2 rotors and 2 drums in the 5 X 130 Porsche pattern with studs. The rotors required different spindles and calipers to be able to put caps on. They do have cap extensions, but they don't look right.

The 15x6 FUCHS are known as deep sixes so they made my car look stupid, wheels way narrower than the body. I needed spacers to bring the wheels out, but the studs were too short. I thought longer studs would solve the problem, but longer ones have different splines. So I had to get a new set of rotors and drums with long studs. The rule is the alloy lug nuts must have at least five full threads on the studs. The 14mm spacers were too thick, the machine shop cut them down to 11mm.

Now they look great with 165 tires, I dont know if 185s's would fit on the rear. When its time for tires I may buy 1 185 and try it front and back. Its its too wide the machine shop will need to shave a mm or two off the spacers.

Thank you Bill. I know from personal experience, and so do you, that trying to do something like this IS NOT easy, or cheap. You have alot of math involved not to mention luck.
Yeah, you can try redrilled rotors and drums, then go buy some Fuchs only to find the offset doesn't work for your car cuz you have swing axle/IRS, spindles, brake calipers, dust shields, the list goes on and on and on and on. Believe me, it will be expensive and it will not be easy. The best thing to do is take as long as it takes to get as much info as you can (wheel offsets +/-, size wheel, tires, etc...) and figure out IF you can do this first. Then start saving.
Keep the wide fives or find another wheel that appeals to you that has the same bolt pattern.

I could have bought a Bug with 15 X 5.5s' FUCHS with a big motor for less.....

Guys,

Fuch's come in many different sizes and offsets. The common "Deep" and "Flat" 15x6 are the same offset. The 15x5.5 and 14x5.5 are different and do not have as much backspace. I have a chart that lists most of the possibilities I will post tomorrow. Proper planning can slove a bunch of problems.

VW hotrodders have been running Fuch's on VW's for a very long time. They like the 15x4.5's the best on the front but are now about $1,000 each because restorers of early 911's want them. As I recall the backspace on the 14x5.5 is just about the same as the 15x4.5's and less than the 15x6's making them work on the front end much better. You also get a shorter tire overall to help "slam" the car.

All correct Dave, that said, we're talking about an already built Fiberfab. It's likely on a VW pan and depending on the type of rear, the brakes, etc.... it can be a daunting task to change bolt patterns and get wheels to fit.
At the cost of original Fuchs (likely have to have them refinished) is only a part of the cost. And Fuchs were made for Porsches, not VW's. Meaning he'd be better off not even bothering with originals and looking for wheels that are made to look like a Fuchs wheel but made for a VW.

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=ACC%2DC10%2D6624

I mounted Polished Porsche Alloys on my Speedster. I ended up redrilling my Rear Drums and pressing in new Studs to the Porsche Bolt Pattern 5 x 130 and Re drilling and Studding my front Rotors to Porsche Pattern 5 x 130.

Kawika


click on this

If I had a wide five bolt pattern I'd buy wheels that bolt right on. A number of VW vendors have a good selection of wide five wheels. Another option is to look for a set of wide five Fuchs replicas. Not many were sold, but they do come up on Samba every now and then.

Mickey,

Cory wants Fuch's on his car. You are correct that they can be expensive. Cory has a 69 ball joint pan which means he should have IRS as well. There are PLENTY of cheap ways to put 5x130mm wheels on his car.

Cory,

The polished 14x5.5 Fuchs I have have a 46mm offset and 108mm back size.

Inside Center Hub Outside

|----------------|------|---------|
|offset|
46mm
|-------backsize--------|-outsize-|
108mm 32mm
|--------------------5.5 inches---|

Using the above chart as a reference and using the hub as a fixed point the 15x6 "Deep" or "Flat" Fuchs has a 36mm offset and 112mm backsize which means they have 6mm more clearence to the inside of the rim but extend outward 8.5mm from the same hub mounting point.

I have a complete list of the Fuchs offset and backsize availiable if anybody wants information.

Ok, Ok, I get it! Fuchs can be put on a VW chassis! ;)

I don't recall ALL the agony I went through switching to wide fives (the pain was too much to endure so I've supressed it), but I do recall having to buy and install narrowed trailing arms because there wasn't enough wheel well clearance with 5.5's. Once I got the arms on there was too much negative offset and the inside of the tire was touching the arm. Take into affect the builder was off a half inch on one side (which is a mile when you're dealing with this stuff) and it was back to 4.5's with 1/4" spacers. Maybe it was just me and my stupidity and or my car, I had a hell of a time and was limited to wheel and tire sizes. Section width on a tire can be a factor that one may not take into account. Maybe the fuchs are better suited for the VW chassis and spindle and caliper issues won't exist.

As for Cory, his car would look awesome with Fuchs! I think he should sand that bad boy down and rattle can it silver and get rid of that primer (or better yet do a roller job with some enamel, lots of sanding and buffing but it can be done) and slap some Fuchs on there! It would look perfect on his car. The "compliant" speedster look better with wide fives in my opinion. Thats not to say I haven't seen speedsters with Fuchs that don't look fantastic, but there is still something "out of place". All depends on what the owner wants really. As it's been said many times in the past.......It's YOUR car, do what you want and screw what others think.

Thanks for reply. Silly me I thought wide 5 was 5x130

So I think I might change plans and get something that bolts on..

I like the brm rims posted above. I have bought my fuchsia from macro wheels in florida.. I'm glad I posted and everyone replies cuz I was about to drop $1500 on a set.

I'm picking up car Friday.

Are there any speedster owner preferred wheel vendors?

Will those replicas 6.5 work in the rear? What size tires? I might go with those.

Cory, "the other" Cory here again ... I forgot to say "Welcome back!"

I'm very, very happy with the CenterLine Wide-5s I have. I haven't had a single issue with them, other than the initial search.
If I had it to do over again, I might have gone with a bolt pattern which would have allowed for the Fuchs, but those are the only wheels in the 103mm pattern that I really like.
You may have luck with a Chevy pattern, if you're going to go to all the trouble of having the rotors or drums drilled for new lugs, but ther are all kinds of wheels out there.
On the 356 Registry, there's an entire thread on aftermarket wheels. It's kind of a virtual test-drive of what your car might look like.
If you like the Fuchs look, maybe getting some old gas-burners powdercoated isn't too much of a stretch?

Mickey,

No worries.....;-) IRS suspension is way easier to work with.

Corey,

Wide 5 is 5x205 the same as VW and early 356 Porsche but I'm sure you already figured that out. Porsche 5x130 started in mid 63 when Porsche made the disc brakes for the 356.

I'm using IRS as well on my build. Henry uses a cool bracket to help with the clearance in the lower shock bolt. Oh yeah it also is needed to clear the drive axles as well.

BTW those are 15x7's on the rear running 205/50/15 Yokohama S.drives. they are the 911R Fuch's spec at 49mm offset and 138mm backsize....;-)

Have fun!

^
bad ass!

Now that thar's a sexy bottom.

And if I reverse the suspension arm bolt on my IM Dave's wheels fit :-)
Dave, damn that engine looks sweet!

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh


:)

I kinda like these


http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=984605

Cory,

Your a man after my own heart......I love that look as well. Now a set of those in a 5x130 pattern and you have a winner. More expensive than 15x6 Fuchs.

Ron,

I paid Robert for the tour and BBQ today. I'm looking forward to meeting you in a couple of weeks.

Guys,

It's all about the pipes........over 2K in that exhaust. But because it is stainless steel it only hurts once......;-)

Here's some nice wide fives from JGE (England)http://www.javaglobalenterprises.com/wheels.htm
I really like the GeeBee Gas Burners. From what I've read, JGE makes a quality wheel.

May be worth some investigation...? (always thought these LOOKED good)...
http://www.minilitewheels.us/

Add to last post (various wheel types):
http://356registry.com/techinfo/repair/wheels.html

Scott,

Great info. I love Minilights and that was my first choice for my car until I saw the Blivins alloy copies of the original 356 disc brake steel wheels. Alex would have made them in 6 and 7 inch withs to my specifications but at a cost of about $4,000. The wheels on my car I had made by Image Wheels using the "Billet 46" as a starting point. I had a custom CNC program ($200 GBP) written to replicate the 356/911 steel wheels openings. Delivered to the US with import fees paid was about $2,200 for the set. I got the basic look I was after at half of Blivens cost.

Harry at Image Wheels is a great guy to work with.

http://www.imagewheels.co.uk/large_wheel_pages/b46_classic.html

I like so many others out there are "shoe whores" but not for my feet. That is why I have a set of 14" Fuch's being widened......."options" a guy has to have options.


Hmmmm.....16" Minilights.......good option!

LOL

Here's another Minilite style wheel that comes in a 5x130mm pattern http://www.vtoperformance.com/
For me, light weight is very important, so I think Dave is on to something going going 14" Fuchs. I couldn't find a weight for the 14x5.5s, but the 15x5.5s are 11 pounds so the 14s are probably in the 10 pound range.

The 14" wheels were used on the 911E and the 914-6. If I recall, they were used on the 911 because they could use a tire with a taller side wall height. More comfortable, not quite as good of handling with the higher side wall. Porsche didn't do it to reduce the unsprung weight.

With my drop spindles my ball joints clear my 15" wheels by less than 1/4 inch. It's so close my wheel weights were rubbing. Another reason to go back to stock height spindles.

If you think 15" fuchs are expensive, you definately don't want a set of gasburners...

Real porsche Mahle Gasburners are $$$$. Probably the only thing close cost wise are a set of deep sixes with hearts. Many people will actually pay more for the gasburners. They are incredibly light wheels.

Also, one thing to be wary of - replica fuchs. There are some new repops that are very good quality. Excellent castings, well tested and pretty darn light. Alot of the older fake fuchs are dodgy and most of them are extremely heavy. We've got a set of fake fuchs at the shop on a 912. I am absolutely stunned as to how heavy they are compared to the same size real fuchs.

angela

Forgot I had this bookmarked...
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=191548

I have a set of Fuchs repos (bought them five or six years ago) that were made in the US. When I recently swapped tires I was surprised at their light weight (didn't weigh them).
Steve, the Gas Burners I'm interested in are repos (but a better quality than the GBs sold at Cip1). I recently came across a set of five originals on Samba, but the price of $3500 was too rich for my blood.
I like the Gas Burner and Minilite style wheel. Very few speedsters have them, and I think they would look great on a Speedy.

Sorry, not trying to conflict you with more choices, but here's a site that has a wide variety of nice wheels. Really for visual reference. Enjoy...
http://www.wheelenhancement.com/index.php?t=Wheels