Space saver spare

I recall a thread about mounting a spare tire (4 1/2") in the trunk, BUT: what about one of those little space saver spares? Isn't there some Chevrolets out there with a similar bolt pattern as the '68+ VW Beetle?

I haven't heard of one. Were the Mexican beetles using full sized spares?
Ron

I bought a T125 70D 15 spare saver from a Chrysler Stratus at a junkyard and mounted it on a 4-1/2" by 15" VW wheel. It fit perfectly; I've also seen them mounted to 5-1/2" wide rims without problems.

Joe: I have 16" Fuchs rims and wanted a 16" spare, so I have a T125-80-D16 mounted on what looks like a 4 1/2 inch rim. It's only a regular tire, just smaller than usual and mounted on a small rim compared to those wide, American-car rims.

As Ricardo suggested, if you have a 4 1/2 or 5 1/2 inch VW rim, go to a local junk yard and see if you can get a T125X15" space saver spare and have a tire place re-mount it on your VW rim. Should work like a charm.

Ricardo - get your car yet?

gn

Hi Gordon; I haven't checked with the shipper yet. Ships leave from Jacksonville to here on Fridays; I don't know if my car made it last Friday or if it's going to be shipped next Friday. I'll check with them and will get back to you..it seems that the title problem can be fixed; Cathy over at Vintage Speedsters called me up today and told me that they'll be able to get a duplicate at the California DMV but it's going to cost an extra $150.00 fee which I'm sure the USPS will pick up (the title was shipped insured).

Gordon has the most unique "Rubbermade" spare set up I've seen yet !
...I have a feeling that there was some female input somewhere!

Alan

Nope....honest-to-God, I was just walking through WallMart and saw this thing just sitting there. It is a Rubbermaid, 16 inch, "Tag-Along" condiment tray, and is made for taking chips and salsa to a picnic.

It has a round central tub for the salsa with a separate lid, three molded bins for chips (or spare parts in my case) and then a large lid that goes over everything. It's also water-tight (as I found out yesterday).

The whole thing fits into the well of a 16" space saver spare like it was made for it, and all you have to do is drill or punch a hole through it so the spare hold-down peg fits up through and then use the spare's trim cover hold-down spinner to secure it.

I'll post some pictures of that and my rear-end cowl cover matt sometime tomorrow, but if you look closely at the Carlisle pictures you can see it under the hood (white disk inside the spare wheel).

Gordon

Hey Gordon; I checked with DAS and the car sailed out of Jacksonville today; should be here in a week or less....

Gordon; the car is here; it turned out that the barge got here today; I was misinformed; it sailed from Jacksonville last Wednesday. It's beautiful but sustained minor shipping damage that will be covered by the insurance I paid for. Part of the driver's side door moulding is missing and the paint got scratched off at the edge of this door. There's also water inside the tailight and license plate lenses and there's some rust in the chrome tailight housings; I suspect it's seen its share of rain. All in all, the car is a beaut; it needs some minor carb synchronizing but that will be taken care of soon enough. I'm still waiting for the local customs people here to appraise it for the excise tax so that I can pay that up and take it to its new home.....

WOW! Getting closer to the driveway all the time.

I think you're right about the rain, though, even though those tail light gaskets don't always seal well.....That's a shame about the trim and scratches, too, and I hope you have someone there who can do a good job of making it look new.

Pretty soon your wife will get to ride in it and see what we all get excited over! Just don't scare her the first few times you take her out in it or she'll never want another ride!! A nice ride over to Ponce via the autopista for dinner sounds perfect.........

Where,in Puerto Rico, do you live?

gn

Hey Gordon, you know this place pretty well, huh? Sounds like you've been here! Would you believe that Kirk Duncan lived here in the mid '60's when he came out of the service? He used to live at Ramey Base over in Aguadilla (Northwest part of the island) and he surfed at Crash Boat Beach. When I put the order for the car he told me I was the first one here to order one. He made me promise to take some pictures of the car here in some nice sites so that he can post them at VS's website; I'll be doing that as soon as I polish and touch her up. For the most part it is alright; I'll be able to fix it well; I'll just buy the missing moulding from Kirk and also there's a couple of really high end body shops here that do the work for Porsche, BMW, Mercedes Benz and Ferrari dealerships. I'm pretty sure they'll be able to tackle the job; as usual you get what you pay for but in this case I'll let the insurance pay for it. I'll be picking it up tomorrow, God willing, and I need some elbow grease to get to those small details and make it perfect....I can't wait.

By the way, if you're ever in this neck of the woods let me know so that we can get together; I'm in San Juan.

You're going to get more attention in San Juan driving around than you can imagine. What a great setting for your speedster. We've been to PR several times and have really enjoyed it. My daughter got married there in Jan 02. (Cruise ship)
ed

Yup, been there a few times. I used to go to Mayaguez to the Engineering School to recruit new grads for Data General Corporation, many years ago. The school is awesome, and the students coming out of there are just simply amazing talents. Used to stay at a Parador over near Aguadilla, but I can't recall the name - used to be a coffee plantation or something many years ago - not far from Playa de los Tres Hermanos.

Only been to San Juan to the airport, but have wandered around Old San Juan, over to El Moro and the school of Architecture, visited the Butterfly People's Cafe, all that stuff.

Like Ed said, you'll be getting more attention in that car than anything there - even those high-buck Porsche's cruising San Juan!

Gordon

Hey that's neat guys! I went to Architecture school in the states and here at the UPR. As a side note they're inaugurating a new architecture school building this semester. My invitation goes to all forum members; if, by any chance you're around these parts, let me know and I'll arrange to meet you and have a few brewskies....

We spent some time in old SJ. Went to El Morro and then down to the cemetary next to it. When we left we drove up the hill unknowingly thru the squatter town. Not a good place for gringos in a rental car. We have some friends who are from PR and have really enjoyed it. Take a pix down in front of the fountain just outside the fort walls down by the water. That would be calendar material!
ed

Yeah, and another good picture for the calendar would be in front of the Post Office in Ponce......

Well guys; as soon as I pick up my car up (I've had a terrible time with the local IRS people here so I haven't been able to bring it home; they want to charge me over 25% of the purchase price of my VS in excise taxes and I'm appealing the decision on Tuesday after Memorial Day weekend) I'll oblige, I'll take pictures of the car in all of those places and I'll post them here and send them to Kirk also.

With regards to the squatter town (La Perla as it is called); it's not a safe place for stateside people or for locals just the same. I for one have never been in there. It's a shame that they've got the best seaside view of the Atlantic in town....You guys have a great holiday weekend!