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@Erik A Hopperton

My .02.  While I think the car looks "most" correct with the wide 5- 10 slot 'mangles' wheels, If you are ordering (checking boxes on spec sheet) I would likely order it with the p-car's 5x130 bolt pattern hubs - if you have the option...  mount the late 356 or early 911 10-slot 5.5 wide wheels and roll for most 'correct' look or choose any P-car optional wheels..  Doing this means more wheel and tire choices available now and in the future ...

this advice & $5 will get a large coffee at your local coffee joint.  (ok, this advice is really worthless for coffee..but will help you 'future proof' your speedy)

FWIW, I'm working on this choice myself..  except I already have the 4x130 pattern front discs.. but no wheels.  so do I buy wheels for now then have to buy new hubs, drums & wheels later? or start the conversion before even getting car on the road?  Decisions, decisions..

I got a beam from South America.. has the adjusters already in.  But yes what @Stan Galat says about the adjusters.

I like the drop spindles.. as it keeps suspension geometry more correct with stock stuff.. There are also spacers that go behind the lower tube of the beam to improve trail.  meaning better feel and reduce the feeling of the car wanting to follow ruts and grooves in pavement.  I'm still  building so I don't have either of these.  My plan is to build with what I have, then while the body is off being painted, correct the suspension, brakes & wheels with what I want.

It all depends on how low you want the front of the car.. and what you feel driving it.

Sorry for misleading you - I thought they were polished spokes but I've never seen the car in person.   My bad....

Looking at the "hundreds" of photos on the BaT auction, it looks like stock 911 Fuchs so that would probably be 6" wide front and 7" rear.  The rears might be 8" but it's hard to see if the spacing is that deep in the photos.

Still, that's a lot more meat on the ground than a stock Spyder and with that 6-cylinder engine, it would need all of that.

Last edited by Gordon Nichols
@Wrenn Smith posted:
I like the drop spindles.. as it keeps suspension geometry more correct with stock stuff.. There are also spacers that go behind the lower tube of the beam to improve trail.

One of the advantages of drop spindles is that disc brakes are offered that don’t need the caliper adapter which is an extra 2-3 per front corner. But I have n9 idea how that relates to fit and figment on a Speedster.

Last edited by dlearl476
@imperial posted:

I like the 5x130 small Porsche pattern but what replica rims are available 5-6 inch wide except replica Fuchs ?
There are tons of rims for the 4x130mm pattern

A lot of Speedster and Spyder owners pick either 5x205 or 5x130 mm bolt patterns because most 4x130 wheels don't really "suit" these cars.  I will be honest and admit that it is my opinion as well, but if you want to run a 4x130 mm wheel (as Stan says) it's a big tent, with room for all.

@Erik A Hopperton wrote: "I plan to have the car done for my kids prom next May..  🥵

Many of the "old timers" on here have heard this story before ( like from ME! )  But it is a cautionary tale for setting your expectations.

My car, started in 1993, was supposed to be ready for my son's High School Junior Prom in 1995, then got pushed to his Senior Prom, then pushed to his HS Graduation, Yadda-Yadda.

To avoid this becoming an epistle, I finally finished it after his college graduation in 2000, but he didn't really use it until he got married, a few years later.

Chris Wedding 1

And then it broke a rocker arm shaft the day of the wedding, but right after the last of the photos were wrapped up.....   🙄   Many thanks to AAA for the tow!

Still.....   it was a really nice wedding.

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  • Chris Wedding 1

Man you guys really know how to throw out some options....  I love it but it keeps making me rethink what I wanted.  😅🤣...I plan to have the car done for my kids prom next May..  🥵

I thought for sure someone was going to throw out the apocryphal word .  40 hours or some other comments in jest ….  but hey make a plan and execute it you might just make it Alan does it all time …good luck truly it is possible.

@Erik A Hopperton wrote: "I plan to have the car done for my kids prom next May..  🥵

Many of the "old timers" on here have heard this story before ( like from ME! )  But it is a cautionary tale for setting your expectations.

My car, started in 1993, was supposed to be ready for my son's High School Junior Prom in 1995, then got pushed to his Senior Prom, then pushed to his HS Graduation, Yadda-Yadda.

To avoid this becoming an epistle, I finally finished it after his college graduation in 2000, but he didn't really use it until he got married, a few years later.



And then it broke a rocker arm shaft the day of the wedding, but right after the last of the photos were wrapped up.....   🙄   Many thanks to AAA for the tow!

Still.....   it was a really nice wedding.

I understand the skepticism, fully.  But my wife said if you are not going to do and finish it in time then just go buy one; so in order to not eat crow I will be doing my best.  I figure I need the car built and tested by this time next year so I can have it pulled apart and painted then back together.  It is a lofty goal with only me standing in the way.  And Walleye season.  going to start my built thread now.  stay tuned.

Eat Crow ??  Where did that come from ?  My father was an avid hunter/fisherman. He always told us that if we kill something we must eat it.  My Brother and I shot some Crows with our new Remington pump 410.  Feeling guilty, we cleaned them and gave them to our Mother who cooked them for supper.  We never told her, or our Father, what they were.  Our mother thought they were kind of small for Pheasants so we told her they were juveniles and she bought it.  Everyone at the table, including my Grandfather, ate Crow that evening.  Many years later we confessed.  My father said he knew what they were because it wasn't the first time for him. He had done it to his Father as well and decided it was now his turn to "Eat Crow"...........Bruce

“Gas burners”  are 5x130  and 5.5 inches wide , they are also magnesium.

914  are 4x130mm and the same as 4 bolt VW bug pattern ,  So look at 914 pics for some wheel ideas , 914 originally had Petrinis which are like 4 bolt gas burners, 4 bolt Mahle aluminum gas burners , and 4 lug Fuchs 4 spoke 2 liter alloys,

Then you have Centerlines , Riviera , Empi 8 spokes and so many more ,

these were all made to fit under the wheel wells so  should fit  a Speedster.

As always , your mileage may very…..

With typical steel VW wheels, when you go from 4.5" to 5.5" the additional inch is on the outside of the hub.  For my IRS CMC, I needed 5.5" wheels with the inch on the inside to clear the wheel opening - the relationship of the edge of the opening to the wheel needs to be the same as for a 4.5" wheel.  I got such special wheels from the Beck folks many years ago.

To fit the back of my car I need 5.5" wheels with about a 5" backspace. Unfortunately, the 4-lug gas burners and the Pedrini wheels have less than that as do the nice aluminum wheels from VMC.

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