13" Steel Wheels?

[MiniDave]

Mini never  offered anything like this, did they?

I can find some plain 13" X 4" steel Sprite wheels (although those are rare too except for Rostyle) but I don't know about the offset. I can try one on my cars to see about the clearance, Clarance.

I'm sure I've seen guys run steelies on their cars in England or Japan, I wonder if there's some other car that used the same stud pattern......I know the Fiat 124 had a 13 X 6 wheel but I'm sure the offset would be all wrong and they would stick way out.

Any ideas?

[94touring]

Curious what/who's car this is for?  I don't recall ever seeing them in 13's. 

[MiniDave]

I've also never seen 13" steelies on Minis, except on England and Japan cars online, and I'm pretty sure those were custom built. Boston Bill wants them......but he does not want to modify the fenders.

Clancy will bring one of the Sprite wheels over so we can try them on the Inno and my 89 just to see how they would fit compared to stock Mini wheels.

I'm pretty sure it won't work without modifying the fenders and he doesn't want to do that, so I'm thinking 10's will be the way to go.

Even if they do fit, 4" width may be a problem for tires. The 175/50-13's need a 6" wheel...Don found some 13" for his stock Sprite 4.5" wheels at Wal Mart, but I think those are probably 80 series, which will be too tall.

[BruceK]

Not that it’s going to be easy to find, but an exact match of the lug pattern for Minis are old Chevy Vega wheels.  And the same for the GM cars from the 80s such as the Monza, Sunbird etc.   I remember going to a MiniMeet in Atlanta circa 1990 and seeing several cars with the Vega GT wheels on them which sort of look like 13” Revolutions. 

Edit: A quick search on the interwebs and here are some examples of a steel Vega wheel and some Vega GT wheels. It also looks like wheels for these cars are being reproduced, so there should be some examples of plain looking steel wheels on this size available.

[MiniDave]

But isn't the offset all wrong?

Tire Rack does have a listing for a 155/80-13 tire, and a 165/70-13.

[BruceK]

But isn't the offset all wrong?

Tire Rack does have a listing for a 155/80-13 tire, and a 165/70-13.

I don’t know about the offset, but I know they fit on a Mini and looked great. If they are off they can’t be very far off. Considering the very wide variety of wheels in 10 inch, 12 inch, 13 inch that are always being fitted to Minis, I think these GM wheels are okay.

[94touring]

There are 12's out there.  You could have force racing make a set, but that's pricey obviously.  Is he wanting these on the truck or his sedan?

[MPlayle]

The key is going to be the final "rolling diameter" of the tire mounted and whether it rubs on the rear swing arm mounts.

Measure the distance from the center of a rear hub to the outer swing arm mount.  That is your limiting number.

155/80/13 tires generally have a rolling diameter of 22.76"
165/70/13 tires generally have a rolling diameter of 22.09"

For comparison:
The 175/50/13 has a 19.89" diameter.
The 145/70/12 has a 19.99" diameter.

[BruceK]

Just found this very exhaustive list of Mini wheels. Hundreds of them.  Interesting viewing.

https://www.wheeldictionary.net/10a.html

[94touring]

Thought this was my wheel on my kitchen counter at first. 

[MiniDave]

Just found this very exhaustive list of Mini wheels. Hundreds of them.  Interesting viewing.

https://www.wheeldictionary.net/10a.html

All 10's tho.....

[94touring]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Classic-Mini-12-Inch-Steel-Wheels-With-Tyres/224094947337?hash=item342d198809:g:XUEAAOSwOZZfHcBp

[BruceK]

Just found this very exhaustive list of Mini wheels. Hundreds of them.  Interesting viewing.

https://www.wheeldictionary.net/10a.html

All 10's tho.....

No. You must look deeper grasshopper...

http://www.wheeldictionary.net/

[Willie_B]

Thought this was my wheel on my kitchen counter at first.

You have a set of CMW wheels Dan? I have a set that has never been put together or even drilled for the valve stem. Need lug nuts for them.

[94touring]

Thought this was my wheel on my kitchen counter at first.

You have a set of CMW wheels Dan? I have a set that has never been put together or even drilled for the valve stem. Need lug nuts for them.

The Force wheels I have on my mini look similar.  The picture was similar to one I had taken.  3lbs 7.5oz too!

[BruceK]

Dave, when you were taking Sprite wheels, you were talking AH Sprite/MG Midget (aka Spridget), not the Mini model called the Sprite, right? 

[MiniDave]

Correct.....I didn't know they made 12" steelies for that matter, but there they are in your pic and Dan's ebay listing

[MPlayle]

Even with 12" wheels, you have to be mindful of the diameter.

The "cheaply available" 12" tires are 155/80/12 sized and that results in a 21.76" diameter.  This should not be a problem for the fronts, but may still have a rubbing issue for the rears.

[94touring]

The truck use to sport 12 inch steelies.

[MiniDave]

Even with 12" wheels, you have to be mindful of the diameter.

The "cheaply available" 12" tires are 155/80/12 sized and that results in a 21.76" diameter.  This should not be a problem for the fronts, but may still have a rubbing issue for the rears.

So, a small spacer or a set of Cooper S drums should take care of that, right?

[MiniDave]

The truck use to sport 12 inch steelies.

Oh my, that's your truck? Wow.....

Too bad he doesn't like the orange, I think it's a great color!

Still have that air cleaner somewhere?

[94touring]

Back in it's former glory.  Drove the piss out of it like that.  And that engine is the one you rebuilt for my blue mini, soon to be turbo. 

[Red Riley]

Even with 12" wheels, you have to be mindful of the diameter.

The "cheaply available" 12" tires are 155/80/12 sized and that results in a 21.76" diameter.  This should not be a problem for the fronts, but may still have a rubbing issue for the rears.

So, a small spacer or a set of Cooper S drums should take care of that, right?

I think the problem won't be the offset, but the overall diameter of the tires will cause them to rub on the radius arms in the rear.

[MPlayle]

Even with 12" wheels, you have to be mindful of the diameter.

The "cheaply available" 12" tires are 155/80/12 sized and that results in a 21.76" diameter.  This should not be a problem for the fronts, but may still have a rubbing issue for the rears.

So, a small spacer or a set of Cooper S drums should take care of that, right?

I think the problem won't be the offset, but the overall diameter of the tires will cause them to rub on the radius arms in the rear.

What he said.

The attached picture may help.  The distance to measure as indicated needs to be greater than 1/2 the total wheel diameter.

[John Gervais]

I use 12" steel wheels with winter tires (145/70/12 Hankook iCept) once the weather gets cold and the roads get salty.  Sometimes I mount the hubcaps, sometimes not - and when 'not', I insert spray paint caps from the back which helps keep road spray and dirt away from the hub nuts.

The genuine mini 12" steel wheels use the 60° wheel nut, not the rounded nut that 10" wheels use.

Eventually, I'd like to get another set of steel wheels that I could mount a set of MaxSport rally tires on.