15 in. wheels

[nashvet]

I am looking for a spare set of 15 inch wheels for my MkIV.  I would prefer the FIA style as sold by Hawk, but they are currently out of production.  Any leads would be appreciated.

[AC Ventura]

I spoke to Jerry at Hawk the other day and he said he is on the process of having the missing parts of the dies remade. So they will be back in production.

[SJ351]

Jerry is concentrating on the tooling for the Stratos wheels as a priority he said - you need those to sell a car. When his wheel manufacturer went bust, the receivers scrapped a lot of the expensive tooling he still owned without consultation. The reinvestment is therefore very high and the incentive to produce tempered accordingly.
   
   With regards to the Halibrand pattern wheels, he had 100 wheels made several years back and it took him a few years to sell them all. That is quite a bit of capital tied up for a small business/low volume manufacturer. The suggestion is that those of us who would like a set now really need to place decent deposits in advance to incentivise and speed up the process of getting them made.. I am happy to commit in principal - what about anyone else? Jerry is looking to cover his retooling costs as far as he can to get going again and sell them at reasonable money, the remainder of the new batch going into stock but, with a good number of sets pre-sold.

[AK1161]

www.vintagewheelsus.com
   
   They have what you are looking for.

[Paul Mundy]

I fitted trigo 15" wheels on my superblower, very good value and had no issues at all.
   I am aware some members claim they had a brake clearance issue,however my car has the Peugeot and Bmw brakes and I encountered no problems whatsoever.
   www.trigowheels.com    Contact Curtis very helpful.
   
   Regards
   Paul

[SJ351]

:

[SJ351]

Thank you for these suggestions. However, both Trigo and Vintage wheels do not have the factory correct dish to the rear wheel. The Trigo wheels have certain offset issues (I have a set fitted) but, the Vintage wheels can be machined by the factory within a certain range. Given the values of our cars it seems worth paying extra to me to get it 'right'

[silty]

I don't know if this helps but Compomotive also manufacture Halibrand style wheels. I did wonder if they were the manufacturer that Hawk used who went out of business but their website is still live today
   
   http://www.comp.co.uk/wheels/wheels.asp?size=classic-and-special-order-wheels-15-17

[nikbj68]

This statement on the Compomotive Halibrand page:
   "The HB range of wheels are a replica wheel the FIA & MKIV, 289 & 427 Cobra. They are manufactured exclusively for Hawk Cars please kindly contact enquiries@hawkcars.co.uk for further details.
   
       

[Hobo]

J just fitted some aftermarket wheels (Halibrand style) on my MkIV for testing the car, which was out of operation for some years.
   
   I took the wheels from another restauration project which is far away from finalization but they had new AVONs with the right dimension mounted.
   
   In the front the aftermarket wheels have exact the same dimensions as the original MkIV wheels. Rear wheels have a difference of 10mm backspace – 10mm more “inside” but still no clearance issues even not with the damper.
   
   Remark:
   Vintagewheel has been very, very helpful some years ago in converting my replica from 18”/17” to 15”-wheels. Perfect communication and finally the right fit of the wheels to the car.
   
   In case of interest I could check my wheels and look for further information/PN/numbers etc. as well as measurement of backspace.
   
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[AC Ventura]

To clarify,
   1) It's Compomotive who Gerry said had let him down and its apparently their receiver who discarded the dies (or part of) for the manufacture of these wheels. Their website might still be up and running, but it does not mean they are trading, In any case, it says contact Hawk, who clearly have no wheels.
   2) Trigo wheels are not the same offset/look at all. I have some of the Hawk 7.5 and 9.5 x 15s, bought from Gerry this time last year. There are no steering arm fouling issues (but position weights to clear ball joint)and the cone angle is correct. Just like Hobo's car above.
   3) It's understandable the wheels are slow sellers. I imagine few kit cars have KO hubs.
   4) Anybody who wants these wheels should get organised and tell Gerry, here's the orders with the deposits mate. Now get on with it.
   5) Buy the tyres direct from Avon Motorsport of you want the lowest price.
   6) I did extensive tyre fitment tests and once you have your wheels, I'd be happy to share what size Avons to fit. Fit the wrong size fronts and you wont fill the arches and get optimised ground clearance.
   7)On my 1993 MK IV below, I have no wheelarch rubbing issues, front or rear either. They are perfect and we all need them back in production and available.
   

[MkIV Lux]

Does anybody have a document/certificate or thelike stating that 15" wheels were an option for the Mk IV ... in view of MOT / TüV acceptance ?

[TLegate]

Nitpicking I know, but it's Gerry with a 'G'. Just for the record....

[westcott]

Hi Constant,
   
   maybe i have some documents like sales literature showing the 15" as an alternative.
   
   Shoud not the Lightweights have the 15" wheels as original equipment?

[MkIV Lux]

quote:Originally posted by westcott
   .....
   Shoud not the Lightweights have the 15" wheels as original equipment?
   

   
   indeed, but is there any document thereof that can be shown to the TüV authorities to avoid being rejected when 15" wheels are mounted on the car that was originally registered with 16" wheels?