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Empi 5 Spokes???

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Ian Bugden AKA - Bugs

248 posts · joined May 2003 ·

#130615
Hi all,
I am considering fitting empi 5's to my '59 and I have a few questions I hope you can answer.

- How do these bolt on? do they use the standard Lug bolts or do you have to use studs and nuts?

- Do they alter the track at all?

Thanks in Advance.

Ian.
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail.....
But a true friend will be sitting next to you saying "Damm that was fun!!!"

TheGermanFolks Officially Full-On Dubber

248 posts · joined Mar 2003 ·

#130617
They use Mag style lug nuts, so you will have to stud your drums before putting them on. They do alter the track of your car by a little bit due to its different offset than you stocks and being an inch wider than a stock rim.
Scott R.
PRAISE THE LOWERED

ratty 63 Custom Title Time!

1,083 posts · joined Oct 2003 ·

#130794
yep, this is exactly what I have done to my '63. You can also get bolts that will fit if you don't want to fit studs to your drums, but studs make it far easier to fit the rim - no holding the rim in place whilst trying to line up the bolt holes and fit the bolts. The bolts are also more expensive and harder to find than the studs (from my experience). What brand of Empi 5 where you looking at fitting?

R
40hp, 6V and ...er... slowly making improvements 😂

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!

Founding member of the Gold Coast Dub Club Inc. 🙂

Ian Bugden AKA - Bugs

248 posts · joined May 2003 ·

#130936
Ratty 63
I have no idea, are there different brands? what are the better ones? I don't want polished or chrome just silver with the machined outter lip.
Where did you get your from?
I am considering ordering them from the states, possibly from Blimp.
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail.....
But a true friend will be sitting next to you saying "Damm that was fun!!!"

ratty 63 Custom Title Time!

1,083 posts · joined Oct 2003 ·

#130955
...I am not sure of the current manufacturers brands, although several manufacturers have made replicas in the past. All of them slightly different to each other.

My car is fitted with Rocket Industries 5 spokes - I thought that you might have found a second hand set (like mine) and was interested to see who yours were made by. My 5 Spokes were found at the Toowoomba Swap Meet for a good price a couple of years ago. They were from a Formula Vee that had been wrecked in an accident. The rims were slightly damaged (around the outer edge). I had them repaired by a local company who is well known for repairing "unfixable" mags. They did such a good job, I can't even tell which wheel it was that they repaired! 😀
Last year I found a single 5 Spoke - different manufacturer, at another swap. This one has marks from being curbed around the edges, however they are not serious enough to have repaired - its now my spare so it doesn't get seen much.

All of my wheels are silver (cast) in the centre and polished around the outside. The set from the Toowoomba Swap have been repolished (when they were repaired), the spare is as it comes from the supplier.

There are a few pics of my car and a close up of the rims on my web page if you are interested...

As for the brands available tody, not sure, sorry 🙁 Perhaps someone who has fitted a new set recently can help. I feel that they would probably all be of similar quality now... but worth asking the question anyway.

Don't forget to post a pic of them on the car when it all done. :thumb

Oh, yeah. My rims are fitted with std sized 165 tyres on the front, and 205 75's om the back. The rear tyres just (only just!) touch the rear body mount when the suspension is fully compressed, so next time I will go for 195's to stop this from happening.

R
40hp, 6V and ...er... slowly making improvements 😂

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!

Founding member of the Gold Coast Dub Club Inc. 🙂

sikdub Wolfsburg Wizard

571 posts · joined Aug 2002 ·

#131169
Ratty, have you ever tried to get centre caps for your rocket empi's? cos ive had bugger all luck....
Steven

ratty 63 Custom Title Time!

1,083 posts · joined Oct 2003 ·

#131183
Hi sikdub,

Yeah I have tried to find centrecaps for my wheels and come up with exactly the same problem as you 🙁. I know a couple of other people with Rockets too, and they all are missing the centrecaps. The centre of the wheel is an odd size (not much clearance between the snout on the drum and the centre of the wheel either!), so finding caps is an issue😠.

I did email a company in the UK who are advertising centrecaps for empi wheels in the Volksworld mags and got them to measure the OD of the caps they are selling. They are only 1mm bigger than the ID of the centre of the Rockets, so perhaps...

Would still be an expensive exercise for a 'maybe' though!

Those of you planning on fitting brand new Empi 5's won't have this problem as the wheels should be supplied with centrecaps😀.

R

PS: if you have any luck in the future, please let me know - thanx
40hp, 6V and ...er... slowly making improvements 😂

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!

Founding member of the Gold Coast Dub Club Inc. 🙂

TheGermanFolks Officially Full-On Dubber

248 posts · joined Mar 2003 ·

#131387
lol< funny you guys mention the caps, we (the GFK) always joke about people not having caps on thier rockets. You might as well Chrome the grease cap on your spindles.
Scott R.
PRAISE THE LOWERED

greenie Learner Dubber

8 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#131453
ratty 63 wrote:...I am not sure of the current manufacturers brands, although several manufacturers have made replicas in the past. All of them slightly different to each other.

My car is fitted with Rocket Industries 5 spokes
R
Question from a learner dubber - We've just picked up a set of Rocket Industries 5 spokes for our "bitza" beetle - where are they made and are they any good? We just got them because we liked the look of them and basically needed any wheels we could get hold of.

vwtyp2 Son of Jim - Creator of Good

2,504 posts · joined Sep 2003 ·

#131506
got my empi 5's from VVDS about 5 years ago. $250 ea back then. don't know what make they are, the casting is a little rough though.
the new Midlands Wheel Supplies ones are pretty good, and are available locally.
I have 2 sets of their BRM replicas and are happy with the quality of them.
Most people seem normal, till you get to know them.

ratty 63 Custom Title Time!

1,083 posts · joined Oct 2003 ·

#132044
Hi Greenie,

Question from a learner dubber - We've just picked up a set of Rocket Industries 5 spokes for our "bitza" beetle - where are they made and are they any good? We just got them because we liked the look of them and basically needed any wheels we could get hold of.
Firstly, welcome to the forum! 😀 Always good to see a new face around here!

I am fairly sure that the Rocket Industries Empi 5's were made in the USA (I still have the stickers on the back of my wheels, however the car is not stored at my home, so I can't just go and have a look🙁 ). I am told that the Rockets are an older replica, not exactly sure how old but I believe them to have been made in the late 60's - early 70's.

As far as them being any good - I have not met an Empi 5 spoke (replica) that is not any good!! They all look great!!😎. The casting on the Rockets is a little rough compared to the wheels made today, however if they are polished, this will not matter. My wheels are just the cast finished with a polished outer rim. The roughness in the casting adds character to my way of thinking!
The only drama that I have had is that the centrecaps for the Rockets are impossible to get (as you have probably guessed from the above discussion)

TheGermanFolks, I gather that the problem is not one that is just in Australia - I have seen the grease caps chromed on other cars in the past and it looks OK. The only issue is were the speedo cable comes through the left side grease cap looks a little ... er... odd. Does anyone have any tricks to fix this 'problem'?

R
40hp, 6V and ...er... slowly making improvements 😂

It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice!

Founding member of the Gold Coast Dub Club Inc. 🙂