I've been looking around constantly for the last couple of days and deciding what wheels I want to get. I was going to go with early model stock wheels, with the domed hub cap but I have decided if the price is right that Empi 8 spokes would look perfect.
I don't know if you need to do this for a wanted ad but:
Name: Andy
Suburb: Hawthorn in Melbourne
Description: I have attached an image of chrome ones, but I have also seen ones that have black spokes that would work great with my black and red colour scheme.
Cost: I don't really know what they are worth, if nothing else, this is just to suss that out.
andytlr ·
I presume they come in different sizes, and that is the question everyone is going to ask first. I don't really know what size I want, 15's or 16's I guess.
And I've got a stud beetle and these look like they are a 4 stud wheel so I guess they would fit...?
ruckus ·
Mate what year is your bug? If it's after 67 (i think) it'll have four stud pattern so you can fit these. Any earlier and you have to look at the five stud wheels (BRM, Raders etc).
Classic VW Pacific can get them for you (through the boys in Tassie) or go to CIP1.com and get them from the states.
They only come in 15x5.5 I think
barls ·
and if they are on a 71 on super they wont fit under stock guards ether. 15 x 5.5 is the only size and as i said earlier they are about $1300 for a set of the polished
andytlr ·
it is a '72 standard.
Is 'about $1300' a 'brand new' price?
I've been reading around to see if they will fit but everyone is always talking about clearance when lowered etc, finding it hard to find specific info about my car.
I have seen some people talking about different axles to fit wheels...?
Can anyone tell me if i get the 8spokes if I'll just be able to bolt them on and drive off or if there will be more work involved...?
Thanks
ruckus ·
Yeah as long as it's not lowered you'll be able to fit them without any problems at all
barls ·
well im running them on my sbug and they sit just out of the stock guards by about an inch. ive had them on my little brothers 1500 and they were just outside the guards. sorry about talking about the other post i wasnt paying attention who was posting
ClassicVW(pacific) ·
ruckus wrote:Mate what year is your bug? If it's after 67 (i think) it'll have four stud pattern so you can fit these. Any earlier and you have to look at the five stud wheels (BRM, Raders etc).
Classic VW Pacific can get them for you (through the boys in Tassie) or go to CIP1.com and get them from the states.
They only come in 15x5.5 I think
Thankyou Ruckus.
Coloured wheels ie black, silver, white are all $990 inc caps etc posted to your door
[Edited on 28/5/2005 by ClassicVW(pacific)]
andytlr ·
ClassicVW: Is that for EMPI or Repro's?
57kombi ·
They are ALL copies.
Empi does not exist as a company anymore.It stood for Engineered Motor Products Incoporated and was in America.
The wheels were made in the 70's by EMPI, or for EMPI and originals, which were tao piece would now cost an arm and a leg.
There is a guy in Victoria who sells what he calls EMPI stuff but all he has done is bought the name and adds it to anything he wants, He even sells EMPI windscreens????And Aussie EMPI mesh visors??? these were never ever made by the original EMPI.
You can get the empi 8's from Midland Wheels, Eagle etc there are a number of companies that make them, but as I said they are not made by EMPI anymore.
Cheers
Dave
andytlr ·
Thanks,
Very helpfull.
So I guess if you wanted them to look like oringinal empi's you could get new ones and try and find old center caps.
American Eagle make them for EMPI, therefore are EMPI brand, others are copies..
ClassicVW(pacific) ·
they are all copies of the original Empi 8
ClassicVW(pacific) ·
pic
ClassicVW(pacific) ·
while we are talking wheels
ClassicVW(pacific) ·
how about this one to fit 4 stud
andytlr ·
They are pretty nice, but I think I'm pretty set on either the chrome or black 8 spoke empi (repro's)... Just can't decide whether I want to chrome out, or bring the red and black colour scheme that I've got going on on the inside to the outside.
And cash. Need to sell my other car. Anyone know anyone who wants to buy a '74 Merc? It's in mint condition inside and out. Bar one section of paint about 3cm square. Clearly not the place to be advertising, just seemed appropriate.
andytlr ·
Tried to upload a photo and it said it was too big, even though its tiny and 88k. Oh well.
crewcabconnection ·
I think Bill Hickman of Club VW fame has got a set of 8 spoke Empi's - try Club VWs site or calling them. I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago, and he said he'd got a set. Better than paying new money.
andytlr ·
Thanks. But I went to http://www.clubvw.org.au/ which is what I presume you were talking about. I went to their for sale section and there was no empi's there. They would probably be there if for sale yeah...?
crewcabconnection ·
Nah, Bill Hickman (I think) or is it Bob? He's the nice guy with the VW Country Buggy, large gent. Not 'selling' em on the site, just in a conversation when at Indian a couple of weeks ago - I was looking for some Empi 5's. He said he'd got some 8's he didn't want. Try emailing Steve Carter at Club VW, sorry I don't have more info....but it's a non-retail lead....
andytlr ·
It was bob, his email was on the contact us page. Sent him one, see what happens. Thanks for that.
VolksFolks ·
ClassicVW(pacific) wrote:they are all copies of the original Empi 8
right! thats why www.empius.com still sell them, this company was revamped by the presant owner, empi is still alive, might not be the original company though, but still EMPI brand...
10/10
Andy
ClassicVW(pacific) ·
Read the story of Empi, you have just said its not the original company, so how can they be original Empi wheels, they are repros of the original 60's wheel, like MWS and Flat 4.
[Edited on 29/5/2005 by ClassicVW(pacific)]
[Edited on 29/5/2005 by ClassicVW(pacific)]
VolksFolks ·
go figure.
dood72 ·
barls wrote:well im running them on my sbug and they sit just out of the stock guards by about an inch. ive had them on my little brothers 1500 and they were just outside the guards. sorry about talking about the other post i wasnt paying attention who was posting
I'm running them on my 72 Suprebug OK. Lowered 2". They all fit in the gaurds with the exception of the RH front which sticks out about 10mm. When it was lowered 3"" the front wheels hit the gaurds when going over a bump but at 2" they work fine. If I can be of any help please U2U me
andytlr ·
Does anyone know how wide my stock rims would be from '72? I found a UK site that said in late '72 they changed from 5.6 to 6. Would this be the same in Aus? And considering that, if the empi 8 spokes are 5.5 then would the tyres I have on my stock rims fit?
Basic question is: Are the standard rim size and the empi 8's similar enough size to use the same tyres?
ruckus ·
I've got 175x65s on the front and they're a good size. You'd get away with anything up to 195x65 on a 5.5 rim I think. What are the specs of your tyres?
57kombi ·
As per my first post on this.
They are ALL copies.
The original were 2 piece rims made for EMPI in the 60's and 70's.
Empi the original company no longer exists, I think Empi USA are owned by Mr Bug, they just bought the name so that they can add it to there parts and make people think they are buying real EMPI.
It is the same as the BRM wheels you can get now, they are copies and the originals fetch silly money, they were made of magnesium and were only available in black.
Why do you think that people collect EMPI stuff, its because you cant get it anymore.
The Ealge ones are the same as the MWS ones, copies that are produced to satisfy todays market.
Cheers
Dave
ClassicVW(pacific) ·
andytlr wrote:Does anyone know how wide my stock rims would be from '72? I found a UK site that said in late '72 they changed from 5.6 to 6. Would this be the same in Aus? And considering that, if the empi 8 spokes are 5.5 then would the tyres I have on my stock rims fit?
Basic question is: Are the standard rim size and the empi 8's similar enough size to use the same tyres?
Take your bug into your nearest tyre outlet, tell them you are considering new wheels. They will tell you whether your existing tyres will fit and whether they will be the legal size on your new wheels.
If they will not help you, email the size of your tyres through to me and I will drop into to Tyrepower tomorrow and find out, I always find them willing to help even if they are not making a sale.
Roy
andytlr ·
The tyres say 165 R15 86T on them. I'm not really sure how to decipher this. Sorry about all the possibly stupid questions, just trying to learn as much as I can.
Thanks for the offer ClassicVW, but don't worry about it, I'll try and get as much info on here for now, just trying to suss everything out.
Just hoping I don't have to buy new tyres because the ones I've got are just about as new.
ruckus ·
Yup 165x80s will be fine on 5.5 rims.
andytlr ·
how did you get 80? Is that just an 80 series or something like that, so 86 falls under that?
Thanks again for all the help
ruckus ·
Can't really get 165s in Australia for anything other than 80 profile, so I assumed this was the case. The 165 is your tread width and the 80 is the side-wall of the tyre as a percentage (80% of 165= tyre-wall height)
crewcabconnection ·
Well the value of a company can often be it's name (or brand). It does not matter that a company is sold, merged, etc., but the brand name is passed from one entity to another. Maserati being one name that has died and been re-born, same with Lotus. Mr Chapman is dead, the company has been bought and sold, but the brand lives on. Therefore whoever owns the brand name of "EMPI" has a right to use it, and everyone else does not, unless the licence the design or change it significantly enough to avoid breaching copyright.
So I'd imagine that EMPIs come from somone who bought the company and or name, and these rest are clones and copies whom probably owe much to the original designer. Brands can often be worth a lot more than the assets of the business, so people buy them to boost their business.
ie Brand Power. What ya don't want to do is pay EMPI money for EMPI clones, the same way a fake TAG watch aint a TAG watch, even though it might work as well and look just as cool.
<smile>
andytlr ·
I agree to a large extent. I know you weren't being totally serious but the TAG example is the exact example of what you don't want, because it won't be real gold or silver and probably won't have the precision that TAG are known for.
Lotus proved it has great cars even after Chapman, and you could probably say EMPI have the same thing, I don't know though.
The new EMPI might be very similar to the original. But they aren't original, just like someone said about collecting old empi stuff. So then to an extent it doesn't really matter if you get new 'empi' or any other brand if they are the same.
BUT
if someone owns the EMPI name, then would they not have rights to everything that empi made? So wouldn't anything else be breaking copyright.
Sorry that was proably pretty confusing.
BiX ·
Well I just see this as silly. There are a few things that you should ask yourself, and then the question of if they are repro etc is irrelevant (well unless your doing a full restore and trying to keep stock parts original, eg for an oval or similar)
1- Are they the quality YOU want? (eg are they going to pit in 6 months or last 20 years?)
2- Is the price, the one YOU are willing to pay?
3- Do they meet the required purpose (eg wheels that make the car look better, or stone guards that protect you paint work etc)?
4- Do they look as good/better than what you want?
5- Are YOU happy with the product and the results?
I bought a set of EMPI 8 style wheels over Christmas, they are great, they were the price I wanted, the quality I wanted and served the correct purpose. I don’t care if they are original empi’s or some the guy down the street made in his back yard.
andytlr ·
yeah good call
ClassicVW(pacific) ·
Bix, spot on .
62deluxe ·
Garry Collis (in Melbourne) apparently now owns the EMPI brand name.....
bus914 ·
weren't original empis built differently to those sold today?
57kombi ·
Yes, As I mentioned they were 2 piece rims, the center was bolted to the rim.
Cheers
Dave
62deluxe ·
We've got a lovely set of "repro" empi8 spokers here in black with a polished rim. $950.00 including bolts and centre caps to your door.
As Roy has said they are now ALL repros. Gary at Wolfsburg Automotive owns the rights to the EMPI name so in fact the Yanks are violating copyright laws etc etc blah blah blah........ Bix sums it all up really!
Anyway here's a shot of the yummy "repros"
ruckus ·
I reckon those black ones are sexy as!
Leave the Originals for the people that can afford them. In the meantime slap these on your beast and pay homage :thumb
57kombi ·
Exactly.
They look great and if your happy, thats all that counts.
Cheers
Dave