TheSamba.com :: View topic

Fri Jul 22, 2005 11:22 am

My first question is will riviera wheels be able to just mount with the stock lugs on a 71sqbk? Also will the wheels be able to use 165r 15's on them? Reason I ask is friend of mine is giving them to me and I have a 5month old set of 165r 15's that I would like to use. Thanks for your help as always.

Fri Jul 22, 2005 11:33 am

The new repops? or the old originals?

Fri Jul 22, 2005 12:07 pm

I'm not really sure all he said was Riviera's. Could I use either the repops or the old style without any issue. Let me know.

Fri Jul 22, 2005 1:04 pm

My friend has a set of originals ans they fit the front disc brakes fine but they wont clear the drums on the rear he is going to convert the rears to disc brakes if he kept the drums he would need spacers his car is a 69 auto squareback

Fri Jul 22, 2005 1:59 pm

i'm in the same boat, just got some "non" old style, so i guess that means repop rivi's and want to put them on my 73 fasty. will i have a problem will brake clearence or with the fenders? i plan to lower it 3 in front and 1 in rear. 165's in back and to be decided in front. thanks

8)

Fri Jul 22, 2005 5:30 pm

repros will fit but you will have to do a tiny bit of clearancing on the spokes in the front. It isn't a lot , just a slight arc across each spoke I bolted the wheel on and rubbed each spoke on the caliper to get a rub mark and ground with a cut off wheel. I was unsure at first then grew to love them on the car.

Sat Jul 23, 2005 10:52 am

I have the old style rivis on my notch. Actually I have several sets, but the ones on my notch are 5.5 inch and I have never had any clearance problems with them. I have 195-60s on the rear and 195-50s on the front with stock height in rear and down two clicks in front. I have used these wheels for years (I seem to be the only guy who likes 'em) and have used them on a slammed car as well as a stock-high ride. The cool thing about rivis is that they are one of the only aftermarket whel that actually has a good offset/backspace for type 3. I have seen old dealer pics that had these wheels as an option from the showroom. I cant vouch for the new repop rivis(with the square on each spoke) but the OG thin lip and fat lip aluminum rims work great, and if you have a few weeks to kill or $$ to spend, getting them fully polished looks killer.

Sat Jul 23, 2005 1:29 pm

This is some info I have aquired in researching these wheels, if I am wrong please feel free to correct me. Okay, I have found that there are actually 4 types of Riviera rims. There are the current repops that you can get today new.

As you can notice those have a raised lip where you incert the center cap and have raised bumps on each spoke. Then you have these with a raised bump on each spoke but no raised lip where the center cap goes and the center cap hole is a larger in size 1 3/8 if I'm not mistaken, don't know the size for the repops but it is smaller in diameter.

These that follow are mine. They had the raised bumps but I had them taken down when I got them polished. They came off of a 914 porsche.

And finally the OG thin and fat lip style without the raised bumps on each spoke. The ones pictured are the fat lip style but there does exist a thin lip in this style as well.

I have used the repops they sell nowadays and the ones I had polished. The repop ones I had were 5.5 and my old 72 Square. It was lowered 1 in the front sporting 135's up front and 165's in the rear with no issues. The polished ones with the larger center cap hole are 4.5's and have temps on my current 72 lowered 3 up front with 165's in the rear with no issues. I have never had or used the og ones without the raised bumps.

Sat Jul 23, 2005 11:52 pm

Ok here are some pics of my rivis.. the pics kinda suck, but a least the brakes look dumb...! :D Ok, so you can see that they fit good. If you can find 'em, the OG rivis are the way to go for aftermarket wheels.

Oh jeez. What have I done?

Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:32 pm

What year are the originals bec. Im buying some this Friday and want to know if they will fit my 71 s'back. He said he got them back in the 80's and they've just been sitting.

Tue Feb 22, 2011 2:53 am

They will surely look cool on your Type 3..

Tue Feb 22, 2011 5:16 am

The last pics are formula v's I thought? I put riv's on a friends Sqback, not sure which version of the 3, but they fit the brakes but offset caused him to raise the vehicle back to stock rear and 1 clcik frt.
Formula V's- 2 in frt 1 in rear

Riv's- 1 frt 0 in rear

Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:04 am

These are the Formula Vee wheels I picked up. They fit fine on my Square. No rub anywhere. Still finishing polishing them.

Tue Feb 22, 2011 6:14 pm

lowdowndub wrote: These are the Formula Vee wheels I picked up. They fit fine on my Square. No rub anywhere. Still finishing polishing them.

What is your process? They look nice.

Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:21 pm

jimmynotch wrote: lowdowndub wrote: These are the Formula Vee wheels I picked up. They fit fine on my Square. No rub anywhere. Still finishing polishing them.

What is your process? They look nice.

Thanks, they weren't actually done yet either. They turned out pretty good. I'll post more pics once I have them all done.

Started by cleaning them really well. Wet sanding with 200, 300 then 600 grit. Then a whole lotta rubbing. I used English Custom Polishes Custom/Show Blend and then they will be sealed with Poor Boys Wheel Sealant to protect them for brake dust and road grime. Also got a nice set of ISP billet center caps for them.

I could probably get them to polish up better, but I'm only willing to spend so much time...

Sat Feb 26, 2011 8:16 am

Just wondering where is a place to buy the center caps? I was told that Porsche caps fit as well? (checking classifieds)

Sat Feb 26, 2011 8:41 am

bent_karma wrote: Just wondering where is a place to buy the center caps? I was told that Porsche caps fit as well? (checking classifieds)

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=541899

Mon Mar 07, 2011 10:01 am

I bought some rivieras a couple of weeks ago, they're from the 80s. I'm really liking them, really adds that "sporty" look. Anyways here's some pics from the before and after stage. Enjoy!

Before:

Then:

After:

Now:

Mon Mar 07, 2011 12:51 pm

Original Formula Vee's already to roll.

Mon Mar 07, 2011 6:22 pm

i just bought a set of rivi's, how do i know what manufactire they are?

test fitting them on my 73 fasty

mine have the 3 1/8" center hole