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Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:23 am

toy man wrote: hey volkswagnut what kind of centers are you putting in those chevy rims

I use cut out wide 5 centers. Reweld them into into the cut out GM hoops. Take your time welding. I have found it is best if you have the center mounted to a drum and front spindle to be able to spin and measure runout as you weld. Also the drum aids as a heat sink. I haven't had any problems using these on stock cars as long as you measure carefully for offset.

Tue Oct 06, 2009 6:21 pm

toy man wrote: take a look on the herbie web site there is loads of info about what size fits. what kind of centers are you using.
Hey Toy man
I am using "South African" Sprinstars. They should be the same dimension as stock wide 5s?

Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:42 pm

The only way to find out is to measure them to see if the centers are the same.

The only information you would get from the Herbie site is for stock centers. I do have to say that with a 205 tire and stock fenders you will want 6" wheels. Also you want to make sure you keep the stock offset.

Is your car lowered? If so you may not be able to go that wide on front without a narrowed beam.

Wed Oct 07, 2009 7:16 am

vwtoyguy wrote: The only way to find out is to measure them to see if the centers are the same.

The only information you would get from the Herbie site is for stock centers. I do have to say that with a 205 tire and stock fenders you will want 6" wheels. Also you want to make sure you keep the stock offset.

Is your car lowered? If so you may not be able to go that wide on front without a narrowed beam.

The Sprints are supposed to be the same...... I ran a 205 rear on another bug I used to own with no problems.
I will look again today to see if I can find some 6" wide 15 GM wheels locally.

Tue Oct 13, 2009 4:44 pm

Hey guys, I just wanted to make a quick addition to the info in this thread, and that is that stock 15" BUS wheels have an ID of just a hair under 12.75", not the 13.25" of bug wheels.

I will be heading to the salvage yard during the coming week to search for 15" steel wheels having the requisite 12.75" ID and a 6-7" width, and will report back with my findings.

Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:03 pm

if you want new chrome 7 inch barrels, I can help you with those. SA sprints use the same barrel as stock wheels, so you can use a 4 inch stock wheel all the way up to the bad boy 15'rs. new barrels in skinny widths are hard to find, as 15's and 14's are not a heavy hitter these days with 22's and larger wheels being the theme! I have used new chromie wheels, and cut the centers just to get some clean chrome outers.... there are three different size barrels for each size, two being common and one being custom drop. they use to use custom drop barrels to make 14 inch centers into 15 inch wheels. don't get your hopes up boys and girls, there are not too many 14 inch centers that will work on custom drop barrels.... and before someone asks, you can not put a 15 inch smoothie center in a 16 inch custom drop barrel. hope that helps you a bit with your restoration. if you or anyone needs some wheels done, let me know. any width, any offset. chadd ratlookvw

Thu Feb 04, 2010 2:19 pm

hey maggiolino did you ever get your wheels widened. if you did post some pictures

Thu Feb 04, 2010 4:01 pm

Not to hijack the thread but I'm in the process of doing this myself. Went to a local junkyard and found some nice 15x6 steelies. I've got one done so far, I used a tire balencer and my front drum with the inner bearing pressed out so it would fit on the machine. That way I am able to spin the rim to make sure it is true.

Here's the one I have done so far, mounted a used 195/65 just to see my clearences. It's not all the way down but I have about a 1/2" clearence between the tire and the outside of the fender. I'm going to try a 205 and see if that fits.
[/img]

Thu Feb 04, 2010 6:37 pm

wheel looks great,any idea what kind of car the rim came from. did the smoothie center fit right in good ar did you have to do some buffing

Thu Feb 04, 2010 8:57 pm

I'm not sure what vehicle they came off of. I purchased them at Crazy Rays in the Baltimore area. They have a huge assorted pile, probably 100-150 rims. This set was pretty clean and only paid $28. Actually the center was about 1/8 smaller all the way around the rim. I put the center in a vice and pulled it out a hair on the 4 flanges to match the hoop.

Mon Feb 08, 2010 6:09 pm

i found some dodge plymouth van wheels from the early 80s and used the rim part and vw centers and they were snug seemed to work good

Tue Feb 09, 2010 10:57 am

how wide were the dodge rims

Thu Feb 11, 2010 6:26 pm

ratlookvw wrote: .... and before someone asks, you can not put a 15 inch smoothie center in a 16 inch custom drop barrel.

Why not??? :D

Fri Feb 12, 2010 2:36 pm

ludeman95 wrote: Not to hijack the thread but I'm in the process of doing this myself. Went to a local junkyard and found some nice 15x6 steelies. I've got one done so far, I used a tire balencer and my front drum with the inner bearing pressed out so it would fit on the machine. That way I am able to spin the rim to make sure it is true.

Here's the one I have done so far, mounted a used 195/65 just to see my clearences. It's not all the way down but I have about a 1/2" clearence between the tire and the outside of the fender. I'm going to try a 205 and see if that fits.
[/img] This looks really good man,What about your offsets?

Fri Feb 12, 2010 4:23 pm

when looking i found any where from 6 to 7 wide . i used the 6 inch and back spaced them appro. a i/4 inch deeper. i put them on the car after i tacked them to check clearance and runout. i fgure i can get a 195/70/15 tire on them

Fri Feb 12, 2010 4:26 pm

also i turned the rim part around where the valve stem was facing in welded up that hole and drilled the other side for the stem

Fri Feb 12, 2010 6:27 pm

I'm not sure what the stock rim offset is but I used a 6" rim, flipped it around and the backspace now is 3 3/4". I just left the hole for the valve stem on the inside, figured if I get a flat the rim is going to have to come off anyway. :wink: I'm in the process now of getting them blasted and powdercoated.

Wed Feb 17, 2010 9:46 pm

I dont mean to thread jack but i would like to have my steelies re barraled like this..

any recomendations as to who, where and how much..

Thu Feb 18, 2010 2:23 pm

Other members have mentioned a place in Cali called Stockton Wheel. I'm not sure how much they charge though, I think someone mentioned $100 or so a wheel. I'm more of a DIY guy so I figured I would try and see how they turned out. I only have $28 and about 5-6 hours into them so far. :wink:

Thu Feb 18, 2010 3:25 pm

maggiolino basso wrote: Thanks a bunch Toy man you rock!!!!
Here is the link:
http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2006/02/Steelies/index.php
If you want to save a lot of $$$ shipping your rims to and from some big name, check out your local junkyard for these popular Ford 15x6 wheels (the ones with the 10.5" cap) found on trucks and vans:

...they should have the same center diameter as your smoothie wheels, and even if you don't do any of the cuttin' and choppin', there is more than likely a machine shop, or a garage that builds wheels for dirt trackers, that could fix you up for about $50 a wheel...LUDEMAN95 has the info on offsets already provided above ^^^^ :wink:

Could someone with an old Ford with these wheels double check me??? The centers should be 13.25" diameter...