5x130 Lug Steel Wheels with Dome Hubcaps

[aquabuzzard]

This may come as a strange question, but I have an early Oval Beetle and Split Window Bus that has had been converted to 5x130 disc brakes and would like stock-looking wheels with proper early domed hubcaps.

I would like to restore look WITHOUT using a heavy wheel adapter or going back to the stock brakes.

I thought maybe later Porsche 356 wheels, or Early 911/912 wheels would do it, but no, they use a hubcap that more resembles a later air cooled VW.

Multiple Googles and forum searches haven't turned up anything good.

The closest thing I've seen was from Airkewld, they have some 4x130 rims that accommodate domed hubcaps with aluminum centers that could be easily machined to make them 5x130, but they don't do it themselves for liability reasons (they don't want some dummy trying to fit them on a Porsche Cayenne or something.) I respect that.

Or I might have to go down the custom route and cut some 5x130 wheel centers out and have them welded into some smoothies and make an aborted mess that works lol!

Would be nice to find something off the shelf, though!

Has anyone ever seen a set of early-looking steelies with dome hubcaps for 5x130 lug patter? THANKS IN ADVANCE!
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[dnielsen]

Did you ever find a wheel? I am in the same situation, have a '63 bug that was converted to Porsche brakes but I want stock looking wheels. So far the only option I've come up with is the 944 turbo spare, but they are hard to find.

[aquabuzzard]

[SnowDaySyncro]

The latest iteration of the Mobelwagen interceptor is the closest I've seen to what you've described, but the circle is 5x112. I think that's outside of the range of the wobble nuts people sometimes use to interchange 112 and 114.3 PCDs.
https://mobelwagen.com/collections/aluminum/products/512b-interceptor

[aquabuzzard]

[SnowDaySyncro]

It's too bad none of that series of wheel have a round center bore, because their 4x130 variation would be better suited to a fill & drill modification, since one of the holes would already be in the right place.

Another thought that would be much easier if it looks okay:
Drilling and installing the early hubcap clips on a 5x130 steel wheel. You could see how it would sit by just placing an early hubcap on top of the wheel laying on the floor. I don't have any early hubcaps, otherwise I'd do it myself. If the edges of the hubcap don't play well visually with the vents in the wheel, you could disguise that with one of the period beauty rings that are retained by the hubcap. Alternatively, you could paint the vented section black to downplay the vents (which aren't bad to have after all.

I have a set of early '70s 5.5x15 911 steel wheels for my Super Beetle project, but I'll be using the stock hubcaps because they look close enough to late Beetle caps. I've kept an eye out for them for a while and paid from $60-$100 per wheel.

[aquabuzzard]

[aquabuzzard]

GOOD NEWS!

I have been in contact with Mobelwagen, James over there replied very quickly to me and said Porsche rim patterns was something they were considering.

But then I received a second reply a day later, which said that they just had a meeting and discussed Porsche rims, and that development is on the way. Woohoo! I'm not assuming that I'm the one that triggered this, but I'm gonna say it was anyway lol.

I guess we'll see what they have to offer in the coming months.
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[SnowDaySyncro]

I bugged Mobelwagen a year or so ago to ask if they would do steel-look alloys in 16" diameter sizes and the 5x130 pattern.
ASIDE: It annoys me that aftermarket air-cooled VW wheels jump from 15" to 17" sizes. 16" gives you more tire options and you can still have room for substantial sidewall height.

Shortly thereafter, I discovered that Group 4 wheels in the UK make just what I was looking for, but they cost close to $500 per wheel.
https://www.group4wheels.com/store/16-LMZ-Aluminium-Steels-c127677601

[H2OSB]

For a steel appearing wheel, group4wheels.com has 15x5 wheels (and 15x6, 7, 8 in 5x130) that look similar to, say, the Porsche 944 steel space saver spare and the early 911/912 steel wheels but in a modern alloy made using modern manufacturing techniques. I know the O.P. was looking for a wheel to take a specific center cap, and I have no idea if the group4 wheel would do that, but this gives another avenue to consider. Very expensive, though.

H2OSB
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[H2OSB]

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