505 STI wheels again!

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GRAHAM WALLIS

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I have just bought a very clean STI for $1000 (at a Citroen dealer where I was looking to defect to a BX, very interesting seeing the horizon rush toward you in the 16 valve.)
Of course it has the metric rims. There was talk of turning them down to 15 inch, has anyone actually done this yet?
This car may be a basis for a Holden V6 conversion in the future.

Graham Wallis
 
Holden V6 conversion?????? Wash your mouth out! I drive Conformadores for work - the V6 is a truly detestible piece of ancient history.
 
graham
have you got any 15" STI/TRX wheels ?
if you have measure the rim lips on both and the internal diameters and see how much difference there is between them
also measure the dia of the safety lip as well
you will find the outcome very interesting
then go and see your local machine shop and give them the dimensions you desire on the metric wheels
you will find that there is very little machining to be done
when you get the measurements post them on here as i can'r remember the difference between the two wheels but i do recall it is very little
 
As I understand it the other problem with these wheels is they are soft, so if you take them offroad (or maybe through a couple of potholes) they'll warp very quickly.

Can anyone confirm or deny this? How bad is it? (I've got 3 of these wheels with good tyres and I'm thinking maybe I'll go and find 2 more when my steelies need new tyres. But I live in the country...)
 
I'll be interested to see what happens. I need new tyres for my 505 which is currently sitting on its original 5x14" steelies and running Michelin MXTE 180/85's.

I'm looking for at best 15" wheels off a GTi (steel or alloy, doesn't matter), or if not something like the 14" Amil wheels.

Would changing from 14" to 15" alter my speedo too much? I assume if I had pug 15" wheels I'd be best with 195/60's?
 
In Reply to:


I have just bought a very clean STI for $1000 Of course it has the metric rims. There was talk of turning them down to 15 inch, has anyone actually done this yet?
This car may be a basis for a Holden V6 conversion in the future.

A big slap in the face for wanting a holden pug mallet
Seriously, a Holden! mallet
 
I drove Commodores for work and they went like stink with excellent fuel economy. Trouble is they didn't steer, rode badly and up until the VT had no style!
My rally 505 2850 even fire goes nearly as well but uses more fuel.
Actually, this might not be neccessary as I am replacing the fuel injection with a suitably modified Fuego manifold and Weber DCD carby. Should be very interesting, hopefully it will be done by next week and then we will know if the engine or the injection system is the limiting factor in the STIs performance.
I will have a good look at the rims after the carby conversion, my 14 inch cheviots will do until then.

Graham Wallis
 
Graham,
I asked the guys at ajax wheel works about turning down the trx wheels and they said they had tried it, but found that the wheels are a very soft alloy, and when they tried to fit the tyre the lip of the wheel rim broke---not good news regards pete
 
Well, I've rung PugWreck in Vic, and they put me on a waiting list for either SR 5.5x14" steelies ($49.50 each) or Cheviot 14" alloys for about $440 for a set.

She told me that really it will be a while with all these STi owners wanting new wheels blush evil
 
What about 504 wheels and get wider rims fitted, or 604 wheels?
 
there used to be a bloke in VIC but i can't remember his name that used to turn the wheels down to suit the 15" tyres
i have seen a few sets that have been done and if they are done right they are no softer than what they were before hand but they are a very soft wheel to start with
they are also a very light wheel which on normal roads is a good thing and even better if you are doing some track work as you reduce your unsprung weight by using these wheels
I asked the guys at ajax wheel works about turning down the trx wheels and they said they had tried it, but found that the wheels are a very soft alloy, and when they tried to fit the tyre the lip of the wheel rim broke
Click to expand...
do you know if when they did this that they might have skimmed the lip of the rim at all or even undercut the lip ?
i did one as a trial a few years ago and ran it on the car for quite a while and never had any trouble with it
(i needed one as i had a bent one and this was all i had sitting at home )
but for the life of me i can't remember how much i had to remove hence the need to measure and compare the differences between the two wheels
i do know that it wasn't much at all the needed to be done
as far as i know that wheel i turned down is still running on the car but as i said it was a one off that i did but i have seen a few other sets that have been done without any trouble
 
GRAHAM WALLIS:
I am replacing the fuel injection with a suitably modified Fuego manifold and Weber DCD carby. Should be very interesting, hopefully it will be done by next week and then we will know if the engine or the injection system is the limiting factor in the STIs performance.
Click to expand...
Graham,

Sounds like a good idea. Let us know how it goes. I think you're right, the standard FI system is the limiting factor, because those mechanical airflow meters must be a large cause of high rpm restriction.

Are you just cutting and rewelding the Feugo manifold to give it the correct angle?

Are you using a 28/36DCD, or a 36DCD? I've never been able to solve the right hand corner high
G-force fuel starvation problem with the DCDs, but it usually only occurs when you're pushing really hard. The Cortina GT's were lucky that Bathurst is an anti-clockwise track. The DGV and the DFV don't suffer from the same problem, probably because their jets are in the centre of the fuel bowl, instead of the corners.

Dave
 
Dave,
We are using spacer blocks machined at suitable angles.
The carby is a 36DCD which I last used on a 404 rally car, no problems with surging. It has 28 and 29 mm venturis so should be big enough for the 2.2.

Graham
 
GRAHAM WALLIS:
. It has 28 and 29 mm venturis so should be big enough for the 2.2.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it should be big enough. The 36DCD I had on my 2 litre 504, and my father's before that, has 27mm venturis, and I remember my father doing around 7500rpm on a number of occasions, without it running out of breath, so I guess the 28 and 29mm venturis should suit the 2.2 litre well.

Dave
 
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