Ilaria lives, again! (Read: I got the new wheels under her)

"DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully" (danceswithrotors)
04/13/2014 at 13:49 • Filed to: Fiat

So, for those Opponauts who have been following my wheel issues... I finally got in the PCD variation bolts from Bayless and mounted the 4x100 BMW wheels. It turns out that there is a little lip on the inside for the E30 wheels, that is almost exactly the amount one needs to widen the hub to get them to fit.

Grind out the lip, wheels fit, drive 300+ miles in two days, to make sure it all went together properly. No drama? Good. Drink a beer.

And now, pictures.

I still need to clean the plastidip off of the right rear, from where that wheel was dipped at one point... However, it's not a bad setup.

So far, she's still never failed to start, although I really do need to start hunting for a 131 transmission to fix the comically short 5th gear. 3500rpm at 55mph is not a recipe for good fuel economy, even though it sounds amazing.

DISCUSSION (5)

Bird > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
04/13/2014 at 13:56

"PCD variation bolts" lol. Never heard that before...only heard them called 'wobble bolts'.

Did you clearance the cylinder bore to get those to fit? You really should only use wobble bolts when your wheels have the correct center bore, or you use an adapter ring. The center bore is doing all the work of keeping the wheel centered. If you're center bore is off, and you use wobble bolts, that could lead to a vibration or a wheel flying off.

jkm7680 > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
04/13/2014 at 13:58

Looks Good! I'm liking that brown.

DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully > Bird
04/13/2014 at 14:00

I did. The technical term is "PCD Variation bolts" though.

The BMW wheels were .040" smaller in bore than the Fiat hub, so I bored them out by just a hint past that, to fit. When done, the loosest wheel cleared the hub by .0025 inches, and the tightest was by .0015 inches.

Bird > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
04/13/2014 at 14:09

Ok that's not too bad. As long as you know what you're doing and didn't just slap them on. A lot of people don't understand that your wheel staying centered is important...

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully
04/13/2014 at 16:03

Those wheels suit it actually. Nice, albeit unorthodox choice :)