The bottom line on 355-to-Mondial wheel retrofit

Just wanted to provide those of you who may be considering a 355 wheel to Mondial retrofit with the definitive answer on how to accomplish this task. I performed multiple searches on this board, but I couldn't find any thread that spoke directly to the process through which this change could be accomplished. Accordingly, after seeing several cars in the showroom section that had been converted, I contacted many of the owners to get the word on what all I'd need to make the change. Surprisingly, I got as many different explanations as the number of people who responded (and most of those were "I think you....." answers). I even got the wrong information from a supplier of the parts I needed to make the swap!

In any event, I just thought it might be helpful to others in the future, who may be interested in this swap, if I provided my personal experience on what worked for me:

(a) Both front and rear 355 wheels will require 355 wheel bolts for them to be fitted to the Mondial. (These bolts have a 52mm shank - measured from base of head taper to end of threads)
(b) Front 355 wheels will fit the Mondial fine with no parts necessary in addition to the 355 bolts
(c) The rear 355 wheels (10" wide), contrary to what I was told by a couple of people, will absolutely requre a wheel spacer. I found that a 25mm spacer (one that has its own mounting bolts) was the best for my needs (It moves the wheel far enough outboard, so that the wheel/tire do not contact the rear springs, but it's not moved so far that it ends up being outside the fender lip.)

I used, essentially, the same diameter tire that came on the car (I went to a 225/40-18 in front and a 255/35-18 in the rear), because as most of us know, these cars really don't need a performance reduction. I was concerned that adding height would make the acceleration suffer. When I put everything on, the front looks fine, but the rear could now stand to be lowered ever so slightly......I may lower the car an inch or so for my next project. The tire you use is just a matter of taste.

Opinion of the change: It's GREAT! I presume the scrub radius must've been changed slightly, because the steering effort is drastically reduced! I thought it might have been attributed to the tire change (went from nearly new Yokohamas to Dunlops), but since my 16" tires are nearly new (and new technology), I have to assume it was due to the wheel offset. I'm VERY pleased with the way it drives, and the car is totally transformed visually (I know, I know, I plan to post photos very soon......when I drove it the first time, I went down a dusty road, and it got dirty as ****! Being black, it shows every bit of dirt, and I didn't want to show off the new wheels with it being completely filthy)

I hope this isn't a complete repost of an earlier thread, but I couldn't find anything that provided definitive answers on this swap.....Hope this helps others of you who may be about to make this swap

If you need parts for the swap, I found Daniel at Ricambi America to be the man! He was very helpful, and he got the parts to me directly.....

Regards,

David