So Dom! How's it going with those rims? They sure do look nice... Might have to pick up a pair of them myself. --Mike
I sorted out the dust cap issue. Ill confirm it tonight but my digital camera went for a crap on Sunday so no pics yet. I shortened the original cap, flattened the bead so the cap would sit further into the hub and then I tapered it slightly with a body hammer. It doesnt look all lumpy and then I took 1/16" off the end of the spindle with a grinder so the cap doesnt rub on the end of it. Once anodized it will look factory.
I have fitted the superformance wheels to my GT4 and think they are absolutely excellent..especially for the price, I have gone for eight inch wide all round purely on aesthetics. The only minor problem was that I found the powder coat finish a bit bright.....looking somewhat like Christmas decoration paint, I am however a paint sprayer and as such found it no problem to rectify. My main reason for fitting these was the fact that the prices for the 14 inch XWX's are ridiculously high and a modern 16inch semi-low profile performs much better at a fraction of the cost. I have bought Yokohamas at £88 fitted (very soft and grippy but not much of a concern with low annual mileage). As a consequence I now have a set of original GT4 wheels for sale with tyres plus two extra XWX 205/70/14 tyres that are practically like new. Please email if interested. Gareth
Cool news Newman. I just got my 328 wheels delivered today from Ferrari UK. Unfortunately, I am out of town this week, so I won't be able to play for a couple of days. Dom
Dom, make sure to park your baby outside while you are out this week and don't turn your alarm on I know someone who also wants some 328 wheels with new tires.
Birdman- The total price including shipping from the UK came to about $1670, IIRC. Unfortunatley, the sinking price of the dollar didn't help much, but the price is still about what a set of repro's will cost you (maybe slightly less). 1975gt4don- the wheels are securely locked in my garage. I told my wife to keep her eyes out for a white GT4 scoping the neighborhood. Dom
Here are a couple of shots of the Superformance reproduction wheels for those curious of the design and finish. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
The only thing I see missing is the Chromo logo and rim dimensions. I know you can buy the stickers but no thanks. Boy those look beautiful, and I want that tread! Much more modern and mean looking. Yoko's you say. less than 100 bucks I think I will call Super...
So I finally got some tires for my wheels (Kumho MX) and took a look at the mounting. If I remove the dust cap, I can fit the wheel with the center cap (but I am not sure how much space I am left with between the center cap and spindle). You mentioned that you modified your dust cap so that the wheel (and presumably the center cap) fit properly. Can you describe in more detail exactly what you did? Do you have any photos? Just from visual observation, I'm not sure there is all that much space I can grind away from the spindle. There was alot of grease so it was tough to see clearly. If you have any photos, that would help alot. Thanks, Dom
My camera is being repaired so no photos yet. The first thing I did was take the grease cap, insert a 15/16" socket inside it to use as an anvil. I used a body hammer to flatten the rib on the side of the cap then ground smooth. Grind 1/2" of the end of the skirt of the grease cap to make it shorter. Grind the end of the spindle so it is flush with the collar on the spindle nut. Install the grease cap, rim and see how close the horsie cap is to the grease cap. I then used the body hammer to taper the cap but havent continued due to other things on my plate at the moment. It is very close to fitting. Some reworking of the grease cap is what I plan to do. At this point though, you could trim the end of the plastic off the horsie cap and hold in place using silicone. If I cant get enough clearance with the factory shoulder nut on the spindle, Ill install a castle nut, drill a hole for a split pin and remove another 1/8" off the spindle. It will fit for sure that way, just havent had time to get back to it. Hope that helps. The bottom line is if you mess around with it, you wont need spacers and you wont have to fabricate a ring to mount the horsie cap into and it wont affect using any wheel you want to put on the car.
Sounds like hard work to me - easier fix is the new dust cap and Cavallino support ring. - No mods to hub, axle, nuts or wheel - ez!
Do you have the specs on milling the support ring? If I were to take this route, I assume I would need to go to a machine shop with the specs and have them mill it. Also, any other details you can share about turning up the new hub cap? Remember, I am a mechanical novice, so alot of this stuff may be over my head... I'm still a little hesistant on going with the support ring method. My dad is a mechanic (you'd think I would have learned something about cars from him), and will be here next week, so maybe he can help me do what Newman suggests. If not, I may just go the professional route, and have a local ferrari mechanic do it. Dom
Speedline manufactured the 328 wheels and I believe the metric wheels. I have heard that Tecnomagnesio manufactured some 16" OEM wheels and supplied Ferrari but I have never been able to prove it. With regards to the OEM 16" wheels the only difference between the Cromodora and Campagnolo is the raised lettering. The wheels are otherwise identical.
jmillard308, I have a half an hour invested so far, I figure another 30min should have it covered. I just dont want some goofy looking snout sticking out of the clean design rim face to mount the center cap, especially if it isnt repeated on the rear rim! I find that the right way to fix anything is usually the hard way rather than a quick fix. To each is own, Im sticking to my route and Ill be happy with the results.
Dom Next time I have the wheels off I will measure for you - the hardest bit is the dust cap, but anyone with a lathe would find it easy. Regards John
Just thought I would finally update this thread. I wound up taking my car to a local mechanic (Larry at FerrariTech in Orange, CA) a few weeks ago to do the mods so I could fit the wheels. He said it was fairly easy to do, but labor intensive (3 hours of labour- Ouch!). It did involve grinding the spindle down somewhat, and then they modified the dust cap. The dust cap modification looks beautiful, and the wheels fit no problem. Larry mentioned to me that it was a little more difficult to fit on my GT4 relative to other 308's he's done in the past. Maybe a GT4 specific issue, or just my car?? Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to take a photo of the dust cap mod. Maybe this weekend I will try to jack up the car and get the photos. Dom
Great looking car. <g> What tire sizes did you end up with, and have you had any clearance/rubbing problems?
I went with the stock 328 tire size, which is 205/55 front and 225/50 rear. No rubbing, no problems. However, I've since seen a GT4 locally that had the 225/50 front and I think 245/45 rear, and they mentioned no rubbing. The guy did mention that the wheel was really hard to turn when moving slowly (i.e., in a parking lot). Dom
328 '89 Origional Convex rims ugly Works split rims 18" Origional OD obtained with Pirelli' s 255 x 35 x 18 and 225 x 45 x 18. No problems. Car heavy to steer at low speed. Firmer at high speed Surprisingly more comfortable even on bad roads than origional higher profile tires. Looks great especially when moving. ( bad picture) regards Skin.
