[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Section L - Wheels and Tyres
Page 4
Subject: Re: Tire Help
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 08:00:38 -0800
From: "Jay Laifman"
To:br>
I recently bought tires for our Volvo. In the process I spoke with Michelin directly and inquired about my Alpine and '73 Porsche. They told me that their only distributor of tires for those cars is Coker Tires. You've probably seen ads by Coker showing white walls and other tires for classic cars. I hear they are expensive. But, if you are looking for tires taller than 50's ;*) you might try them.
Jay
>I also run this tire size - it seems that Goodrich has discontinued
>them, and you'll have to make calls to your local tire shops to see if
>any have been "stashed away".
>Goodrich still males the 205-50-R13...
>James Barrett wrote:
>>
>> Folks,
>> I also have a tire problem. Need to find a pair of
>>235-50-13. My existing set is BF-Goodrich TAs. One
>>is now bald. I have been unable to locate this tire. Including
>> doing web searches. Any one know of a set this size?
Subject: Re: tires
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 14:39:56 EST
From: Mike Wood
To: Jim __
In a message dated 1/8/99
Jim____ writes:
> Sorry I haven't paid much attention to the tire talk of late. But I'm
> going to need new tires soon, as the current ones are suffering from dry
> rot (age unknown). Mine came with a mismatched set of Pirelli's (P77 on
> the front, P400 on the rear) P185/70-13 mounted on L.A.T. 9 wheels.
> This size Pirelli is still available in my area at $71/tire. Seems to
>work fine for me (I don't race). Anything wrong with this set-up? >
Jim-
There are a number of choices for all-weather tires in a 185/70-13 size and they all should work fine for you. The P400 is available from Tire Rack (888-370-8473) for $44/each. If you want a little more contact patch and a little less sidewall, Yokohama makes the AVS in a 205/60-13 size ($79). Also available in a 185/70-13 is the Bridgestone Potenza RE92 for $49 or a Firestone Firehawk SS10 for $39. You might also look into the Michelin MXV.
The problem is finding real high performance tires (you know, the kind that wear out and lose it after 4 heat cycles) in a 185/70-13 or even 215/60-13 now that BF Goodrich has stopped making the TA-R1's. I am looking into availability of the Kumho Victoracer and Hoosier R3S02.
If street driving and touring, with an occasional blast through the twisties, is the application, I would just buy the $50-75 tires which do all things well and last a while.
Mike
From:Jim _____
Subject: Re: Wheels
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 21:08:19
+0000
From: Jeff Hacker
To: Larry Paulick
CC:
Tiger Net
References:
1
Larry Paulick wrote:
>
> I am looking for a good price on Panasport 14" or 15" wheels for my
> Tiger. Does anyone have any experience and can recommend a company.
> Mail order is just fine.
>
> Larry
Hi Larry,
I put a set of 14" Panasport wheels on my '67 Alpine two years ago. I bought from - K-Speed Inc. State College ,Pennsylvania. They have ads in "British Car" magazine usually monthly. They were very helpful determinig the right size for my car, and I have been very pleased with their 
product & service. The only negative result w/ the Panasports is ... my Alpine is frequently mistaken for one of those Tigers...
K-Speed Inc. phone number is:
800-494-0708
later,
jeff
From:Jim _____
Subject: Re: VB minilite copies
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999
08:48:22 -0000
From: "Ed Esslinger"
To: Steve Laifman
Steve- I had them machined 1/16" larger and
to a depth of about 3/4". Cost
Me $5 per wheel. The SOS SPRING THING
is In FL. not too far, If you like
to drive a Sunbeam. --- Ed.
-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Laifman
To: Ed Esslinger
Date: Thursday, February 04, 1999 4:23 AM
From: Jim _____
Subject: Re: VB minilite copies
>Ed,
>
>Nothing like a little persistence. If you mean the trek to
>Montana, no. I am kind of stuck to the Southern California
>region for car travel. Have the same interference on my
>original dealer installed American Racing 8 spokes. Needs a
>little more diameter on the front hub. PO had a spacer in
>there and the wheels stuck out too far. Now I'll have them
>clearanced correctly. About how much did you take out
>(diameter and depth) to clear the front hub? How much as
>the Tab?
>
>
>Steve
>
>--
>Steve Laifman
From: Jim _____
Subject: Re: inquiry 021299b
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 21:42:12 -0700
From: Dave McDermott
To: " Larry Wright "
"National Corporation (E-mail)"
Larry,
Tech Del and Minilite are alive and well. I talked to them in England two days ago. They make two versions of Minilites now. One is the "Sports Wheel" which I think Rick distributes in various sizes including 13x6. Their other Minilite is their alloy wheel which is identical and made from the same molds as the original Miniltes except from aluminum instead of magnesium. However the originals were 5 or 5 1/2 inches wide whereas the smallest size in 13s that they sell today is 6" wide. They make the raw castings and then machine these to the customers specification when the order is received. They can give different offsets within a certain range but they have a recommended one for Tigers. They also can make them for the old sleeved lug nuts or for the tapered lug nuts.
They have a new telephone number in England- 0132 7311456.
As I recall the Minator that VB sells comes in a 5 1/2 " width and some have reported needs some machining to work on a Tiger.
Dave McDermott
At 07:54 AM 2/12/1999 -0500, Wright, Larry
wrote:
>Timothy Beloney wrote:
>*I guess I will conform and go with the
>*Miniator (they do look nice) from VB (Sorry Steve L.)
>
>Are these wheels from Very Bad better or cheaper than Panasports? Or
>genuine Minilites, as I've read that Tech Del is back in business? I'm
>not in the market for wheels myself, just curious, as that's the _last_
>place I'd be looking for a set. Hey, perhaps the Miniator has a feature
>where it un-spools a length of string while you drive so you can find
>your way home again.
>
>Tom Hall wrote:
>*It is possible to use pacers up to about 1/4" between the frame and the
>*crossmember to obtain equal caster angles.
>
>Well, whaddaya know, there's a useful application for Pacers. Sounds
>like you gotta slice 'em awfully thin, though.
>
>Lawrence R. Wright
>Purchasing Analyst
>Andrews Office Products Div. of USOP
>lrw@aop.com
>Ph. 301.386.7923 Fx. 301.386.5333
>
From: Jim _____
Subject: Minilites and Tech-Del
(UK)
Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1999
00:38:35 -0500
From: "Schotland"
To: ,
alpines@autox.team.net
To Larry and anyone else who's considering buying Minilites factory direct:
I bought a large quantity of Minilites from Tech-Del (UK) about 3 years ago. Tech-Del was an absolute nightmare to deal with. Lots of broken promises and BS I could have done without. Delivery took 6+ months(!) - only after numerous phone calls and threats to cancel the payment I made on my credit card.
Maybe they've gotten their act together since then, but I tend to doubt it.
On the positive side, these wheels are very high quality and I'm quite pleased with them. Unlike Panasports, you don't see real Minilites very often.
Unless you're prepared to purchase 6+ sets of 4, you're probabl not going to save anything by going factory direct. On small quantities, any savings on the cost of the wheels will be eaten up by shipping, customs duties, taxes, documentation fees, etc. - and don't forget the value of your time and trouble. If you still want to go factory direct, get the deal from Tech-Del (shipping date, price, packing fees, etc.) in writing and only pay by credit card (not by a debit card) to protect yourself. Your credit card company will go to bat for you if there's a problem. With a debit
card you're S.O.L. once the money leaves your bank account.
My advice is buy your genuine Minilites from Rick at Sunbeam Specialties. His price is fair (around $185 or so each, depending on size) and you know he'll stand behind them if there's a problem.
Besides, we should support Rick because he's done so much on behalf of the marque. And let's not forget Tiger Tom's and Classic Sunbeam too.
Gary Schotland
> Larry,
>
> Tech Del and Minilite are alive and well. I talked to them in
> England two days ago. They make two versions of Minilites now.
> One is the "Sports Wheel" which I think Rick distributes in various
> sizes including 13x6. Their other Minilite is their alloy wheel which
> is identical and made from the same molds as the original Miniltes
> except from aluminum instead of magnesium. However the originals
> were 5 or 5 1/2 inches wide whereas the smallest size in 13s that they
> sell today is 6" wide. They make the raw castings and then machine
> these to the customers specification when the order is received. They
> can give different offsets within a certain range but they have a
> recommended one for Tigers. They also can make them for
> the old sleeved lug nuts or for the tapered lug nuts. They have a new
> telephone number in England- 0132 7311456.
> As I recall the Minator that VB sells comes in a 5 1/2 " width and
> some have reported needs some machining to work on a Tiger.
>
> Dave McDermott
>
>
> At 07:54 AM 2/12/1999 -0500, Wright, Larry
wrote:
> >Timothy Beloney wrote:
> >*I guess I will conform and go with toV!.OL1u=bw/wRg"310cZ[mhH vXV
ZA{IU×Nf'[ɆBDd$ SCP|8!%9fjܗ3Ez=l{jm= %{37Cr$\d!!nX^>{a44u˵KR̊f@ǀPCh ;\=lU?m͡ -u,adWdf(Ϧ X\,<* @Y^]e7O7wvzű^ٰy%|TE>}{˗o`4C%W* q Um,?r`4U)Q(*qJ6 BH8R z8eLcDۆM QEu{CRvo;sʽ*$J9|Qջ崑0J%"I2$&JR#j^4~c
&mt L )f(r8{iܥlA'k1P9Q=˻hwUz|kHP(a
C4e+$2B[
(-Mr o Mٌ(H-B U qYhEy Pcq \ c.^|U[V^ DgT>,e섢R$Y,Fשcf)B l
H 0W` x$qBHrOio$6~֢Mm[7f-of6T_q`=
\DJKV*.΄45E"s999"U$M)LwQYUeNF@r;!++l#R[e5ѨSjUmߔ7LƷ!66c(WKKQ9}ٽrTkyUBH$!f A,152pgOm 4@jE˭tf˜A!
l O#9@ր?ZJt+o