Anyone tried the new Empi Aluminum wheels for drum brake cars?

[Jon Paul Phillips]

I have a B T5 coupe .. looking at these new Empi aluminum wheels for drum brake cars. Has anybody here fit them on a B car with the finned brake drums? I've spoken to both Sierra Madre customer service and then Empi customer service folks and can't get a definitive answer on whether they will clear the B drums. Also, they come in 4 1/2 inch and 5 1/2 inch widths with a 4" backspace on both .. which implies that on the 5 1/2" wheel, the one inch width increase pushes outboard. Anyone who has tried the 5 1/2" width have clearance issues? Appreciate any input. Here's the Sierra Madre website page for the 5 1/2" wide version and a picture: https://sierramadrecollection.com/356-e ... 54691.html

Empi Aluminum 356 wheel.jpg (24.8 KiB) Viewed 1634 times

[Martin Benade]

I also wonder if the stock studs are long enough. That part of the wheel looks crazy thick in the picture.

[Jon Paul Phillips]

I also wonder if the stock studs are long enough. That part of the wheel looks crazy thick in the picture.

I thought so too .. but Empi says they are designed with a deep enough ball seat for standard studs. I believe the Technomagnesio wheel like these is also about as thick and can be run on standard studs as well. If you look at the picture of the Empi, there's a raised lip around the center opening that adds to the cross section on the outboard mounting face only. Here's the Technomagnesio for comparison. 5" width .. 2 1/2 times the cost at $700 each:

Technomagnesio 5%22.jpg (21.19 KiB) Viewed 1615 times

Technomagnesio closeup.jpg (17.93 KiB) Viewed 1615 times

[Harlan Halsey]

That EMPI add says that these al wheels fit up to 1963, but it also says they are 10 lb. lighter than the original steel wheels. I seem to recall that the steel 15" x 4 1/2 356 wheels weigh about 15 lbs apiece. I doubt that these EMPI wheels can weigh in the neighborhood of 5 lbs! Aluminum is about 1/3 the weight of steel but aluminum wheels are much thicker than steel wheels. Typical aftermarket cast aluminum wheels are no lighter than the original steel, they are for stylin out, not performance. (Magnesium is lot lighter than aluminum and old "mag" race car wheels could be quite light. The 13 x 6 mag wheels original to my Ginetta G4 weigh 8 lbs apiece. Steel wheels weigh 13 lbs. But magnesium has the bad habit of inter granular corrosion which limits their life to only a few years. The lightest aluminum replacements I could find were Panasports at 10 lbs., and they were machined much thinner than the original cast mags.)
Porsche Fuchs wheels are a different story, as are the original 356 Porsche aluminum rim/steel center wheels. They actually did offer a performance advantage.
The Rudge knock offs which appears briefly as an potion are a similar story, they are heavier than the steel originals so they too are for only stylin out.

[Ronald Sieber]

Harlan:
Thanks for the data on wheel choices. One other thing that I wonder about is how well do the original Fuchs hold up after 40+ years, with maybe 20 on the road and 20+ in the garage or some barn? Or those that were tracked? Can they be repaired if cracks show up? Are they worth repairing after so long?

Things like this keep me up at night...

[Jon Paul Phillips]

That EMPI add says that these al wheels fit up to 1963, but it also says they are 10 lb. lighter than the original steel wheels. I seem to recall that the steel 15" x 4 1/2 356 wheels weigh about 15 lbs apiece. I doubt that these EMPI wheels can weigh in the neighborhood of 5 lbs!

I asked Empi about that as well. They said Sierra Madre's description was misleading (to say the least) because the 10 lb wheel weight savings they're describing ".. at least 10 lbs of wheel weight .. ' is total weight reduction over 4 wheels. In other words .. at least 2.5 lbs per wheel. Original steel wheels vary in weight quite a bit between manufacturers with Lemmerz being the heaviest at 14 1/2 lbs average per the wheels and weights thread on the registry here. I have Lemmerz on the car now .. so using those numbers would make these Empi aluminum wheels come in around 12 lbs each. Then I went back to Willhoit's website to see what they're description of the Technomagnesio said .. and they quote the weight of each of those wheels at 12 lbs per wheel: http://willhoit-auto-restoration.mybigc ... loy-wheel/

The savings isn't huge .. but 2 1/2 lbs of unsprung rotational weight per corner would probably make a difference you would feel in such a light car I'd think.

[Bil Brown]

SMC told me they weigh 12 lbs and are cast.

[Steve Proctor]

Another good point for the Empi wheel is the dimples to facilitate installation of hubcap clips. Appears that you could drill and tap holes for the clips and run hubcaps.

[Harlan Halsey]

Well, I stand corrected. If the EMPI wheels actually weigh only 12 lbs. apiece, their casting and machining must be pretty good. 2 1/2 lbs per wheel would probably be quite significant on a race car running light race tires. Maybe not noticeable on a street car.
I think the Fuchs wheels were forged, not cast, and that, along with good design, accounted for their light weight. I don't think age is a factor with he Fuchs wheels, forgings tend to bend rather than crack. I wouldn't have anything to do with cracked or repaired wheels, there seem to be plenty of good ones out there.

[Paul Lima]

I have a set of the original Technomagnesio wheels on my Roadster. Those wheels weigh 9.5 lbs and I think they are about as light as you can get.

[Steve Proctor]

I have a set of Technos as well, the recent TUV / DOT-approved version. I was told by Peter McCurdy, the US seller at the time ( 2013), that the earlier wheels were lighter, but were not TUV / DOT approved.

[Vic Skirmants]

Harlan Halsey said "I don't think age is a factor with he Fuchs wheels,"
Absolutely. Never saw a real Fuchs cracked, and they are really hard to bend. Have been using them on my race cars for 40+ years!
And the 6" x 15" Fuchs are one whole pound lighter than real original Minilite magnesium wheels in the same size.

[Brad Ripley]

Paul Lima is referring to the original Technomagnesio wheels which were actually magnesium and were quality castings. The earliest of those were made in Italy and later in the Ukraine. They were the lightest 356 wheel ever made and usually accepted for vintage racing -- no longer in production.

Wheels currently being sold under the same name are aluminum and are over 12 pounds each. Plus, now it appears Empi is selling something similar, in two widths and apparently can take a normal hubcap.

[Adam Wright]

Harlan Halsey said "I don't think age is a factor with he Fuchs wheels,"
Absolutely. Never saw a real Fuchs cracked, and they are really hard to bend. Have been using them on my race cars for 40+ years!
And the 6" x 15" Fuchs are one whole pound lighter than real original Minilite magnesium wheels in the same size.

The fake ones like to crack.

[Trevor Gates]

Jack Staggs put a 5 1/2” set on an A Coupe last week. Original studs are 37mm, he needed 5 more millimeters so he bought the next size up (45mm) Porsche p/n: 90434167100 superseded by p/n: 99333167101.

Good observation Steve regarding hubcaps.