Fitting 14” Fuchs to Roadster

[Ron Delmendo]

Hi all-

I’m finishing up the conversion of my Roadster from drums to discs. I fitted a set of 14” Fuchs to the car since I had far too many stored in the basement. The inside of the rear wheels rubs on the bump stops. Has anyone fitted 14” Fuchs to a drum brake car? If so, what did you have to do to make things fit? Spacers, grind off a bit of the bump stops or swap out the wheels for 15”? I do have a set of 15” that are on my 911E (which originally had the 14” as part of the comfort package), so I could swap the wheels.

Thank you!

[Doug McDonnell]

From an old post by the Late Charlie White His was a C coupe. You will probably have to experiment a bit as your body is obviously different. "I have a set of Fuchs on my 65 C.
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#14 Post by Charlie White » Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:46 pm

I have a 65 C coupe, red with black interior. Some time ago, I got an urge to do something different with my 356, sorta go mild "outlaw" by making easily reversable changes. I was getting bored with the stock/stock condition of my car. So I acquired a set of 5.5 x 14 Fuchs alloys as I thought these wheels would be lighter and combined with low profile tires, would lower the car all around, something that seemed attractive to me at the time. But I didn't like the "star" appearance of the wheels. They just didn't look right on a 356. So I had them refinished semi-gloss black, kinda half way between gloss black and flat black, and then had the edge of the rim polished to a width of about 1.5 inches (now looks like chrome around the edge). This took the "star" appearance away, and gave me a lighter wheel and together with 185 x 60 tires, noticably lowered the car all around. Getting the Fuchs wheel/185x60 wheel combination to fit on my car was another matter. Up front this combo would only fit with 1/4 inch spacers. On the rear, the inside edge of the rim rubbed that "metal thingie" up high under the wheel well that holds the rubber "thingie". The only solution was to grid the edge of the "metal thingie" so that the wheel edge would not rub. Having accomplished all this, and having mounted the wheels now not rubbing or causing any other problems, I drove the car like this for several months.
Starting out in 1st gear was a little more thrilling than normal, and 2nd was a real kick. Lost a little top end, but around town it was a blast. Overall, I was generally satisfied with the conversion although sorry I had to grind that "metal thingie", which is a thingie one can't easily replalce.
Subsequently, I got tired of this arrangement, and went back to my 5.5 x 15 chrome wheels. That's what's on the car now. I have four sets of wheels, 4.5 x 15 original chromes, 5.5 x 15 original chroms (off a 911 or whatever), the 5.5 x 14 Fuchs (careful, don't want to mispell this!), and last but not least, a set of 5.5 x 15 standard painted wheels. Every once in a while, I get a wild hair and make a switch, but overall, after all this, I really prefer the 5.5 x 15 chromes. The chrome wheels dress up the car nicely, and the spread the tires out slightly so they look like they are a little wider. I guess I went to a lot of trouble to come around full circle on this!

Charlie White
Scottsdale, Arizona"

[John Wurner]

I have 5 1/2X 15" Fuchs wheels on my 58 Speedster with a disk set up.
They work fine and do not rub, even on sharp turns.

[Al Zim]

If you look at tire specifications on the tires used by Porsche air cooled vehicles you will see that 700 Revolutions Per Mile is common regardless of tire size and diameter. Unless you gain a 10 to 15% increase in power due to your modifications of your vehicle your guess on acceleration will be exactly that! Cutting the edge off the bump stop bracket reduces the strength of the bracket. I usually heat the bracket and bump it gently with a hammer to give some clearance and then use a small spacer to move the wheel to the outside. It seem that on the right side of the vehicle, the clearance to the tire is always less than on the left side. After 54 years you should have a competent shop align the vehicle. Be sure to set the stop on the spindle that keeps the wheel from rubbing the fender. al zim 2019/06/06

[George Hussey]

yes I had to grind to fit the 14s, later installed 15s an they cleared just fine

[Jules Dielen]

perhaps an early 911 spacer could solve the clearance issues? They offer 4mm or 5mm 130 x 5 - that should leave plenty of thread for the lug nuts.

[Ron Delmendo]

Thank you George, how much did you need to grind?

Thank you Jules, you wouldn’t happen to have a part number for the 4mm spacer? Stoddard only lists a 7mm spacer and that may be too big.

[Jules Dielen]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hub-Centric-Wh ... 2563435238

they are 5mm.

[Hugo Karasawa]

Check Rennline
http://www.rennline.com/wheel-spacers-h ... MM%20FLAT/

[Mike Horton]

Ron, when Porsche included the 5.5" steel, or Fuchs, for the '68 900 cars, they did add a factory roughly .200" spacer to the rear rotor, sandwiched between the wheel, and hub, and on the front, installed about that thickness thicker front hubs, and, in '68, the last SWB 911/912, thinned the top rolled under fender lip, for added tire clearance, with the stock 165 radials, and the LWB '69s, came with slightly rolled fenders. The rear spacers attach with countersunk screws, and that same spacer, might fix the fronts, as well. That wheel, is very light, and first came on the early 911E, or with the "comfort group" option. It next was the optional wheel, on the 914-6, as it has more inner offset, only .040" wider, than the '68/'69 5.5" steel wheel. Then, not through with them, it was the optional wheel, for the 912E, quite a run. The 205-70X14" tires, are closest to the 165 OD.

[Jay Broemmel]

These have been hanging on the wall in my garage forever. 6mm-1/4”. My dad used them when he autocrossed back in the ‘70s. Make me an offer. J