Wheel size

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Mark James Ready
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Wheel size

#1 Post by Mark James Ready »

What size wheel should a 51 Split Window Cabriolet have?
16"x3" or 16"x 5"?
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Bil Brown
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Re: Wheel size

#2 Post by Bil Brown »

16" x 3"
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Mark James Ready
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Re: Wheel size

#3 Post by Mark James Ready »

Thanks Bill

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James Davies
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Re: Wheel size

#4 Post by James Davies »

As you can see from the 1951 brochure below, the wheels were either 3.00 D-16 or 3.25 D-16. Tires were 5.00x16.
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Bil Brown
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Re: Wheel size

#5 Post by Bil Brown »

My old 51 #10960 had 2 of its original wheels, both 3x16 and painted body color Moor Green.
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Alan Hall
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Re: Wheel size

#6 Post by Alan Hall »

Bill, Were the wheels slotted or solid on your '51?

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Vic Skirmants
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Re: Wheel size

#7 Post by Vic Skirmants »

Alan Hall wrote: Wed Feb 23, 2022 12:42 am Bill, Were the wheels slotted or solid on your '51?
I always assumed solid wheels were VW and therefore 3" wide. Slotted were Porsche and 3.25".
Is that correct?

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Alan Hall
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Re: Wheel size

#8 Post by Alan Hall »

Vic, That was my thought also, but wondered if there were exceptions.

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Martin Benade
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Re: Wheel size

#9 Post by Martin Benade »

Didn’t the earliest cars use solid wheels, presumably the same as a VW?
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James Davies
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Re: Wheel size

#10 Post by James Davies »

Yes, early cars had solid wheels, but slotted were available by May 1951, and where used on the Le Mans SL cars in June 1951. Not sure when they started being used on the production line. But certainly during 1951.

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Bil Brown
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Re: Wheel size

#11 Post by Bil Brown »

The wheels on my old 51 #10960 were 3"x16" with solid centers.........what`s the earliest dated slotted 16" wheel out there?
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Re: Wheel size

#12 Post by Mark James Ready »

I have photos my 51 Cabriolet from 1951 which show a solid wheel.

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Brett Johnson
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Re: Wheel size

#13 Post by Brett Johnson »

The earliest slotted wheel on a Kardex is 5578 in April 1951.
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James Davies
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Re: Wheel size

#14 Post by James Davies »

Wow, that's really early!

Funny enough, 5578 has been restored with solid wheels.

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Brett Johnson
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Re: Wheel size

#15 Post by Brett Johnson »

Sorry, I'm writing about wheels for my next Registry column and have lotsa fresh content:

The slotted 3.25" x 16" wheels first fitted in April 1951 appear to be commonly used from October 1951 on 1500 cc cars with the solid 3" x 16" still being used on 1100 and 1300 cars. By late 1952 (early 1953 MY) all cars had slotted wheels. Chrome effect (silver painted) wheels are first found on Speedsters around April 1955 and on coupes and cabriolets shortly thereafter.

While looking at photos of the 1951 SL cars which raced on 3.25" x 16" slotted wheels I noticed differences in the slots on #055 when it was used at Montlhéry (September) from the cars at Le Mans (June).

My '55 coupe has Lemmerz wheels dated 1/53 and a KPZ spare dated 7/55 (came with 15" wheels back in 1978). The Lemmerz slots are kind of a tri-oval shape (like Daytona), while the KPZ slots are more oval and slightly longer and narrower. The former matches the Montlhéry wheels, while the latter more closely matches the Le Mans wheels. Anybody else done research on wheel brand differences?
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