2600 wheels

[6474alfa]

Ruedi ,

My wires are sealed and use special stainless lugs which look like a extended sockets. They cost 16 dollars each and would go with the hubs if I could but Dayton said they would not work with my rear drums? I not sure why as my wires are all the same and fit same on my front disc? In any event it's amazing how well the lugs are buried behind the spokes and I'll send you some close up photos this weekend.

I drove the spider to work today and starting to get a liitle more confidence in taking turns at good speeds now,and you know what I mean, but the difference is handling is remarkable. Still not a race car but so much easier to steer and take turns well not to mention safety.

My wires cost about $500 each and another $320 for lugs. Not to bad when you consider their custom made. I suspect Hubs cost about the same as my Lugs but guess you need 5 rims instead of 4.

If anybody wants to order my exact rims from Dayto,n I have a wholesaler who will get same for another 20 % less . Dayton would not accept my wholsaler and his discounts but now that they have already been designed and spec'd out they should now accept wholsale ?


Hope this info is helpful .

Thanks

Andy

[D&SW]

supposedly Dayton's having a promo..just got this last nite (they'll probably say its not for "custom" orders, lol)

I'm

[sgavell]

Andy:
Its very encouraging to hear that you have had such a good experience with the final product, despite the issues with Dayton. Do you have a ref. number if others wanted to get the exact same specs from Dayton? Are you based in the U.S. or overseas-were there
any issues with shipping.
Stefan

[D&SW]

Stefan; looks like you're new to the BB? if so , welcome...would you care to share some specifics about your car? pics? history?

Re: wheels I can jump in a bit here...I just talked to the Dayton rep yesterday. Apparently, Andy's order is famous! it resulted in a lot of people at Dayton becoming familiar with 2600 spiders.

so they have the specifications of his wheels. however, I was told that they prefer having specific measurements done on each car...I did them, and they are reviewing them now to make sure they do the wheels to fit; also the wheel configuration may vary depending on whether you have all-discs or rear drums...\

hope that helps.

David

[sgavell]

thanks Dave:
Been following BB for a while-great site- but hadn't posted until now. I have a '63 2600 spider, US version, which I've had for about 12 years-in England. Its been off the road for the last 5 years and is currently being restored (slowly). Once its done, I'm going to keep it in France. No pics right now, but will have some eventually. Not sure about the practicality of shipping wires from the US, but certainly cheaper than Borranis!

[D&SW]

congratulations on the car...I haven't heard of anything being restored other than "slowly" although every once in a while a magazine like "Practical Classics" has an article about a major restoration that's done in 6 months.... money does talk. (Mine's been saying "good-bye" a lot)

you could check out shipping with your post service. shipping weight of wheels should be around 30 lbs each x 4 boxes.

surface transport 4-6 weeks, so I think if you're not in a rush this will most likely be the least exp way

David

[6474alfa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgavell Andy: Its very encouraging to hear that you have had such a good experience with the final product, despite the issues with Dayton. Do you have a ref. number if others wanted to get the exact same specs from Dayton? Are you based in the U.S. or overseas-were there any issues with shipping. Stefan

[6474alfa]

Ruedi/Dave

Please find some more close ups of my Dayton Wires :

[sgavell]

Thanks for the specs. Great pictures.

[D&SW]

Update on Dayton's wire wheels for the 2600:

I have disc brakes all around; however, after much discussion at Dayton, it seems that the only way a true knock-off type wheel could be used would be in conjunction with a
1" billet spacer, in addition to the hub adapter. This is in order to clear the caliper which sticks out a bit too much (5/8") beyond the hub. I don't feel this is prudent since it requires 2 adapters to mount the wheel to the hub.

so to summarize the options for wire wheels as I understand them:

1. direct bolt (as Andy successfully used, and I have just ordered)

- least costly, but wheel nuts are slightly visible

2. knock-off using adapters and billet spacers

-more genuine look, but seems least satisfactory in terms of strength and safety; also pushes wheel a bit more outward towards fender

3. knock off wheels, but the existing hubs are replaced with spline-drive hubs (I believe this set-up is available from Borrani)

- probably the perfect look but with Borrani's almost 4 times the cost of the Dayton bolt-ons.

David

[DPeterson3]

Will these bolt-ons fit over the drum brakes. An above post says
"If you have rear drum these should be not be considered custom by Dayton and you....",

but I can't really tell what this sentence means. I want to do my 102 2000 Roadster, and am happy with the look of the Dayton wires and bolt-ons, if they'll fit.

Thx.
Don

[D&SW]

I don't mean to speak for Andy, but I think he was originally trying to go through a Dayton distributor, instead of going to Dayton directly ( and the distributor was going to give him a 20% discount).

BTW Dayton contacted me this a.m. saying that they were working with another Alfa customer for similar wheels; was that you Don? or someone else?

anyway, Dayton asked for pics of Andy's wheels to forward to this "customer" so I gave them the link to this BB page since Andy posted his pics here.

I think they ought to be giving us at least the $ 300 disount that they were offering as a "Father's Day Special" since we're starting to generate business for them.

David

[6474alfa]

Yes these wries will fit 2600's with drums . I thought the rims would actually fit over the drums similar to the stock metal rims but they actually are spaced out by about a inch and a quarter and if you look closley to my photos above you'll see the aluminum spacer which is part of the hub itself. This spacer allows the rims to clear everything front and back and really look good on car as they fill the wheel well out very nicely. I also have 206/60/16 Michelin Primacy tires and the ride is unbeleivable . I agree with Dave these rims should no be consider stock as they do not need to be reengineered as I already went through that and paid fot it. Dayton may disagree but you got nothing to looos
I have the wholsale contact who can order these for you at 20 % less which should bring cost to about 400 a rim . Also note with these rims you need special lugs nuts that are about 2 inched long which fit through hub and spacer . They look like extended sockets and are stainless steel which Dayton farms out . They are $15 a peice so they add up. Also if anybody need 10 of same and has reverse left hand threads - I've got em and will give you a great price as I don't need

You won't be sorry if you get these as they improve the handling so much not to mention the appearance .

Good luck and let me know if you need anything

thanks


Andy

[D&SW]

just checked my wheel nuts; all are RH thread...

wonder if Alfa changed over to all-RH at some point during the 2600 production run? certainly simplifies things and would have saved them a little $

anyone know?

David

[tubut]

I see no information in parts catalogs, corrections, amendmends or TSBs that Alfa made a change. It appears LH/RH threads existed throughout the production of these cars. Therefore I presume the changing of your studs to all RH must have been by a previous owner or its mechanic.