I know it's a bit old hat, but the very best wheels that are readily available and will suit the Dolomite's rather oddball requirements, are the original Sprint alloys.
The correct dimensions for these are 5.5x13" with a 3.75" (95.25mm) Pitch Center Diameter (PCD) and, most importantly, an offset (or ET) of +35mm.
This rather extreme ET, more common on FWD cars, is the governing dimension of how far the wheels will stick out of the side of the car, the number going DOWN, counterintuitively, as the rim gets further out, so a wheel with an ET of +10 will sit roughly an inch further out in the arch than the stock Sprint rim - and will undoubtedly foul the rear arches on every tiny bump!
I also use the early MGF rims (which are 6x15" and have an ET around +27mm) as they are the most easily available other rim that can be persuaded to fit and pair them with 185/55/15 tyres which are the widest that will fit inside MOST Dolomite's standard rear arches and not foul the front valance/spoiler (if fitted) on full lock. The reason I say MOST Dolomites is that production tolerances on the cars were very lax, sometimes you'll find one where even the 185/55s will touch occasionally.
Having personally spent many hours combing through wheel suppliers catalogues, I can tell you that pairing a suitable ET with the Triumph PCD is well nigh impossible, even with brand new wheels, the combo is just not out there! Let alone in a pattern of wheel i'd describe as desirable!
There is one other wheel you can get away with, that being the standard TR7 Alloy, which also has an ET of +27 or thereabouts. Personally, I think they are ugly, but that's just my own taste! But you'd think that with the TR7 being a "sports car" the aftermarket would be flooded with more appealing substitutes. I made this mistake and bought a set of 5.5x14 wheels marked as for TR7 at the Stoneliegh show. It turned out that, though they WILL fit a TR7 (or a Spitfire/GT6) they have an ET of only +14, so foul the arches of my Sprint something wicked! Checking the manufacturers catalogue (John Brown Wheels) they don't produce a wheel of that (fake Minilite) pattern with the correct PCD and a usable ET, +14 was as far as they go!
So I wish you luck!
Steve
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!
Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.
Carledo wrote: ↑Tue Jun 11, 2024 5:21 pm
The correct dimensions for these are 5.5x13" with a 3.75" (95.25mm) Pitch Center Diameter (PCD) and, most importantly, an offset (or ET) of +35mm.
bazyerma wrote: ↑Tue Jun 11, 2024 3:36 pm
Those Allycats wont fit as the are ford fitment.
Dolomite / 1500 / Sprint etc are 4 x 3.75” (95.25mm) PCD (Pitch Circle Diameter).
Absolute superstars - thank you kindly!
Genuinely appreciate the knowledge on this forum, you’re all incredibly helpful
Those MG wheels seem to be a popular choice (and thank you Barry for the photos - seeing them on the car definitely brings it to life).
I do think I prefer the Sprint Alloys over these ones so might go down that route if I can find some. I do agree with Steve that the TR7 wheels aren’t great.
They wheels fitted with 175/70 tyres, from experience, are a good option Alex.
Please note, they have an ET25 offset which is wider than standard, so makes for better stability.
There is no clearance options and, if you decide to upgrade the brakes, will clear larger calipers.
Thanks
Ian
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Something I forgot to mention, the Sprint wheel takes a dedicated wheel nut. On Sprints it comes in 2 sizes, 3/8" UNF on early cars and 7/16" UNF on later cars, but your car, being a 1500, has the 3/8" nuts throughout the age range.
And therein lies the tiniest snag! Whilst 7/16" nuts can be had (used) for reasonable money, the 3/8" nuts are getting hens teeth rare and commanding silly prices, I saw a set of 16 x 3/8 NUTS advertised recently for a whopping £80! No wheels, just the nuts! This is probably because a) the 3/8" nuts are older and b) the 3/8 studs and alloy nuts don't hold up as well to "Thicktwit" fitters airguns!
I did once have a set of aftermarket 3/8" nuts in chrome steel rather than the usual black painted alloy, so they were out there once. Whether they can still be bought I couldn't say. My set got snapped up very quickly despite the chrome being poor!
If you want some Sprint wheels I have a set of 4 in fair condition and a rougher one for a spare. The 4 have Yokos fitted but they are pretty old, I wouldn't recommend road use. Collected from here in the West Midlands £100 all in. But I have NO 3/8 nuts! All my cars have 7/16" studs.
Steve
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!
Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.
sprint95m wrote: ↑Thu Jun 13, 2024 12:05 am
They wheels fitted with 175/70 tyres, from experience, are a good option Alex.
Please note, they have an ET25 offset which is wider than standard, so makes for better stability.
There is no clearance options and, if you decide to upgrade the brakes, will clear larger calipers.
Cheers Ian, this is great info - definitely a safe bet with those then, shame about the price!
I wouldn’t expect stability to be an issue (but more is always better!) I’m not planning on a major engine upgrade or anything like this - would definitely be more stable than these damn steelies I suppose!
Again on brakes - definitely looking to get these upgraded (maybe not switching out the rear drums but we’ll see).
I’ve got suspension all round ready to go - might hold off until I know the plan for brakes and wheels before hitting that one though.
Cheers as always,
Alex
28 year old trying to restore a 45 year old shed.
1979 Dolomite 1500 (the brown-mobile)
2010 Alfa Romeo Brera (the broken-mobile)
2020 Vauxhall Corsa (the sad-mobile)
Carledo wrote: ↑Thu Jun 13, 2024 12:40 am
Something I forgot to mention, the Sprint wheel takes a dedicated wheel nut. On Sprints it comes in 2 sizes, 3/8" UNF on early cars and 7/16" UNF on later cars, but your car, being a 1500, has the 3/8" nuts throughout the age range.
And therein lies the tiniest snag! Whilst 7/16" nuts can be had (used) for reasonable money, the 3/8" nuts are getting hens teeth rare and commanding silly prices, I saw a set of 16 x 3/8 NUTS advertised recently for a whopping £80! No wheels, just the nuts! This is probably because a) the 3/8" nuts are older and b) the 3/8 studs and alloy nuts don't hold up as well to "Thicktwit" fitters airguns!
Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. - Chuckle Brothers
What a minefield that looks to be then! Just seen Rimmers have 16 3/8 nuts for £130, I think I’d cry at the thought of that. Who’d have thought a damn nut(!) would be such an odd thing to find! I suppose nobody’s making these older measures these days…
Those Rimmer wheels would probably be suitable for the brown-mobile (they do come with the 3/8 nuts too which is handy) and I reckon they’d look pretty damn good!
Carledo wrote: ↑Thu Jun 13, 2024 12:40 am
If you want some Sprint wheels I have a set of 4 in fair condition and a rougher one for a spare. The 4 have Yokos fitted but they are pretty old, I wouldn't recommend road use. Collected from here in the West Midlands £100 all in. But I have NO 3/8 nuts! All my cars have 7/16" studs.
I think this might be my preference to be honest Steve, I’ll shoot you a PM for a bit of detail as I’ll be (almost) in that area in the next month - I live in Buxton, work in Burton.
Question though - would I need new studs or nuts?
Am I too naïve (read as: dense and unprepared) to think the Sprint wheels would just plonk on with the current studs and nuts I’ve got?
Just had new tyres put on today (they were 6 years old) but I’ve no idea on the quality of these ones right now!
Even so - your wheels + the (egregiously priced) nuts would still come massively under the asking price for new ones! Very happy to give life to the pre-loved stuff, one of the main reasons I’ve got this thing!
Will pop you a PM in a moment
- Alex
28 year old trying to restore a 45 year old shed.
1979 Dolomite 1500 (the brown-mobile)
2010 Alfa Romeo Brera (the broken-mobile)
2020 Vauxhall Corsa (the sad-mobile)
xvivalve wrote: ↑Thu Jun 13, 2024 3:15 pm
Ironically, 7/16" studs are rarer than 3/8" sprint nuts!
I do have a spare full set of the correct 3/8" nuts here...and I don't live too far from Steve...
Blimey, that’s wild ha! Time to find ourselves a lathe or something and start making our own at the rate these bits are falling away - thank goodness you guys are well stocked!
Might take you up on those too then, just need to get in touch with Steve about the wheels and see where we go from there
- Alex
28 year old trying to restore a 45 year old shed.
1979 Dolomite 1500 (the brown-mobile)
2010 Alfa Romeo Brera (the broken-mobile)
2020 Vauxhall Corsa (the sad-mobile)
Ooooh Wheel options, scouring the internet whilst laid up from a prolapsed disc, I found what looked like a very dodgy advert on Facebook Selling for a friend ETC, Far too cheap, Cash only, and Far to Far away (but not in another Galaxy), so of course I bought them, knowing exactly what they were, A set 5 Compomotive TF 6x15, with triumph pcd and about the right offset...... all for 100 beer vouchers, well, Im chuffed....(Sorry)
There a couple of issues, as you would expect from 45yo wheels, they need stripping and repainting, and some kind persons knocked out all the factory steel inserts from the bolt holes which are no longer available from Compomotive and of course they are unique to these wheels...
Richard the old one wrote: ↑Thu Jun 13, 2024 8:10 pm
I would think it would be quite easy to change all the 3/8 studs for sprint 7/16 studs. This could be another option.
Yeah it can be done Richard. But the Sprint 7/16" stud is rarer than the 3/8" Sprint nut! There is a Ford Escort MKI stud in 7/16" that can be turned down to fit, but OE studs are made of pure unobtanium!
Steve
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!
Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.
Regarding wheel nuts,
Chris Witor has new both 3/8"UNF and 7/16"UNF available from stock for 7.70 + VAT each (£9.24)
I believe these are actually improved versions made from steel rather than light alloy
Ian
TDC Forum moderator PLEASE help us to maintain a friendly forum,
either PM or use Report Post if you see anything you are unhappy with. Thanks.
xvivalve wrote: ↑Thu Jun 13, 2024 3:15 pm
Ironically, 7/16" studs are rarer than 3/8" sprint nuts!
I do have a spare full set of the correct 3/8" nuts here...and I don't live too far from Steve...
Blimey, that’s wild ha! Time to find ourselves a lathe or something and start making our own at the rate these bits are falling away - thank goodness you guys are well stocked!
Might take you up on those too then, just need to get in touch with Steve about the wheels and see where we go from there
- Alex
I have investigated this previously and manufacture would be straight forward and surprisingly cheap, but as soon as I mention product liability insurance and wheel nuts or studs in the same sentence potential fabricators seem to lose interest, so best left to those that have already taken the plunge!
and of course they are unique to these wheels...