Re: A few questions (63 Spider)

[Simon Favre <simon@domain.elided>]

Congrats on the "new" 63 Spider. On the tire question, you might get
some fender rubbing with the 185's. They also look too wide on 4.5"
rims. I ended up with Panasports in a 6x15 size with a 38mm positive
offset. The problem isn't the brake drums. The problem is the front
suspension arms. What the car actually needs to accept a wider wheel
and tire combo is 2 different offsets, front and rear. Rather than
do that, I used 1/2" billet spacers in front, with longer studs made
for a much newer Spider. You can also have custom steel wheels made
by grafting 6x15" F*rd Ranger rims onto Alfa wheel centers. This makes
it possible to put modern rubber under the car, and keep the correct
hub caps, etc. If you want it all like it was back then, the only
correct tire for the stock rim sold today is a 165-15 sold for the
old VW bugs. Coker tire does manufacture a 155-15 replica, but the
cost is outrageous.

To recap, in order to fit a 195/60-15 V or H rated tire under a '63
Spider, you need 6x15 rims with 33-38 mm oddset in the rear and 25
mm offset in front. If you buy the 6x15 rims sold for later Spiders,
they will not fit in back. The fenders will sit on the tires.

Sorr, I've never done a 3-shoe brake rebuild. I'm told they're a b*tch.

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