This is the last step before i start putting stuff on the car and not off the car,, the primer the paint and then the engine,, if i can manage to get all the FI parts to work together

more to come

the first day of the rest of her life!

Andy

Let the Games Begin!

are those steel wheels? i don't think i've seen that style before. forward.... into the past.

kevin

looking good =] cant wait to see the progress

Gonna be nice!

I think those are a VW alloy. If I remember correctly most of them are painted mostly black, with the lines painted white. If that makes any sesne .
Eric

I believe those wheels are the "Pedrini" wheels which were an option on the 70-73 4cyl cars. They are alloy and had a small stainless steel center cap with no emblem of any kind.

Nice wheels and good luck with the car!

Nope, definitely not "Pedrini" wheels. They do look like a
steel wheel, but foreign to the 914.

STL914 you are correct, my mistake. I looked in Brett Johnson's authenticity book and these wheels are not shown. Not many wheels were made in that bolt pattern, were there? Any VW experts recognize these?

Sebastian Gaeta

Those wheels are positively EMPI Sprint Stars w/o paint. I've got 2 or 3 complete sets. Mark Henry has a set on his 914 w/paint. I've got a restored set on my Beetle.

Rick

nice progress on the car. do the sprint stars have enough back spacing for 205-15 on a 914? aren't originals in good shape somewhat valuble in the vw world? i've seen sprints with a 5 lug pattern that's why the 4 lug had me guessing.

kevin

Hmmm.. SprintStar back spacing. Let me put it this way. Sprint Stars generally come in 2 sizes for street cars. I won't get into Buggy 'sized' SprintStars as they were available up to about 10" widths.

As for the 4-lug variety. VW offered a 5.5" Sprint Star for Beetles. The 4.5" variety were available for Karmann Ghias and various Type-III VWs. The offset isn't much different if at all. I don't have experience with the VW 5-lug versions but I have been told they follow the same fitment categories.

...now, with all that said. I've spoken (written) Mark Henry about his wheels. His wheels are not the standard VW offset and IIRC he told me they were not 5.5" either. Don't hold me to that last part.

As for your original questions. If you could find another set just like Mark's, you may get a 205 on it. I'm certain I cant' get a standard set of Beetle SprintStars (5.5") under stock 914 fenders w/205s. Of course, there's enough variation between 914s that someone may be able to make them fit.

I've paid as much as $75 each for a really nice (straight) pair of 4.5" wheels that had a hack-job repaint. I've paid as little as $12.50 ea for beat up rims good only for trunk duty as a spare. At the moment, they seem to sell for arround $100 ea when a full set shows up on e-bay in good condition. Sometimes more. Often less.

Flat-4 is now making/selling them NEW in aluminum (as opposed to steel) for $139 ea IIRC. They look just like the originals, however something looks strange about the offset to me. .....so you *may* get a NEW set of Sprint Stars on a 914 w/205s. Oh, and the original center caps don't fit the new aluminum replicas and vise-verse.

Sorry for the long reply. I've been picking these things up when I find them locally since about 1987.

My bug w/SprintStars #1

My Bug w/SprintStars #2

My Bug w/SprintStars #2


Rick

The wheels are stock optional, upgrade wheels, right?
ramjet63

Sprint Stars

My wheels have a 914 offset, they won't fit a bug at all, 5.5" wide.

I like the looks so much that when I go to 205's I may get them widened 1". There's a shop here that will do this for about $100 per wheel.

It kinda depended on the dealer you went to. Some offered Empi stuff, some didn't.

Rick