* DO AFTER MARKET WHEELS SPOIL THE ORIGINALITY OF THE CAR? *

[The original northen boy]

Having just looked at the show pictures placed by both Ray (The General) and Jim (JIM 73) i seem to notice that more and more cars now seem to sport after market wheels (the slot mag seeming the most common) This is in stark contrast to the clubs early days when most cars had the factory fitted set up and kept it and even too only a few years ago when more cars ran on the factory issue than did on optional fitted wheels,now the question i ask myself is this do i sacrifice looks for originality?

The easiest and in many case the best way to brighten up any car is to fit a nice set of wheels,but by doing this i'm i spoiling the period feel of the car or even worse trying to make my Marina something that its not? The problem i have is that i'm not really keen on any of the Marina or Ital wheels or wheel trims,and always fit after market equipment as soon as i can.This seems to be the case with other cars and not just Marinas and It's also seen when you look for a photo to accompany a cars history unless it's a stock factory photograph from the manufacturer many cars have had optional wheels fitted to them.
On the plus side no damage to the car has made and the wheels can be removed without a problem,on the negative side we have taken away some of the cars originality in the quest for looks,and yes i'm guilty of this misdemeanor on more than one occasion.So do aftermarket wheels spoil the originality of car,well to me with out a doubt they do even if their period ones,but oh how much better the car looks for it.

originality out of the window

So what do i do keep the cars originality or go for looks?...............Simple looks every time.

Russ

Beckett Bros "that's the look,that's the look" :roll:

[norway_triumph]

i would say , just do as you please. the wheels are easy to put back to original if a new owner want's it original.
personally i usually use original wheels but that is mostly because you can't get any aftermarked wheels with the marina pcd over here.

[JIM73]

I think as long as the car looks good with them why not ! I've kept my original TC wheels should i feel the need to replace them ! But at the end of the day its down to the individual , but as you probably remember better than me Russ we seemed to have more choice with what we could do to customise the cars 20 or 30 years ago ..... Not much you can do with these Euro boxes without spending a fortune on them !

[JIM73]

Btw Russ ..... Would be nice to see your pickup back on the road !!!

[MarinaCoupe]

As you know from my car, I do like the aftermarket wheels. That said I can also respect an original car on original wheels. For me it's about whether you want to personalise your car or demonstrate what the car was like as it left the factory, I think that it's about the image you want to show.

My personal look can be summed up as "show and go", where-as someone else might like say "1974" as that's the car they or their dad had in that year. For me it's a personal thing, if people didn't want to personalise then there would be no DL, SDL, TC, Jubilee, LE, SL, HLS etc. etc. - there would only be "Marina" and they all look the same. Going to the extreme to prove a point, why have more than one colour? If say the most common colour was Harvest Gold then should they all be Harvest Gold?

Modern car manufacturers have recognised this, if you go into any garage, there is usually a wall of alternative shiny alloy wheels and the brochures have optional extras lists as long as your arm.

Don't beat yourself up, just enjoy the car for what it is and what you want it to be.

I keep a private spot in my car heart for an absolutely standard Mk1 1800 SDL Auto Estate - but don't tell anyone.

[Kilroy]

This is certainly a point that I have always considered.
With apologies in advance, I will say here that I never considered even owning a Marina with standard wheels from the outset.
The first car I "came by" had hotwire alloys fitted from new by the local (NZ) distributors - this was the Mk2 HL - and they were trying to curry favour with a buying public who had mostly forsaken english made cars by this time.
Even so, those hotwires were only 6" wide, and I have this theory that wheels only start to look really good after they reach 7"...
The Marina has always appeared to me to have too much mudguard for its wheels, so I was determined to fill them up by using 7" wheels that were offset to reach the outer extremities.
I think I achieved this on the first attempt - so have been repeating the process with the other cars as funds allow.
I am now intrigued by the possibilities of using the original wheels and trims, but having them widened to 7" - so I can use the Mk3 "hubcap" things.
This will only work if they widen the widest section of the rim, and not the section near the centre.
Watch this space...

[Clan Chieftain]

I am torn between the two. I like 5055 with both sets of wheels on it. It handles better with the Wellers . 8)

[marinast]

Aftermarket wheels are fine in my view, though it should be a 'period' item as most moden wheels simply look odd on an old car. They can simply be unbolted and the originals refitted if desired so no real harm is done to the car.

[USspecGT]

I'd prefer to see a Marina with aftermarket wheels than one with a dropped roof and shaved door handles.

[Clan Chieftain]

5055s Wellers are period accessories. The white is like a stove enamel and on the outer rim is a blue circle and a red circle. You could almost say they are Unipart Wellers. Whether they were a Unipart I dont know.

[Alan The Exocet]

I think aftermarket wheels might spoil the originality of the car a little,but 9 out of 10 times they do look better,but i think slot mags might work better on a van or pick up rather than a saloon or a coupe.But as been said before you can change them no problem,and it's loads better than chopping the car,so i say yes to aftermarket even if their not original.

Alan

[Uncle Frank]

I`ve always been a bit torn on this one Russ, to be honest i like the aftermarket wheel look, but then on certain cars you should stick to original fitment...for instance on the old Red 1300 mk1 we have at the farm, we will be keeping her 100% original purely because it is probably the oldest surviving Marina and as such, i think it should be presented as it left the factory, even down to the early suspension geometry etc, likewise with Leslies mk2 i stuck with original trims to give the car the `correct look`, and now the finished car looks spot-on.
However with my Mumford i tried all sorts of wheels on her before i settled for the Minilites, mainly because they are a good `period` looking wheel, and i think they really suit the car, but generally i agree with what most of you have been saying...that it all depends on personal choice, and you can always take them off for shows etc, or if you sell up

[billytits]

again it has to be down to personal choice i can remember jim had some fiat steel rims on his first coupe and i loved em although they tended to break wheel studs i also think the mgf rims look nice on a coupe but thats me being biased towards them. plus you can improve miles per gallon by putting bigger rims on les revolutions per mile since fitting my 15" rims with a 1700 diff i get two more trips to work out of a tank which is good with todays prices for go juice.
trev

[The original northen boy]

Good evening gentlemen,

It seem that we are all pretty much of an opinion, and that is that personal taste tends to be the deciding factor to going down the route of aftermarket wheel fitting,and once again the beauty of this modification is and you must excuse the pun it's a "bolt on and bolt off" option,there's no getting away with it that a nice set of wheels can really make a any car standout.
Frank made a very good point that some cars it would be wrong to alter their looks,as part of their charm is their entirety,but i have to admit this i still might be tempted to add a nice set of polished alloys.

Now Jim drew may attention to an issue that i hadn't given much thought to,and that is that modern cars have far less scope for you to personalise,all the cars i have owned during the last few years are pretty much as i would want them, and all have had alloy wheels fitted as standard.

My old Metro GTI

And although i keep talking about it i really need to get "Nell" the pick-up back on the road i have still not given up hope for this year but time is slipping fast,and thanks again for asking Jim your interest is appreachiated,Well before i sign off just two points to address,

#1 how would a car be judged as a "best in it's class"/"concourse" when non-standard wheels have been fitted,as surely even the addition of aftermarket wheels make the car modified?

#2 Trev,interesting modification but how much does it throw your speedometer calibrations out,as you will fool the speedo into thinking you're going slower than you really are?,and secondly as a consequence of the loss in acceleration (as really in practice you are starting the car in a slightly higher gear) is this noticeable and as accelerating in a high gear is harder on the engine i wonder if the wear and tear aspect will be again become apparent,but off set by the fuel savings once you get the car on the motor way?

Russ

Beckett Bros "i'm lying in a hospital pinned against a bed" :roll:

[billytits]

hi russ
the 15" rims and axel throw the speedo out by about 10mph the acceleration isnt realy affected in the higher gears just a little bit slower in second still it wont be long until i fit the 1700 lump just doing it a bit at a time although its a pain in the arse when the the diff i have just fitted is a bit ropey just need to find another one to rebuild it gos on and on