Date:         Fri, 10 May 1996 22:10:07 -0500 (CDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Jon Christensen <vvwca@primenet.com>
Subject:      Re: Will these wheels work on my '63 Bus?

On Fri, 10 May 1996, RON SALMON wrote:

> 	Someone has offered me a set of 15" chrome wheels that he 
> says were on a Beetle he bought years ago.  They are significantly 
> wider than standard Beetle rims, and are apparantly Brazilian. They 
> accept the stock moon hubcaps, and have oval cut-outs around the 
> edges (around the perimeter of the moon hubcaps).  The bolt pattern 
> looks the same as the Bus pattern at casual glance. The owner wants 
> $35 apiece for them, and they are in relatively good shape.

They sound like the standard aftermarket wheels you can get new for 
around $50 or so.  They come in 5.5" and 4.5" widths typically and it 
sounds like these are the 5.5".  You are luck as the 63's are the first 
year to have the lip on the rear wheel wells as they have more wheel/tire 
clearance for the typical 5.5" wide wheels as you described.  It is a 
tight fit, but I know 165 15's work.  You can go a little wider/bigger, 
but as I say, it gets tight.  Trial and error on *all* clearances is a good 
way to check before running them on the Bus.  BTW, 205/75 15" tires are 
the *very* tight clearance-wise on the 5.5" style wheels.  The price 
seems a bit high for used, maybe you could bargain a bit.  Good luck.

Jon Christensen  "These are just my opinions and advice"
                       /V\      Membership Coordinator for the
~Certified VW Nut      \W/        Vintage VW Club of America 
vvwca@primenet.com             Co-Editor of the VVWCA Newsletter 
http://www.sky.net/~rmk/vvwca/      KC Kombis' NEATO Co-Rep