1 1/4 wider fender with 5.5" rims?

[Bullyboy]

We have a problem finding rear fenders and CCC only sells the widened fenders for the 73' super. So if we run the 1 1/4" widened with the 5.5" stock chromies what tire will fit inside the fender and look stock? Anyone run this combo? I know we can run up to a 215/50 on those wheels.
The car is in two pieces so I can't put the chromies on with the 165s and do some calculating.
Someone please help :silly: I am getting a headache.

[NYBugman1972]

I have CCC's 1 1/4" fenders on my bug. I used to run a 15x5.5 empi 8-spoke and I needed a 1" spacer for the rear wheels in order to look right. Without the spacer, the fenders look cavernous and the wheels won't look right. Tire size is not the problem at all. However, if you want some more meat back there, a 205-65-15 tire is the same diameter as a 165-15 tire and will probably fill out the wheel well a bit more. I ran a 205-60 and it looked good, but was a shorter tire than stock and showed a bit more fender gap than I would have liked.

Now, finding 4x130 spacers can be tricky. I got my old ones off ebay. Remember that the porsche 914 shares the same pattern, so a spacer for a 914 will work on a 4-lug bug.

That's my take on that. Good luck.

Oh, an added advantage to the 1 1/4" fenders is that they even up the entire car. Ever notice that a supers front fenders and track are wider than the rear? Well, that's all gone with the new fenders and spacers. The car looks a lot more "square" and even.

Good luck!

[Bullyboy]

I knew you were out there Mike, thanks for the reply. What about the wheel bolts? Would someone like Topline have new bolts and spacers?

[NYBugman1972]

Topline does not make spacers that are 1" wide. You're going to have to go to ebay or a porsche place, like www.pelicanparts.com (good people).

Wheel bolts were not a problem for me because I converted to studs and lug nuts, which I think is a must for such a large spacer. Topline may be able to help you there, and a bolt-on spacer will have it's own nuts to secure to the drum's studs.

Slip-on spacers are cheaper because they're basically just one big chunk of aluminum/steel, but they need super-long studs to slip on to and for the wheel to attatch to also, which boosts up the price, thus negating the cheaper price. I run bolt-on spacers, FYI.

You could also convert your trailing arms to aluminum 944 ones, but spacers ar so much easier and faster and will be just fine on the street, as long as you use proper torque setting on all your bolts and nuts and all that.

I hope i've helped.

[Bullyboy]

Have you got any pics of the old wheels on your car? I think if I can find the spacers that would be the way to go right now. I should have had the hubs drilled to the new vw wheel pattern when we started but Dorinda wanted all stock. The tides are changing though, looks more like a resto-custom now.
thanks Mark

[NYBugman1972]

This is the best I can find. It's pretty dark toward the rear, but it'll have to do.



Again, it gave the entire car a more even, square appearence. The best part is that the fenders don't look like wider than stock fenders to most people, so it adds a bit of stealth to it.

I realised that I forgot to mention something very important. With the wider fenders, you will NOT be able to use the stock rear bumper. You must use either a stock front or extend your bumper brackets by 1 1/4" and use the stock rear bumper. There's no way around it. I extended my brackets. Again, it looks stock to a good 90% of the people out there. I bet you guys didn't notice!