15 inch wires and a west London centre question

[Nick Lettington]

An alternative to my quest for one Speedex alloy could obviously be 4 reasonable 15" wire wheels. I believe the FW Special has West London centres, but I was advised that the spoking arrangement on them is not very clever. I don't remember why, but guess it may be because of the reversed flange making the base of the two lines of spokes closer than say on a Ruby wheel.

Does anyone know how the West London wheels were made? I believe you were required to surrender your wheel centres, so presumably some fabrication was undertaken using the old central section? They don't have holes for the locating pegs, so doubt the flange was flipped... 

Does anyone have a set of four 15 inch wheels they won't be using any time soon? I may be in the market for one... (or four).

TIA!

[Peter Butler]

Nick,

I discovered a set of four 15" wheels in a shed recently. I recall (dimly!) buying them at a Beaulieu Auto-jumble many years ago, they still remain fairly blown-up. The tyres look o.k. but I would not trust them one yard....! They were an attempt to lower the gearing on Speedy.

Peter.

[Nick Lettington]

I'll send you a private message Peter,  or email me on cyt660@hotmail.co.uk please

[Speedex750]

Hi Nick,

I haven't seen anything recorded about how they were made but they appear to be the centre part of the wheel centre - the tubular bit welded to a new flange. You have to knock the dowels out of your brake drums to get them to fit. I recall something from the 750 Formula days that some collapsed but can't remember any circumstances, but they weren't banned so it can't have been too repetitive or serious?

I hope that helps, Dave

[Alan]

I used a set for racing for many years. Twice I found when losing the rear end the wheel on the outside would buckle slightly. It wasn’t why I stopped using them.

[Paul N-M]

Hi Nick,
I recently had three wheels built up by Nick Mouat. I had a bunch of 'WL' centres and asked Nick to choose the best three.
As far as I could tell they were not welded but fully pressed one piece. Nick redrilled and chamfered new stud holes, used tapered spokes and 4 &1/2 inch rims. We gave some thought to the best lacing pattern, though there are not many options and angles are determined by the rim offset one wants. They are intended for the front axle only.
By design they are not as strong as the normal A7 centred ones but many seem to use even with racing tyres and do not have problems, or at least I've not heard of any recently. This is bearing in mind todays tyres are a lot stickier than those used in the 50's/60's.
As always Nick has done a good job. (No connection, he just happens to be our go to man for A7 wheels having done a fair few now)

Paul

V&CWLtd.

[Robert Leigh]

Are you still looking for 15" wheels? I have four with good radials which I would like to pass on as a set.

[Nick Lettington]

Hi Robert. I'll send you a private message..