Does anyone know the best place to buy used Ferrari Modena rims that fit a Fiero, such as the picture below? The factory Ferrari wheels are reasonably priced on Ebay, but don't seem to directly bolt on a Fiero. I have searched around the web and can't find a good source. Replica rims are an option as well, if they exist. Any assistance is appreciated.
All of the OEM Ferrari wheels use a bolt pattern that is larger in diameter than the stock Fiero's 5 X 100 so none of them are a direct fit. They can be made to fit in one of two ways though... the first is to use wheel adapters and the second is to use a different bearing assembly or modify the bearing assembly on your car to match the stock Ferrari bolt pattern.
Using wheel adapters is probably the most common solution however they almost always require that you perform some body modifications as well. Wheel adapters by their very nature are at least 1" thick and therefore move the wheel outboard by the same amount. That makes them stick out of the fenders unless you use a wide body style fender flare. The only other alternative is if you can find wheels with enough offset to compensate for the extra thickness of the adapters... but good luck trying to find the perfect combination!
Modifying the wheel bearing assembly is another way to get to where you want to go, but it isn't straight forward. First, the 84-87 cars have a different front wheel bearing than the '88's. The 88 fronts are the easiest to modify since they have enough material to simply drill new holes and press in new studs. The earlier fronts and the rears for all years require either replacing the knuckles, brake rotors, and calipers with ones from another car (Pontiac 6000 STE if I recall correctly) that already use a larger bearing and bolt pattern, or machining the stock knuckle bores larger to accept larger bearings that in turn must also be machined smaller to fit within a margin of safety. Either way, modifications that aren't for the light-of-heart (nor pocketbook) need to be made.
The final consideration in all of this is that even with extensive modifications to the bearings and knuckles, there is no guarantee that the stock Ferrari wheels that you like will have the correct offset so they very likely will stick too far out or too far in. You may be able to solve either problem with coil overs and/or extended fenders on the rear, but your options get limited for the front. Again, any solution comes at a fairly pricey cost. In my opinion, it would be far better to find aftermarket wheels that are similar looking to the style you like. I spent close to two years looking on and off before finally finding a wheel with a 5 X 100 bolt pattern in the diameter, offsets, and style I liked, and the choices keep getting smaller every day.
Thank you for the thorough response! I will continue to scour the web for a set of wheels similar to the picture above that directly bolt on to an '88 GT. Assuming I can find, does anyone know of a source that makes custom Fiero center caps?
I'm pretty sure that's user Swedish Fiero I researched his wheels a long time ago. I was pretty sure they were 5x100. They were "Ferrari inspired" not actual Ferrari wheels.
If I remember, the Modena wheels are 5x108 so you could get a 5x100 to 5x108 wheel adapter made.
Edit to add.....Bridgetown, that is a different car. The car in the original pic has real Modena wheels with adapters. Swedish Fiero is completely different.
[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 12-26-2013).]
Edit to add.....Bridgetown, that is a different car. The car in the original pic has real Modena wheels with adapters. Swedish Fiero is completely different.
Either way, those wheels look just as good and don't require adapters, and are probably cheaper. If you can find some that is the route I'd go. BTW how do you know that car is using adapters?
Loving the roofline mods on the last photo. I thought about doing something similar years ago. You can find wheels that are a direct bolt on that resemble what you want. Try TireRack.com. Look for Fiero, PT Cruiser, Sebring convertible (only), Sunbird, Cavalier, etc to find different ones the same 5/100 bolt pattern. A set of adapters that are trustworthy cost more than wheels. I wont use them ever myself.
Either way, those wheels look just as good and don't require adapters, and are probably cheaper. If you can find some that is the route I'd go. BTW how do you know that car is using adapters?
Those are real Modena wheels in the picture. The only way to make them fit a Fiero is with spacers. If you notice, they stick out about 1" past the fenders.
Does anyone know the best place to buy used Ferrari Modena rims that fit a Fiero, such as the picture below? The factory Ferrari wheels are reasonably priced on Ebay, but don't seem to directly bolt on a Fiero. I have searched around the web and can't find a good source. Replica rims are an option as well, if they exist. Any assistance is appreciated.
quote
Originally posted by Bridgetown:
Here's another shot of his car that i did some photoshop work on.
As has been noted, those are different cars and different wheels.
On the first, you can see that the wheels stick out a considerable distance beyond the edge of the fenders.
Nate --- Don't know if you found your wheels yet --- Charlie may have what you are looking for, here is a description of his wheels --- Charlie sez --The set I have in the shed is the modified 17" TSW Indy wheels. Originally they were 17x8 but I had them modified for the widebody to 17x9 up front and 17x10 on the rear. Tires are Michelin Pilot A/S Plus with less than 5000 miles on them. I still have the spacers for the front and he would only need the 50mm spacers for the rear. Charlie has the yellow widebody that was built by Dave as a rescue effort after the car was almost lost in Texas . 3800 SC with Nitro injection, a beast --
Good Luck Drop me a PM for contact info or see Charlies Build which has been listed below
Steve
[This message has been edited by steve308 (edited 01-01-2014).]
Steve, I am still looking. Is this the car you are referring to? The rims in the picture (Forgeline) are similar to what I'm looking for, including the center caps.
