[aakash69]

Hey Mr. Sekaran,

This is Girish from Mumbai.
First of all i want to thank you for entertaining my calls even for trivial matters. I am a die hard Contessa fan like you.
I have to appreciate your zest of building this new car from the scratch (hats off to Mr.Miyer and Co.). I really hope i end up building this beauty someday ofcourse with your valuable suggestions.
Till then..
Bye
Cheers
Girish

[siddartha]

if the gypsy rims can be modified for the conti , then the amby wheels also can be used , as they are the same pcd.

[Miyer]

Originally Posted by sharanramesh

hey miyer, any buyers yet ??

I have been very buzy and travelling since Sharan...!!! Anju was keen and also tied up I guess.

[manikjeet]

Can somebody please tell how can gypsy rims be fitted to contessa

[Miyer]

Hey MJ


Wheels..wheels….

If it is modifying then practically any steel wheel could be welded with a 6 mm & drilled with new holes punched for the stud seating and machined to perfection. The question is how well is the wheel design equipped for the weight distribution and handling of the car.

For instance the J of the gypsy is more than that of a conti’s wheel and a fully inflated tyre may rub against the Pan-hard rod or other body/suspension component.

Please don’t misunderstand my criticism. I have seen many people fit all kind of things on a car and think it will run, .sure it will>> but what is compromised when the modification is done is questionable.

A car takes a lot of work from the conception to the drawing board >>finally being produced and most of the parts (Important) have been put through a lot of consideration before they actually came into existence.

Many a times you have bad designs that hit the streets for any man made product and companies press the changes if it is cosmetic/functional in the next model/release or recall the part if the design failure could be catastrophic.

Let’s look at the Indica wheel. If you notice is a poor design in terms of the gauge of the disk and it is highly susceptible to bend during a run over a stone/ditch. Consequence the tyre will have an uneven thread wear pattern because of the bent disk or that triggering a bearing problem or a wobble at a particular speed.

Here perhaps there was a lot of consideration given for the weight of the disk and the performance of the car with a fairly underpowered engine (Old models). It would have been a design from the overseas design house and they would have ignored the road conditions here in India.

Certain wheels get the outer threads to wear fast sometimes the centre rib and this is because of the weight distribution of the car finally to the ground.

So what’s the alternative?

• If you are still keen you can get ready made Wire Wheel for the conti. (exat fit) for Rs.9000/- something ex factory Hosur, Tamil Nadu, plus tax plus cargo. The last time I spoke to the GM Marketing-TVS he said “the dies for forming the rim and the spokes are lying in the store and we have to track them if we need to produce it for you.

• Also you can get Al alloy blocks by weight and get it custom cut at a CNC shop and do the Annealing-Quenching- Age Hardening process or even ask one of the reputed manufactures to make an alloy wheel for you.

It’s for you to decide which way to go.


By the way Kulasekaran has done some excellent research on the conti wheels and perhaps he can give you some additional inputs.

[shekaran]

as miyer said, the gypsy rims may not be a 100% fit in the contessa, manikjeet.
the best tyres for the contessa, would be of the size 185/80R13 - in OE wheel rims.
the tyre size of 195/60R15 can be put in a BMW wheel rim, if you could lay your hands on one, which might be the next best bet.

i have been trying an option of 205/60R13 tyre size, but i could not lay my hands on such a size, although this size would make the best - widest tyre in the contessa wheel wells.

i will update you as soon, as my experiment is over, bcoz i too think like miyer, as a wider bigger tyre should be useful, not only for show purpose.

thanks guys, for all the support. and i have collected some more materials, on the contessa, which i will release soon, march end keeping me a little busy. sorry for the delayed updates.

[stampro]

Sekaran,
Did you check "Premier 118" Rims.

They suit xxx/xx R13.

[headers]

@stampro: ISnt 118NE 14" wheels? Or Am i mistaken?

[Miyer]

You can try to push in a 205/60 R13 86 T Cooper Cobra Radial with raised lettering and is available in Bangalore. The rear wheel will hit the panhardrod in a sharp turn and the front wheel will also touch the inner walls of the wheelwell just above the platform near the pedals on a pothole or rumble strip.

Alternative is to raise the front and rear suspension with spacers also use spacers on the wheel hub and alter the wheelarches to jut the wheels out like a sports car and extend the mud flaps to the distance the wheels are protruding to avoid a mud bath.
Cheers,

Mike

[stampro]

Originally Posted by headers

@stampro: ISnt 118NE 14" wheels? Or Am i mistaken?

Of course it is R13.
We use 5.60 x 13 and 6.00 x 13 tyres of Premier 118 NE in our Standard cars.

[shekaran]

these are some of the best pics, i could find, about the original vauxhall victor FE - the predecessor of the contessa - from UK.

[siddartha]

shekaran , you try some australian sites , the same was sold as a holden . iirc, dont know what it was called and dont have any details regarding the specs or may be it was a similar looking car and i might be competely wrong. most probably wrong.

[Psycho]

Here is something I had tried long ago.

Contessa Classic 1996 - Psycho's Photo Gallery - Team-BHP

[madhukar_n]

man.. i love the contessa cars.
i remember when my dad wanted to buy a "luxury" car way back.. i had lobbied for this. but he did not listen to me and bought a 118NE. ( i would have been maybe 13-14 years then)
even now, if i get some free 4-5 lakhs(not hard earned money )then i would buy a contessa and restore it.

[shekaran]

Mr. Keshav (Psycho),
you and your car was actually the reason for me, buying my long time dream, a contessa. i had PMed you, some 2/3 times, but no reply.
my conti is fresh, almost 90%, of what it would be like, when it came out of the factory. the engine had run only 70k kms, and except the interiors, which need refurbishing soon, i had made my conti mechanically perfect, and am willing to go overboard, with your kind help, suggestions, whatever you could ..... thanks sir, in advance.

my list of mods, i have planned :
1. head - porting, polishing, if possible, grooving...
2. tyres, 15" but without scrapping the wheel wells, suspension parts...
3. good exhaust system, minimal sound, no throaty roars...
4. a good painting, and interior refurbishing, especially the front seats, to latest make, with the rear made into a sofa ...

a small doubt, sir. in your conti, what tyre size did you use ? did you encounter any scrapping problems, when wheel is in full lock position ?
also, apart from bmw wheel rims, which 15" wheel rim will fit in the contessa, with minimal modifications, as i am not knowledged in wheel rim technicalities, like toe, camber etc.,.

thanks again, for your suggestions, help, mr.keshav.