GT mowog wrote:
Graeme H, it would seem that you are certain that the 5.0" wheels in the left of your pic were fitted to the (998) LS.
Are you sure that you haven't read one of Dave's posts as mine?
I'm sorry if I have given this impression, because I have tried not to.
I'm here to learn, and I'm grateful that you've made an effort to help (including your excellent answer on the circumstances of LS production).
GT mowog wrote:
Can I ask (and I'm not being rude or funny here) why you think / know that?
A fair question. No, I have no such knowledge. If I did, I'd like to think that I would have presented it by now for you and others to assess. I'm also well aware that you know a great deal more about Minis than I do, as do many other contributors here, so if there's a competition going on then I'm not participating in it.
I had assumed that it was an LS-spec wheel, basically because it is often repeated that there are two versions of the Contessa/Contesta and I had two versions in front of me. I had no reason to think that any more varieties had been made (and no reason to assert that they hadn't), I guess because other observations seemed to fit the pattern.
Why does it matter? If I try to buy more wheels to match that one, or sell it, I'll want to know how much information is necessary to identify them.
Pedr Davis' book Spotlight on... lists 5-inch wheels for both SS and LS, but I don't assume that to be reliable source.
It's easy to see why an original equipment order might vary in some detail from the specification manufactured for the after-market. For instance, a narrower version to reduce the cost followed by rationalised production of a single rim width.
I only ever saw the SS type (or the modified version with the different centre cap fitment) for sale new, but by that time Minis were no longer being made in Australia so this doesn't mean a lot. Does anyone remember whether the LS wheels were sold through tyre shops as well as by Leyland dealers?
If there are more sizes of Contesta around, I'd expect to have heard more about them by now, or seen some. Maybe I have seen them, and failed to notice any difference in how the tyre sits on the rim - it's only 6mm on each side and I don't know whether I'd spot that.
The only references that I have seen to a 4.5" version have been attributed to you, so when you raised it last week I saw an opportunity to ask for the background. The more info, the better. If the whole half inch difference is behind the mounting face, then these would be the better choice for front discs (they might not foul the calipers) and for wide tyres (less chance of rubbing at the back).
That's the background I'm coming from. For all I know, my wheels could be hand carved, or convincing replicas.
, that you've got the wrong wheels 
