Hi Leo, I already tried to make a wood three eared spinner removal tool.
My panasport wheels did not have the room or clearance to make it work. And I still had to beat the spinners on/off Not knowing if I just beat on to much torque or not enough. By using a socket and a torque wrench or a breaker bar I could control the tightness. This thread has a closeup picture of my panasports showing how close the spinner comes to the wheel.
Try hitting this Jaguar spinner with a hammer with one ear up near the body and the other ear down in the mud some late night. Hard to get the right torque and get a good swing without damaging something. But with a 1 inch socket and a breaker bar it is easy to stay in a good leverage angle.
If you can design one that works, please post it. New ideas are always welcome.
Hi, I recently purchased 4 of the lotus alloys (plus 2), but one is a spare and as such is slightly different, but If anyone out there has one to sell I would be very happy to hear form you.
Thanks
Glen
Well, I thought I’d jump on this resurrected thread and ask Sarto if there’s a similar tool in the works for the Hex nuts with Panasports. Its a similar situation with the spokes. The leveraging tool for removal of the nut needs to be bent to clear the spokes, but then leverage is lost. And easy to slip off the nut and nick a spoke.
Thanks,
Greg Z
'72 Sprint
Hi Greg,
Ray at R.D.Enterprises rdent.com/ has one in his tool section. I can see why it might hit the panasports wheels. He also sells the panasports and he might know if his hex nut tool will work on them.
I thought of making a tool that would not have a metal to metal contact to no avail. It seems like it could slip off easily under torque. It would have to have a double bend real close to the hex part to off set the arm, missing the spokes. But it would still have a metal to metal contact and still might slip off. In my option it was a stupid US safety idea that the spinner ears would hurt someone that close to a spinning wheel going down the road. Maybe someone has the real reason for the hex nut requirement.
Here is my two eared solution for the Elites type 14s and MGs Triumphs and others and the larger Jaguar sizes that works well with the green older jaguar pictured in my earlier post. I believe Ray at R.D. Enterrises will be handling them soon. Ray also handles my Elan spinner tool and you can see pictures in the Business and vendor listings for $130.00 US and 63.75 GBP Can you believe the Dollar?
Thanks Sarto. Yes, I’m sure that tool will hit the spokes. I’ve a couple of variations of the tool and they both give problems. However, I plan on cutting one up for a prototype I have in mind, sometime in the future.
Greg,
PM me, I have an idea that will work for you and not hit the spokes and still get a good torque angle and a possible method to protect the chrome.
Lets talk before you cut one up.
Hello
I’ve been thinking about buying one of Sarto’s tools and he’s not sure whether the tool works with a standard Lotus Alloy the type used on late 130/4 & 130/5 cars such as mine
Has anyone any experience on using the tool on this type of wheel?
Thanks
Hi Terry and all lotus 10 spoke alloy users. This weekend at Mike Ostrov’s tech session, I was finally shown a Lotus alloy wheel. Mike and I were amazed that it did not have any hard protective rings.
A few points
the alloy surface was flat, not beveled.
the spinners are beveled and since the wheel at Mike’s did not show any damage from the spinner, a flat spacer that was beveled to match the spinner makes sense.
Must mean that either the spinners for that wheel are made with a flat surface like the two eared type spinners or a spacer or ring was designed to fit our three eared spinners. Here are some photos of my Panasport wheel and its center shaped hardened metal that matches our spinners. I used an old spinner to set up a system to pre-torque the leather into shape. Notice the spinner matches the Panasport’s center. Without a spacer on the alloys the spinner will only hit on a small cutting edge of the spinner and will not have adequate surface to spread the torque to the wheel. It is hard to believe that the manufacturer did not supply a matching spacer to fit our Elan spinners. Otherwise, over time, the harder spinner will eat at the softer alloy and not hold its torque.
Terry let me know what your spinners look like for your wheels. Maybe a spacers, not built into the wheel, came separate with the wheels and over the years, lost.
Thanks for any input.
Sarto
PS Another type wheel that was shown by corserrep–maybe the spacer will work on the our alloys
All our spinners are bevelled just like the one in your photo BUT none of us have the spacer as shown in your Panasport photo.
Accordingly the reason why the tool grinds on the 10 spokes before it is torqued up. Someone needs to come up with a machined spacer that fits inside the Lotus 10 spoke alloy wheel which will set the spinner (and the tool) away from the spokes.
Hello again, Seaandmoor
The spacer need not be built into the wheel as it would self center as the spinner tightens and will match the shape of our spinners. Someone should make up the rings. It should not be a big deal or even costly. It seems like a must, even if my tool is not used, the cutting edge of the spinner against the alloy’s flat surface should be corrected.
Good to hear from you again. If a spacer can be developed or located that corrects the problem, PM me and I’ll get you back to square one again.
Sarto
Hi Terry, Sorry I could not help out. Tell me one thing, is the spinner’s beveled sharp edge the only contact that the spinner makes on your wheel? That information will give me the total picture. After thinking about your wheels–If the spacer is not used is there enough threads left on the hub to torque the wheel without bottoming out the spinner. Likewise, if the spacer is too thick is there enough threads gripping the spinner. Or how many turns you can get on the spinner to fully tighten them.
On a some what related subject-- another inventor offered his tool to add to my knockoff tool marketing. If you have ever tried to balance you wheels at a tire shop, most are not able to spin balance with their centering attachments. Our wheels need to be balanced off of the pins to be accurate. So spin balancing them on the car is best for the fronts but the rears are a little difficult.
This adapter tool allows us to take it to any tire shop and can be center on the 5 pins and quickly balanced off the car.
Don’t have a production price as yet but would like some feed back on the idea. Lotus shops would seem to be a useful tool.
Tell me one thing, is the spinner’s bevelled sharp edge the only contact that the spinner makes on your wheel? I beleive so
If the spacer is not used is there enough threads left on the hub to torque the wheel without bottoming out the spinner. There is never a spacer used
Likewise, if the spacer is too thick is there enough threads gripping the spinner. Or how many turns you can get on the spinner to fully tighten them. I just would never want to use a spacer, its not what the wheel was designed for
I beleive all Lotus +2 alloys should have a steel insert between the spinner and the wheel to spread the load… Check this item on UK ebay… number 300261315307.
There are plenty of discussions on this topic in the archives…
I think that there may be some confusion creeping in here between a thrust ring and a spacer. The Alloy wheels must have a thrust ring, for all the reasons stated by Sarto above, Terry, if you don’t have them…you need them!
Here’s what the wheel looks like with the thrust ring fitted…front and back.
I have a slightly different question, Sarto. I looked at your website a while back. Am I right in thinking that the tool needed for an Elan, an Elite and an E Type are three different tools? I have to bite the bullet soon, but as you see from the garage…Bugger!!
I guess I won’t need the Elite one in the next couple of weeks though.
Mark
I’ve just been to my little wooden single garage (loved your garage picture!) and checked my wheels and yes they have the thrust ring (mine are black) but they definitely do not have a spacer
Do you think Sarto’s tool will work on them , as I think I’m going bash the bodywork one of these days.
Terry, I need to get one for the S4, so I’ll try it on the Plus 2 with the Lotus Alloys and see. One blow of the Thor hammer onto an Elan wing (or Jag one come to that) would get a bit costly…especially if the car’s just been repainted!
The decision on the door to open Tim is dependant on energy levels. The left door reveals a lot of work, the middle door just some bits and pieces to do, and the right door…nearly done!
