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New (to me) Wheels for my '92 Wagon
Posted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:26 pm
by tahiti350
I went wheel shoping yesterday at the local used auto parts emporium (wrecking yard), and found a set of really cool 15" 5 spoke wheels to put on my '92 Wagon. Believe it or not they came FACTORY on a 99 Chevy Cavalier!!! FWD GM is a 5 on 100mm bolt pattern, same as Subie, and the offset is almost perfect. They are a little wider than factory Subie wheels, but fit great. Have 3/4" clearance at the strut, and they sit out about 1/2 to 3/4" wider , just enough to fill in the wheel well better.
Right now they are on my '90 White wagon to test run them for issues (had none!!).
Now I just need to epoxy in the chevy bowtie logo and paint the center caps...
Thought I'd open up another cheap wheel option for everyone

Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 3:22 pm
by tahiti350
After having new tires put on yesterday I got to thinking about the hub/wheel opening sizes. Need to measure both and see what the difference is, IF it is different.
If different is there a source for a spacer that doesn't change the offset of the wheel as they sit perfect in the wheel well now?
Can I get just need a ring to fill any gap?
Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 7:28 am
by MacNews
That looks good man, I'm surprised the '99 Cavalier didn't use wheel-covers.
Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2009 6:07 pm
by tahiti350
Thanks for the compliment. I've taken them off the white wagon and put them on the Ice Blue '92, and wow, I like. Will post a pic later.
As for the donor Cavalier, they had different trim levels... We do have a couple of other Cav's with steelies and caps. But, ANY fwd late model GM will have the same 5x100 bolt pattern as the Subies.
Also, I measured the hub and the wheel hole diameters. There is only a 1/16" difference, so I'd need a 1/32" wall thickness spacer ring!!! A couple of wraps of stainless aircraft tape would take that up, but I'm just going to run it as is.

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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:25 am
by tahiti350
okay, so I went out and got the specs from the books, Subie's have a 56.1 MM centering hub, and the Chev wheels have a 57.1 mm center hole. I don't think I'm going to be able to find .5mm wall spacers...
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:29 am
by jamal
the lugs are tapered, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just torque them down before all the weight of the car is on he wheel.
Well, assuming those wheels have the right taper in the lug seats, anyway.
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:01 am
by Aerotech
Nice find... They sorta look like the old redline Hotwheels rims. Get a set of Nitto red line tires and your set!
I wonder if GM produced any 16" rims as options...
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Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:26 am
by tahiti350
GM makes a lot of 16" rims, I looked at a set on a Buick and a Cad last week. Would have grabbed the Buick wheels and tires but the tires are 215/65/16. Just look around at some of the "Sport" package Buick, Pontiac, and Chevy FWD cars. There are some nice wheels out there.
Lug taper is the same as Subie (60*), so any 12x1.25 Subie lugnut works.
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 3:26 am
by abest10
get some Z24 rims off a cavalier. they are 16's and I ran them on my impreza. not too bad without the chevy centercaps
Posted: Fri Apr 03, 2009 8:22 pm
by 94LegWagon
Looks good!
Posted: Wed May 20, 2009 6:13 am
by jbracefan1977
they look good. nice find. any chance to get pics with these on the Ice Blue '92? thanks

Posted: Wed May 27, 2009 2:22 am
by SubiePrice88
Not bad at all.
Posted: Fri May 29, 2009 2:42 am
by reddragons
i was thinking about that when i had my old 97 z24 sitting in the yard, had them nice 16" 5 star rims. but ya know what? it sucks spending 400$+ on tires sometimes. 15's are just cheaper
Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 3:22 am
by tahiti350
I just put a set of '99 Cavalier 16" 5 spokes on my white wagon (the one inthe original pic). tires are 205/55/-16's,a dn the speedo is now off by 3 mph at 50 according to GPS.
I'll try to get acouple of pic's of the new wheels in the morning...