Discussion
SILICONEKID 345HP 12.03 said:
premie_kvn3798rgz@members.ebay.co.uk
The 8.5 rear 17 " are comming in four weeks .
Premier wheels are cery helpfull.
Thanks for the clarification, interesting Gavin Muir @ Bola Wheels never mentioned 17" x 8.5 are due in 4 weeks.The 8.5 rear 17 " are comming in four weeks .
Premier wheels are cery helpfull.
I'm sure B7 17" x 8.5 will be popular provided Bola drill the stud holes for normal nuts.
Thanks again
Steve
SILICONEKID 345HP 12.03 said:
premie_kvn3798rgz@members.ebay.co.uk
The 8.5 rear 17 " are comming in four weeks .
Premier wheels are cery helpfull.
It seems Bola’s left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing, I received the reply below today to my email dated 20/05/2017 asking The 8.5 rear 17 " are comming in four weeks .
Premier wheels are cery helpfull.
‘Any plans for a wider 17” B7, maybe 17x8.0 or 17x8.5 or even a 16”, 16x7.5 ??’
Hi Steve, at present we do not have any plans but we may introduce in the future if there is enough interest
Gavin Muir
bola wheels
phone: +44 1888 560505
site: www.bolawheels.co.uk
email: sales@bolawheels.co.uk
Jhonno said:
mk1fan said:
The pcd on the 5-stud is 112mm so you need a set of hubs with this bolt arrangement and matching spline fitting for the stub axle.
One conversion method was to take the existing hubs, remove the bolts and re-dirll. Not sure if this involves any fill work too.
Another method is to use Forf hubs with 114mm pcd (i may have got the pcds mixed around) and use concentric nuts to hold the wheel on.
If you have two sets of hubs then swapping them over is reasonably involved but not complicated.
Cost of conversion - probably more than the wheels.
Cost of swapping hubs back and forth £500 a time.
You have.. They are 5x114, Ford hubs are something else.One conversion method was to take the existing hubs, remove the bolts and re-dirll. Not sure if this involves any fill work too.
Another method is to use Forf hubs with 114mm pcd (i may have got the pcds mixed around) and use concentric nuts to hold the wheel on.
If you have two sets of hubs then swapping them over is reasonably involved but not complicated.
Cost of conversion - probably more than the wheels.
Cost of swapping hubs back and forth £500 a time.
Toolbox200 said:
So like Daz, I am liking the Spider wheels, but understand Rob's concerns....I don't think you can beat the look of the 18" genuine Spiders, but I think the Bola 17" B7 is a reasonable compromise. Went for the 17 x 7.5 option ET40 on front, ET30 on the back. I had a reasonable set of tyres so wanted to re-use these.
The drillings on the 4 stud fitment are literally that, with no blended holes as on the originals and somehow they don't look quite as nice as the 5 stud. They use the narrow wheel nuts with a slimed adapter. I am waiting for the correct nuts for the front as they protrude.
Anyway the wheels are well finished and am pretty happy with them, will get some TVR centres. Couldn't justify the 5 stud conversion and it allows me to revert back to the old Imolas at any time.
Not sure if there is a 18" version on the cards from Bola.
Anyway hers a few pictures and a direct comparison against the car previously posted which is a cracking example.
Cheers Pete
Hi Pete. In the process of doing a brembo front brake conversion and need to fit bigger wheels to fit. I really like the look of your bola b7's but a bit confused on your offsets. I see you went for a 40 front and 30 back offset ie higher front than the std 33 fitted on the back. i always thought 25 was optimum front and why others have fitted spacers on the 16inch imola when fitted to the front to bring the offset down. What is the reason for going with 40? Is it specific to the bola?The drillings on the 4 stud fitment are literally that, with no blended holes as on the originals and somehow they don't look quite as nice as the 5 stud. They use the narrow wheel nuts with a slimed adapter. I am waiting for the correct nuts for the front as they protrude.
Anyway the wheels are well finished and am pretty happy with them, will get some TVR centres. Couldn't justify the 5 stud conversion and it allows me to revert back to the old Imolas at any time.
Not sure if there is a 18" version on the cards from Bola.
Anyway hers a few pictures and a direct comparison against the car previously posted which is a cracking example.
Cheers Pete
Frustratingly i have some 16 inch x 7 prorace 1.2 with a 38 offset and when test fitted using washers as spaces they catch on the caliper. Thinking bola b7 17 x 7.5 will fit and thought a 30 front being closer to the 25 would be the way to go.
Thanks in advance Tim
Incidentally has anyone managed to purchase 4 hole b7 with the holes drilled out for a std wheel nut as mentioned as a possible option elsewhere in the post.
I’ve been enquiring about these wheels over the last few weeks. It seems that certain companies selling these wheels only have them in ET40, however some can still supply in ET30, which seems to be the lowest available offset for this design of wheel.
For the 4 stud fitment, the wheels are cast blank, and then the holes are drilled to suit the desired PCD, so fitting normal sized wheel nuts isn’t possible. I suppose there’s the possibility of somebody else machining the holes separately after purchase, however this may reduce the wheel’s structural integrity and will add an additional cost (drilling and refurbishment) to each wheel.
With regards to 18’s, I contacted Bola directly and there are no current plans to produce 18 inch in 4 stud fitment. I even asked, if a bulk order was placed whether this would be possible, however it seems that they’d have to open new tooling to do so, so unless the order was in the thousands, there wouldn’t be enough demand to make this worthwhile.
Personally I think they’re still a great choice, if I can’t find a set of RL7 in the next few months then I may go for these instead.
Andrew.
For the 4 stud fitment, the wheels are cast blank, and then the holes are drilled to suit the desired PCD, so fitting normal sized wheel nuts isn’t possible. I suppose there’s the possibility of somebody else machining the holes separately after purchase, however this may reduce the wheel’s structural integrity and will add an additional cost (drilling and refurbishment) to each wheel.
With regards to 18’s, I contacted Bola directly and there are no current plans to produce 18 inch in 4 stud fitment. I even asked, if a bulk order was placed whether this would be possible, however it seems that they’d have to open new tooling to do so, so unless the order was in the thousands, there wouldn’t be enough demand to make this worthwhile.
Personally I think they’re still a great choice, if I can’t find a set of RL7 in the next few months then I may go for these instead.
Andrew.
Thanks Andrew. That ties in with email I received yesterday from Bola:
"We normally supply 17x7.5 ET30 for this vehicle. We can only supply this fitment in silver! These wheels would be tuner drilled and is not possible to get standard nuts in these"
I am still confused how a 30/40 front back offset was selected and achieved
Despite the tuner nuts, like you I think they are a good option and may well go for a set.
Tim
"We normally supply 17x7.5 ET30 for this vehicle. We can only supply this fitment in silver! These wheels would be tuner drilled and is not possible to get standard nuts in these"
I am still confused how a 30/40 front back offset was selected and achieved
Despite the tuner nuts, like you I think they are a good option and may well go for a set.
Tim
Hi, the choice of offsets was based on the wheels that were on the car when I bought it, and the limited availability from Bola. Seemed such a shame that the wheel being based on the Spider Bola didnt have TVR friendly sizes and Spider bolting arrangements which I feel is part of the attractiveness of the original spider.
I am running standard brakes so don't have any clearance issues.
I did get rid of the Tuner nuts and had the wheels drilled out, but you are limited to how far you can go due to the casting thickness.
Few pics of Tuner vs standard nuts.
I am running standard brakes so don't have any clearance issues.
I did get rid of the Tuner nuts and had the wheels drilled out, but you are limited to how far you can go due to the casting thickness.
Few pics of Tuner vs standard nuts.
nice wheel if you like the spider style alloy 
Thanks for the update. Agreed it's a shame and not a particularly informative or encouraging response I had from Bola to suggest they may improve the range options.
The drilled out nut seats are definitely a good improvement and wondered if a splined tuner nut would also give a more original look i.e. they are not hollow ended.
Reckon I will go with Bolas 30 front 40 back and with drilled nut seats. They do look good and an much easier alternative to genuine spiders.
The drilled out nut seats are definitely a good improvement and wondered if a splined tuner nut would also give a more original look i.e. they are not hollow ended.
Reckon I will go with Bolas 30 front 40 back and with drilled nut seats. They do look good and an much easier alternative to genuine spiders.
Badgerchim said:
Thanks for the update. Agreed it's a shame and not a particularly informative or encouraging response I had from Bola to suggest they may improve the range options.
The drilled out nut seats are definitely a good improvement and wondered if a splined tuner nut would also give a more original look i.e. they are not hollow ended.
Reckon I will go with Bolas 30 front 40 back and with drilled nut seats. They do look good and an much easier alternative to genuine spiders.
Just need to be careful with choice of nuts. With different offsets I got different depths of nut seat, resulting in the nuts protruding which you may not like on this style of wheel. Bola sent me the long tuner nuts, on one offset they were flush, on the other they stuck out.The drilled out nut seats are definitely a good improvement and wondered if a splined tuner nut would also give a more original look i.e. they are not hollow ended.
Reckon I will go with Bolas 30 front 40 back and with drilled nut seats. They do look good and an much easier alternative to genuine spiders.
Maybe worth waiting till you've got them before finally choosing your nuts?
Pete
I don't have much time for these Bola things, the design is a poor copy of better existing designs an the centre especially looks pretty terrible. I can offer some alternatives:
The Work Emotion T7R , available in 17/18 inch and huge range of widths an offsets in 5x114.3
or the Advan Model 7 - also available in 17/18 a multitude of widths an ETs.
Id also browse Compomotive & OZ as these were OEM suppliers, a TVR deserves some Image split rims.
The Work Emotion T7R , available in 17/18 inch and huge range of widths an offsets in 5x114.3
or the Advan Model 7 - also available in 17/18 a multitude of widths an ETs.
Id also browse Compomotive & OZ as these were OEM suppliers, a TVR deserves some Image split rims.
aka_kerrly said:
I don't have much time for these Bola things, the design is a poor copy of better existing designs an the centre especially looks pretty terrible. I can offer some alternatives:
The Work Emotion T7R , available in 17/18 inch and huge range of widths an offsets in 5x114.3
or the Advan Model 7 - also available in 17/18 a multitude of widths an ETs.
Id also browse Compomotive & OZ as these were OEM suppliers, a TVR deserves some Image split rims.
I prefer the look of the Bola wheels, to my eyes, the Advan and Works Emotion wheels look too square on the spokes, and the design of the centre looks very aftermarket. The Work Emotion T7R , available in 17/18 inch and huge range of widths an offsets in 5x114.3
or the Advan Model 7 - also available in 17/18 a multitude of widths an ETs.
Id also browse Compomotive & OZ as these were OEM suppliers, a TVR deserves some Image split rims.
Compomotive/OZ is a good shout, but good luck finding the correct size/offset for 4x108 fitment!
Andrew.
Yes me too. I guess everybody has their own take on what looks good. I like the compomotive but they are very expensive. I still think the Bola's are a good looking alternative at a reasonable price.
Pete rereading your post did you have them drilled at a machine shop or wheel specialist. Have you got any details of where you got yours done please.
Ta Tim
Pete rereading your post did you have them drilled at a machine shop or wheel specialist. Have you got any details of where you got yours done please.
Ta Tim
Toolbox200 said:
Hi, the choice of offsets was based on the wheels that were on the car when I bought it, and the limited availability from Bola. Seemed such a shame that the wheel being based on the Spider Bola didnt have TVR friendly sizes and Spider bolting arrangements which I feel is part of the attractiveness of the original spider.
I am running standard brakes so don't have any clearance issues.
I did get rid of the Tuner nuts and had the wheels drilled out, but you are limited to how far you can go due to the casting thickness.
Few pics of Tuner vs standard nuts.
These drilled out holes are a big improvement. I am running standard brakes so don't have any clearance issues.
I did get rid of the Tuner nuts and had the wheels drilled out, but you are limited to how far you can go due to the casting thickness.
Few pics of Tuner vs standard nuts.
if they done these in the right sizes and staggered offsets front to rear I would have them in a heart beat 
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