(Count the number of Forum member mentioned in this post and receive an exclusive Seat Cover as a PM! 
)'A change is as good as a holiday', they say, and to be honest, after having the Sprintstars on the Buggy for more than 5 years, I decided towards the end of last year that it is time for new wheels - or 'different' wheels, for that matter. Ok, the Sprintstars were cool, and certainly have classic VW street credit, but we have a certain common VW wheel in South Africa called a ROSTYLE, and they look pretty damn close to the Sprintstars - and that was just too damn close for comfort. Pine comfort, that is.
So new wheels it was (were?). Problem is (was), I had no idea what to put on! Fuchs? Empi 5s? Gas Burners? Yeah, right - in my dreams, but CERTAINLY not out of my anorexic wallet. Since my Buggy was built in 1971, I have always tried to stick to the 'classic buggy look' - and thus you will most certainly find no LED trailer tail lights, TSW wheels or any other MIDAS off-the-shelf accessories on it.
Enter Phantom Phondler, fellow ACVWSA brother. He had a set of 14inch aluminium (the Yanks prefer aluminum
) wheels orinally fitted to his classic Puma, that were up for grabs. The price was right, Pierre bought the Sprintstars from me, and I was as happy as a clappy tappet with my 'new' wheels, compliments of seller Phantom. (Thanks once again, Mate )
The second generation Puma wheels are unique to South Africa (even cast locally in the early 70s - Proudly South African, that is), although they appear to be the same as the slotted wheels often found on buggies in the rest of the world. The 5-slot aluminium wheel is a popular choice for buggy owners all over, and perfectly fit my intended 'classic' buggy-look. IMPI had some centre caps made and chromed with great difficulty, which I bought from him, we installed an IMPI lowered front suspension and voila - the Buggy has a total 'different' look! And that is a look I LIKE!!
Got some awesome BIG, HEAVY and WIDE spacers from Calooker to widen the rear track of the Buggy, but couldn't find the correct wheel bolts before yesterday, when I got lucky at an obscure wheel shop in Vereeniging.
FYI, some stats:
Puma wheel size (diameter): 14 inch
Puma wheel width: 7 inch
Wheel bolt length required for fitment without spacers (outside 2 in above pic): 41mm
Spacer width: 30mm (yes, they are WIDE - does anyone know the origin of these, they are certainly made with GREAT craftmanship)
Wheel bolt length required for use with abovementioned 30mm spacers, and found in Vereeniging yesterday (inner 10 in abov pic): an INCREDIBLE 76mm!!! (This MUST be some Guiness record
)(Semi) Final note:
The Fuhrermobile from Stuttgart with the 3-pointed star (a.k.a. boring daily driver
) comes standard with this tool pictured belowWith the wheel off the car, it simply screws into the wheel hub, and you then 'hang' the wheel on it, so that the holes of the wheel and the hub align, allowing you to enter the wheel bolts easily by hand before torque-ing it. If only I had a tool like that when I tried to help a damsel in distress with a CitiGolf with a flat front wheel at night time a few years ago...
Those #$%'ing water cooled stillborns have the front disk loose from the hub, and you need to align the hub, the disk AND the wheel perfectly before inserting the wheel bolts - ever tried doing that in the dark???
Final note:
There is still a 'small issue' with the buggy's front wheels w.r.t the lowered front suspension and too wide and too high profile tyres. Bet you've NEVER seen a RWD, rear-engined car smoke its FRONT wheels, right Merlin?
