1960/70's Dunlop-Lotus alloys centre caps

[S47zz]

Recently bought a set of 1970's Lotus alloys for the S4, does anyone know of a supplier for original style wheel centres.

A used set or even a single cap would be great so I can get new ones made similar to the old pattern.

[Martyn Heesom]

Are they Dunlop wheels or Brand Lotus - they are not the same - see Lotus 7 register.

Brand Lotus wheels were also fitted on Europa Specials (these would have had a Triumph pcd), and Paul Matty lists the centre cap for these (page 11 here).

 

The Dunlop ones are larger and appear to be plated die-cast Mazak. They sometimes appear on Ebay. Something similar could be produced on a lathe; I could measure one up and produce a drawing.

 

Edited by - Martyn Heesom on 31 Jul 2007 11:38:17

[S47zz]

Martyn

Many thanks for reply, my wheels are Dunlops [never realised there was any difference].

I have the current paul Matty catalogue, the bore through the centre of the wheel on mine is ~54mm, the bore through the wheels shown in the catalogue look smaller though it's hard to tell, and the cap listed also looks small. what wheels do you you have, and what is the the centre bore for the centre cap??

A rough sketch with the dimensions would be appreciated, I can machine the caps up on a lathe from aly, titanium or nylon no problem.

thanks

Mal

[Martyn Heesom]

Mal,

 

I have put a sketch and some photos of the Dunlop centre cap on Webshots. The cap 1 picture also shows a Lotus badge from a Brand Lotus wheel centre - these must have been considerably smaller. If you were making the caps on a lathe you could hollow the backs out, leaving a tapped central boss for the securing screw. The Dunlop stickers in the cap sometimes appear on Ebay (e.g. these). An alternative would be to use the Lotus enamel bonnet badges; these are a bit bigger but if you were making the caps you could machine them to suit.

 

Martyn

[S47zz]

Martyn

Brilliant sketch thanks a lot *thumbup*

The cap looks easy to make, in fact it's quite crude 😬 What amazes me is why the caps get lost from teh wheels 🤔 I bought my wheels off ebay and you never see the wheels with centre caps .

What really amazed me was the weight of the Dunlops, they are heavier than the 5.5J Lotus steels that I had fitted.

I also bought a set of nice original 1970's 'Revolution wheels' which are 2kg a wheel lighter than the dunlops and the 7 looks fab with them fitted. though not original Lotus fitment I prefer the car with them on.

Hope to see you at one the 7 events this year - I owe you a beer or two 😬, thanks once again

Mal