New wheels

[PIC]

Finding a set of aftermarket wheels that will fit the Delorean with the 4 x 100 mm lug pattern of a certain  diameter, width and offset is... impossible. Some have resorted to changing out the hubs (and, in retrospect, maybe that would have been the best alternative) but there is finally an alternative: Delorean Midwest have partnered/contracted (not sure) with the wheel distributor Pure and come up with a set of stock looking wheels, but with more up to date dimensions:

Front: 16 x 7", +35 mm offset

Rear: 17 x 9" +15 mm offset.

After a six month wait they finally arrived. A few issues/points:

1) What I had purchased (and paid $100 extra for) was stock Delorean gray finish. These wheels were black. Finish and quality were gorgeous but again, they were black. Not the look I had had in mind. So I sent them back. After numerous phone calls with DMW where I had explained that the next batch needs to be Delorean grey I thought we were aligned, or so I thought. Another six months had passed when I got the phone call from DMW that the new set had arrived there. This time they were supposedly much lighter according to their staff, but when they arrived on my door step I could only conclude that they were identical to and just as black as the first set. Huge disappointment. I did reach out to a wheel restore place around here to inquire about having them powder coated but they could not guarantee that the respray would hold up, so I saw no other recourse than to accept the wheels. Tires were ordered and installed:

Front: Continental Extreme Contact Sport 02; 205/45 R16

Rear: Continental Extreme Contact Sport 02; 255/45 R17

2) The rear wheels, dimension-wise are AWESOME and look just right in the wheel well. As far as the front wheels, well, they do not: A 8" wide rim would have been more appropriate and/or could use a more exciting offset. In short, the front wheels look way too narrow and are way too inset. I actually prefer the look of the rear, stock 15" rims in the front but the set I had are gray, not black so I needed to make the new front wheels work so I ordered a set of hub centric adapters from wheeladaptersusa.com. I was pretty much locked into a wheel adapter width of 34 mm to clear the wheel studs, BUT, they machined them 1 mm to thin (33 mm) but rather than going through the RMA process I decided to shave the one mm off of the studs

There was just enough space for a shallow (5 mm) nut and a lock washer to ensure the wheel adapters do not work themselves loose.

And here is the wheel adapter, fully installed: