I mentioned in an earlier post that I was intending to do this. The car, a 2006 model K12 Sport+ came with the same 16" alloys that were fitted to the SR160. I managed to obtain a matching spare, with a reasonable tyre so this was now possible.
The original set up:-
14" space saver?
I determined that the wheel would actually fit in the wheel well, though could only try it with the outside up
as the original clamp point stood up from the well floor and fouled the wheel if inverted. It was immediately obvious that the new spare wheel would stand up proud of the boot floor by about 2" so I ordered some 2" thick high density foam and stuck it on the underside of the boot carpet. (I later cut out the foam to clear the spare wheel)
The centre of the wheel did not line up with the original clamp point so a new point had to be added.
The answer to this was a 'Large Flange M8 Nutsert', a quick phone call to a colleague that still worked in the automotive fastener industry got me a few of these and the loan of a heavy duty placing tool.
I determined where the new clamp point needed to be and fitted the nutsert...
This still left the problem of removing the original protruding clamp point. I initially attempted to grind away the four spot welds but ended up, after much frustration, just drilling them out and prizing the bracket off.
This left me with four holes in the 'floor' to plug, which I did with 3.5mm blind, stainless steel, 'pop' rivets.
I sprayed the whole area with zinc primer and underneath with black stone chip paint.
Knowing that the clamp bolt threads would be exposed to the elements under the car I replaced the long bolt in the OEM clamp with a shorter stainless steel M8 bolt, this just clipped into the plastic handle in place of the original bolt.
Full size spare in place and clamped down.
When I got the spare 16" wheel I also managed to get a foam insert that would hold the tools, replacing the original one that fitted around the space saver. I had to trim it a bit to fit in the wheel as it was originally meant for a 17" wheel but all fitted OK and the jack, wheel brace etc all fitted in it and the top was flush with the outside of the wheel.
After trimming out the foam to clear the spare wheel the boot carpet back in place
all in all a fairly successful modification.
The original set up:-
14" space saver?
I determined that the wheel would actually fit in the wheel well, though could only try it with the outside up
as the original clamp point stood up from the well floor and fouled the wheel if inverted. It was immediately obvious that the new spare wheel would stand up proud of the boot floor by about 2" so I ordered some 2" thick high density foam and stuck it on the underside of the boot carpet. (I later cut out the foam to clear the spare wheel)
The centre of the wheel did not line up with the original clamp point so a new point had to be added.
The answer to this was a 'Large Flange M8 Nutsert', a quick phone call to a colleague that still worked in the automotive fastener industry got me a few of these and the loan of a heavy duty placing tool.
I determined where the new clamp point needed to be and fitted the nutsert...
This still left the problem of removing the original protruding clamp point. I initially attempted to grind away the four spot welds but ended up, after much frustration, just drilling them out and prizing the bracket off.
This left me with four holes in the 'floor' to plug, which I did with 3.5mm blind, stainless steel, 'pop' rivets.
I sprayed the whole area with zinc primer and underneath with black stone chip paint.
Knowing that the clamp bolt threads would be exposed to the elements under the car I replaced the long bolt in the OEM clamp with a shorter stainless steel M8 bolt, this just clipped into the plastic handle in place of the original bolt.
Full size spare in place and clamped down.
When I got the spare 16" wheel I also managed to get a foam insert that would hold the tools, replacing the original one that fitted around the space saver. I had to trim it a bit to fit in the wheel as it was originally meant for a 17" wheel but all fitted OK and the jack, wheel brace etc all fitted in it and the top was flush with the outside of the wheel.
After trimming out the foam to clear the spare wheel the boot carpet back in place
all in all a fairly successful modification.
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