Custom Made Wheel Bolts for Fiat Roosevelt "Libre" Wheels

After a long hunt for replacement bolts for a set of "Libre" wheels that I'm in the process of restoring, I decided to quit trying to find old bolts, and have some made up. Pete Angel sent along a single factory bolt that he had, and I used it for dimensions for the pattern. The Fiat Roosevelt A.R.E. wheel lug bolts are about .625" shank diameter for the smaller hole in these wheels and Fiat 124s use the 1.25 thread. The 850s use 1.5mm threads with drum brakes and 1.25mm with disks. The A.R.E Libre wheel has the larger holes that would take the more common .684" shank diameter bolt or nut that is readily attainable at local parts stores or speed shops.

New FR bolts are unavailable. Old bolts are exactly that. Old, nasty and weak. After a little consideration, I decided to go with new custom made bolts. New chrome, extremely close match, and I don't have to modify the wheel.

The material in the wheel is marginal, and the larger washers should help distribute stress over a larger area. I did not want to drill out the holes in the wheels. This would be cheaper, but I was afraid that it would be too easy to get the wheels out of center.

A friend that owns a local machine shop said that he would work them in for me between contract jobs. It took about two weeks to get them done. Most of the time was waiting for a custom chuck to be made for the lathe to accept the hex so they could be turned down accurately. As you can see, he does beautiful work.

The top bolt is made from the original pattern (the bottom bolt) from Pete. The pattern bolt is stamped "124" to indicate that it is to be used on the 124 spider. I have no doubt that the bolt is the appropriate bolt. It fits the wheel perfectly in every dimension. There were two different sets of bolts made for these wheels that have the 1.50mm "coarse" thread for some years (or ends) of the 850 spiders. There were also "Long" find thread bolts. I don't know what they are for, but I have one to make a pattern. I can also create 850 bolts if needed.

As you can see from the photo, they are not exactly alike. Rather than have the complete bolt made from round stock (possible but prohibitively expensive), I obtained a set of 1.25 nuts from a local speed shop. I obtained a set of studs from Bruce's Parts Bin and sent the pattern out and had them matched for length and diameter where the bolt touches the wheel. If you look closely, you will be able to see where a slight relief has been left to allow the stock washers to be used. Very little material had to be removed from the nut to match the diameter of the factory bolt. Hardly more than twice the thickness of the chrome plating. I doubt that there would be any sacrifice in strength. You must decide this for yourself.

If your bolts are in bad condition, and you would like to duplicate what I've done here, I can arrange a set for you.

Cost: I have already paid for the setup machining cost and the fabrication of the custom chuck for the lathe to take the hex on the nut. He estimates that he can do a set of 16 in about an hour and a half. This would be approximately $80.00. Considerably less than my cost. Sixteen studs from Bruce are $30 and about $40 for the new nuts. Add shipping from 63386 and you have your cost it. If you are not in a hurry, I can also do the leg work and provide the nuts and studs for a donation to Mirafiori.