Tyres, rims, and other Elf topics!!

Hello again,
I am VERY close to buying that Elf I mentioned in my last post. I think I have located a proper heater.
I have what seems to be a million questions:
1)What width rims come from the factory on these cars?
2)Will 165/70/10s fit on them?
3)If not, they probably would fit on Cooper S rims...wouldn't they? If so, would the standard wheel trims from the factory fit on the Cooper S rims? The car needs tyres and I would rather not get the 145/80/10s again.
4)Are the seats of comparable year minis use the same frames and foam/squabs?
5)Where would you suggest getting the proper interior for these cars?
Okay....okay....so I only have 5 questions SO FAR!!
PS I think that car will be in my garage by Sunday!!!!!
PPS And thank you for responding to my previous post.

1. Factory wheels: 3.5" non-S
2. 165/70 fit on 3.5"? Fit? Yes. Just barely, but certainly NOT recommended!
3. 165s fit on 3.5" S rims? See above. 165s fit on 4.5" S rims? Yes. Work OK. Better on 5" rims. The S rims will not fit directly onto standard Elf/Hornet brakes. Front will work, but rears don't without spacers or S-tye drums, and if you space out the rears, you'll want to space out the fronts, too. Wheel covers on S rims? I've never tried fitting the Elf/Hornet full wheel covers on S rims. They certainly won't fit on 3.5s. Can't answer for 4.5s, but I'd guess not. If it is important and no one else knows for certain, I can experiment.
4. Seat frames. Never looked into that before. Good question. If it is important, I can dig through the factory parts books and compare part numbers.
5. Newton Commercial for interior upholstery parts.

Regarding the wheels and tires, unless you are going to upgrade to 7.5" disc brakes, I suggest you stay with the non-S 3.5" wheels and 145/80 tires. Makes for a nice driving car.

I've got several heaters available; all will need reconditioning of course.

As for the interior; when mine gets put back together the seats will be going to Retro Retrims for a custom retrim. As far as I know the seat frames are the same - I have had the cover off mine before.

Follow up on seat frames.
After a peruse (but not a detailed study) of the factory parts books and microfiche covering the Elf/Hornet and the standard saloons (English built) it appears that the E/H used the same seat frames as the standard saloons during the same time periods. The part numbers for both changed many times up through the end of the Mk II standard saloon and Mk III E/H but they appear to be happening at the same time...and most of the changes seem to be minor ones.

Follow up on E/H wheel cover fitting to 4.5" S wheels.
Based on only one trial of a E/H cover on a 4.5 wheel, it appears it will work. I dragged out a standard 3.5" wheel and an original S 4.5" wheel and the outer sections to which the cover fits appeared the same and measured (as best as possible) the same. The wheel cover was slightly harder to fit to the S wheel but it did go on and fit tightly. I did not have one of the reproduction 4.5" wheels, but with the reported fitting issues between new caps/old wheels and old caps/new wheels I would guess that fitting the E/H full wheel covers to the reproduction wheels is unlikely to work. Someone with a repro wheel will have to try the fitting.

Chuck,
Mike's car is a New Zealand version. (I saw it when it was imported into the states) Would that make any difference on the seats? Seems like I read somewhere that the NZ cars didn't get the same options as the UK ones.

Good point, Red. And one I can't answer. I know that other Mini interiors were changed for a period of time on New Zealand cars ("local content" laws), but I don't know whether the Elf/Hornets seats would have been changed.

I understand the Captain may not have Elf seats in this car at all; hence, the questions about compatibility with other Mini seats. In reality, I would imagine that if the NZ Elf/Hornets had different upholstery, he is going to have to decide how much effort he wants to put into a search for the NZ parts!