I've commented on these wheels once, when another member with a yellow SA22 had them. To my knowledge we are the only two with these wheels. I present to you, my new rotary junkyard find.

Yokohama Rubber Co. ALMEX YSD wheels!




I found these while browsing old rotary websites. The site wasn't the prettiest, and it was hella old, but I gave it a shot and emailed. I got a set of 4 for $300 shipped. Camocarl said they were an interesting find when I showed them to him a few months ago. I'm going to start restoring them ASAP.

So what do you think of the new find? They aren't the old school ADVAN YSW wheels I originally hoped to search out, but ALMEX YSD suits my RX7 better.

 

The guy up in Alaska has a set of them.

Nice find.

 

i just happen to have them. Did you find tires alright?

 

powercoat black and polished! FTW!

 

Yes I'm deciding on the 175 or trying to fit 185s on them. Its now just a matter of money.

So aside from you, a guy in Alaska also has these. And I did find out the official model name it is YSD. It makes sense. Since all of Advan's wheels made in the 80s began with YS.

 

Those need to be bead-blasted or sand blasted. You could wet sand them but it will be hard to get into all the spaces inbetween. I wouldnt even try to polish them, id just paint or powdercoat them silver.

 

so they are original mazda wheels funkey

 

Congrats on a rare find! I'm the "Alaska Guy" with a NOS set of these bad boys. These are one of four alloy wheel styles offered by Mazda on the RX7 in 1979-80. The others:
-the standard silver"waffle" alloy most early RXs had
-the "gold-waffle" that came on some special edition cars
-the Limited Edition (79) alloy wheel
A couple of suggestions for your restoration of these. When getting them bead blasted, protect the polished insert on each bolt hole. Blasting takes the finish off and means a lot of polishing to restore the finish. I got 4 hardware washers the diameter of the insert and bolted these threw the hole to protect them during blasting. Also - and please chime in if anyone has other info - I have heard that the heat-curing process of powdercoating can weaken the structure of the alloy wheels, actually causing them to fail (collapse!). Don't know if this is a wives-tale or if it is only with certain types of (hotter?) powdercoat processes. Some research would be worth while, since it would be a shame to cook these rare rims and ruin them!
Enjoy your junk yard find!
Stu Aull
80SG
-and a 4 new sets of alloy wheels and too chicken to put them on the road :p
Alaska

 

I actually called up Yokohama Rubber earlier and anything from their old Almex and Advan lines are considered pimpworthy and they asked me if I would ever be interested in submitting a proposal for a sponsorship. I'm flattered, but no, at least not yet.

I'm not sure as to what Mazda had in mind with these wheels though. I'm still interested in why they commissioned Yokohama Rubber Wheel Design to make these alongside their other wheels of the early 80s.

 

Yes and No. Some think they were an option and that makes sense, but on the wheels themselves it says they are Almex YSD and made by Yokohama Rubber.

Who knows? I'm actually going to ask the AE86 crowd since the Advan YSW wheels are a holy grail to them. They might know some stuff about the Yokohama wheels from back in the day.

 

hmm interesting well with some chrome they will look mintas good luck matey
whats ya plans for them?

 

Well I'm hoping to get them back to the way they originally were. Polished aluminum with textured grey steel.

I like the look that they share with the Advan YSW. If I can polish them up and return them to normal they'll be cooler than the YSW

 

that looks wicked with the chrome and grey back ground are those a fb wheel?

 

That was a 4x110 wheel offered at one time. Its more common to find them in 4x114 and on old JDM Levins and other AE86 platforms. They were 15x7.

I almost scooped them up from Takumi but someone else did. I say they should come forward and sell them to me.

 

hehe hell yeah im with you on that one brother damn my bed time im soo drunk all the best

 

I have a set of those on the 5spd '79.
I am thinking they would look cool with the recessed sections in body color and the lip and ribs polished. That would be Spark Yellow code YU.

 

you ever down in the anchorage area?

 

my color code is YU also...

 

Well, OEM's rarely make everything themselves. Your car has Mitsubishi electronics, Sumitomo (I think) brakes...

A lot of GMs have wheels made by Enkei, too. And Saturns have starters made by a company that also makes parts for Ferraris...

 

Yep, lots - I'm in Fairbanks, but am down to the Big City a few times a year, though mostly by plane... which is a bit ironoc: I drove my 7 up from SoCal and since have only cruised around up here...
Stu Aull
80 GS
Alaska

 

we'll have to get rotary get together up here sometime.i may be driving through fairbanks on my random trip to barrow this summer. i'll have to get hold of you if i do!

 

and takata seat belts! wow im like takata racing made factory sealt belts for my car? sweet my car is officially a sports car haha

 

Next time I'm in the 7 I'm going to look at the tag to check that Takata belt thing

Knew about everything else, though, just not that