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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - Larger Tires

I'm am just about to begin my first mgb restoration/V8 conversion. One of the things I wanted to do was to put on some new fender flares and some larger tires. Can anyone that has done this before give me an example of what size tires they've used, to what degree of satisfaction, and what additional modifications they've had to make, i.e. odometer adjustments and so on. Also I noticed a brief thread on flares and I wanted to see if anyone else had any further suggestions on where to find a good set of flares?

Thanks.
Mark Koelsch

Mark
I am using 215/60x14" tires on my 73B. The wheels are 14x7 with 0 offset.With wider tires the car is more sensitive to road shock and vibration. So you will want to go with high quality wheels,ie run true. Put the best tires you can afford on it, good ones will really make a difference.
There are a couple of types of flares avilible. Mine are Huffaker but they no longer sell them.There are also Sebring panels avilible they look similar to the factory MGC race car.There are some others as well.
Installing fender flares is a lot of work. There are ways to do it while reducing the chances of fibre glass shrinking (a problem on some fibre glass panels even older corvettes). The rear fenders are more difficult than the fronts, because you'll need to open up the inner fender. I recommend making the inner fender out of steel for strengh. I feel the added work is worth it. When properly done they can really "make" the car.
Bill bill_jacobson@hotmail.com

bill jacobson

Mark: You can still buy Huffaker flares as I bought mine this last Sept. Bill Guzman markets them. Bill is right about the flares being a lot of work. Although I paid a professional to install mine, I know he spent a lot of time and still has some more to do. I would do a lot of trial fitting, especially after figuring out which wheel/tire combo you want. The Huffaker flares extend the body about 2 - 2.5 inches outboard. The total distance from the side of the spring to the inside edge of my flares is 11.5 inches, but that doesn't account for the bump above the rebound strap or whatever it is called. I've decided to put my new 17" alloy wheels on my Miata (they are dual pattern) and buy some deep dish wire wheels (15") I've found that look very much like the Borrani wires that used to come on Maserati's and Ferrari's in the 60s. If anybody is interested in these, email me and I'll give you the web site.
Bob Fish

This thread was discussed between 04/04/2001 and 05/04/2001

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