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MG MGB Technical - Fitting Wire Wheel conversion kit to a MGB GT

I have just bought a Second hand wire wheel conversion kit for my MGB GT which has Roystyles fitted it is a 1972 chrome bumper model , Have any members any advice on how this fits as i have no instructions regards TONY
Anthony Basham

My advice is "Don't". Not that I don't like wire wheels, it's just that the rostyle rear axle is nearly two inches wider than the axle used for wire wheels and adding the adaptors makes the rear tread width pretty wide and really restricts the tire size you can run without body interference. Add to that the usual axle offset found on most MGs and you can run into clearance problems real fast. Do it right, and get a wire wheel rear axle and front hubs. If you really want to install the adaptor kit, make sure the stock lugs are short enough to clear the new wheels, they may have to be trimmed a bit, and use nylock nuts and add some locktite as well so they won't come loose. Make sure you install the adaptors on the correct side, they are 'handed' and installing them on the wrong side of the car will lead to wheel loss as the knock off comes loose.
The adaptors bolt on in place of the stock rostyle wheels using the same lugs. Once they're bolted on the wire wheel is put on and secured by the knock off nut. Nothing else to it except the clearance issues I've already mentioned.
Bill Young

I fitted wire wheels to my Rostyle roadster and even though I used special conversion hubs that allow the tyres to fit further inside the arches I had continual problems with tyre rubbing even under quite moderate cornering. I tried RB roadster springs (on my CB roadster) in an effort to control things, and it did to some extent butas well as still happening occasionally it also gave a very unpleasant ride over some surfaces. Eventually I swapped the axle for a proper wire-wheel one and it has been fine since. The fronts are fine using standard hubs.

My advice is unless you got the kit very cheap, and can afford to junk it, don't bother. I did sell my conversion kit, telling the purchaser of my experiences, but he was happy to proceed.

As Bill says make sure you put the hubs on the correct sides, you want the left-hand thread on the right-hand side and vice-versa, the centre-lock spinners/nuts should tighten if you hold them still with the car rolling forward.
Paul Hunt 2

Don't do it. Not at all.

That is, if you drive your car more than 10 miles per year.

Wire wheels are a gigantic pain in the back side. Get some nice bolt-on minilights or superlights and really enjoy DRIVING your car. I have both a 65 B and a '69 C/GT here that I would like to keep rather original (wire wheels... aaaaarrrrrrgh!) and knock-off minilight replicas cost a fortune.

If you love cleaning wire wheels - spoke by spoke, cleaning/polishing the rims and centers around each nipple - then get yourself some sporty wire wheels and prepare for four hours of cleaning for each ten miles you drive. You'll love it because that's what you enjoy doing. I have no patience for that. Quite frankly, I have minimal tolerance for any form of detailing. I do it because I want my cars to look reasonably nice, but I sure don't go looking for ways to make the job a lot harder.

FWIW,
Allen
Allen Bachelder

He's bought them now, so may as well give it a go. I personally love the look of the wire wheels and think they are worth the trouble.
In fact that goes for the whole car really. It's worth the trouble, of which MGB's do give you some from time to time.
If he runs into clearance issues he can fit an aftermarket panhard rod, which will also improve handeling. and of course he can always buy a narrow axle if necessary.

If he hasn't yet bought the wheels then he might consider getting Dayton wheels. Which are the best around and can be made with a variety of offsets, which will solve any clearance issues.
They can be cleaned easily with the right sort of toilet brush I found. One of the ones with long sparse nylon bristles (usually green) wound into wire. We used to call them "Rolf Harris's beard" shape. A couple of swishes around and you're done.
Peter

Peter,

Well, maybe my comments seem a bit hasty. Thanks for the toilet brush idea - it looks like I'll be needing it when I get these two other cars on the road. I don't know how much you drive your car. I, too, love the look of wire wheels but before I retired when I was driving my B 10-12 K miles per year, the wires rarely looked as good as they should - mostly because I don't have the proper patience for detailing. Now that I'm retired, it's a lot easier. But I really love the looks of the bolt-on Superlites (made in Oz, you know) I have on my '73 B/GT and I can make them spotless in about two minutes per wheel in routine car-washing. Check it out at http://www.mgexperience.net/registry/GHD5UD320993

Tony - it's your car, and your temperament. If you really enjoy wire wheels, go for for it! A lot of guys do. The main thing is to enjoy your MGB, and hopefully you're enjoying it as much as I do mine. Yes, they require a little more maintenance than these modern things that do all your thinking for you (maddening habit, isn't it?), but I find them pretty much trouble-free.

Cheers!
Allen Bachelder

I love my wires too, and they are chrome. They probably get 3 or 4 full-scale cleans per year, which takes about an hour per wheel as Allen indicates, but a lot more than 10 miles, and includes drying, polish application and removal. In between times a soft hose brush gets to pretty-well everywhere and they look nearly as good. I bought a bristle-brush with the wheels but I think it is too stiff and and tends to scratch the chrome, so for the vast majority of the wheel and having slim hands I use two MkI digits and dusters. For the little triangles where the spokes cross just where they go through the hub a 'pipe cleaner' type of brush from my Telco days wrapped in a corner of a duster.

For quite a few years I had no problems with them, then started to get one broken spoke per season, then two and now three - they are currently 17 years old and have done about 45-50k. As it is such a fiddle getting the tyres removed and taking then quite a long way to the other side of Birmingham I'm going to have them all (spokes) replaced with stainless.
Paul Hunt 2

This thread was discussed between 18/04/2007 and 23/04/2007

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