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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - 13 x 5' steel wheels??

Hi. I have just bought myself a new old Sprite and i noticed that the car was equipped with wide steel rims.
Can anyone help with info about these?
I have heard that these were made original in the old days, but never managed to find anything about it on the web.
the wheels are 13" x 5" and pic are attached.

Happy new year to all:-)

Palle

www.midgetRacing.blogspot.com


Palle Kragh Rühe

Paul,
The probability is that these are original centers with aftermarket rims welded on. Not an uncommon practice. These will work nicely with 175-width tires.
David "the original hubcaps fit nicely" Lieb
David Lieb

Palle -

I have posted a number of times on this BBS about wide steel wheels - see the archive. Of course, the early frogeye wheel was easy to modify in the way David describes because the centre was rivetted to the rim.

Later in frogeye production the two parts were welded together, and a stronger wheel was said to be available from BMC for use in competition - whether this still had the ventilation holes is not clear, but I would be surprised if it had the large holes for the brake adjusters, which must have weakened the assembly quite a bit.

But there is no evidence for this wheel being wider than standard. Even if it was, it would be more likely to have been 4" rather than 5" - at the turn of the Sixties in the UK people still felt a light car like the Sprite had no business being 'overtyred'.

In the US, tyre sizes were more generous - did the car come from the States? A pic of the back of the wheels would be interesting.

Tom
Tom Coulthard

a picture of the inside of the the rim with the tyre off may also give you a code number. My 5.5J wheels are stamped.
Gary Lazarus

This thread was discussed between 28/12/2009 and 11/01/2010

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.