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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Alloy hubs

Have originally posted this up on the K series midget section, but thought a wider audience here may be interested.

Just a quick update , hubs are now available, in either built up or kit form, the latter will allow customers to have their own chosen finish applied.
At present the H15 hubs will be sold as bare alloy, but the next batch we will offer hard anodising.
Price is £240 plus vat a pair.
Options available at the moment are 4" PCD with std length studs, oversized are available at point of order.
Also 4" PCD but with stronger Ford studs.
The next batch we will be producing Ford PCD and studs.
These hubs have been specifically designed to work with the 2mm radius on the stub axle.

I'm happy to have prices removed if their inclusion breaches T and C's.



J L HEAP

'These hubs have been specifically designed to work with the 2mm radius on the stub axle.'
How exactly?
Do these hubs take standard bearings?
Surely it's the bearing that fits to the stubaxle radius, not the hub?
David Smith

Good to see this on the market!

I had a need for new hubs but since have found good SH ones.

If I ever have money to spare I might just go for a set.
I can imagine there is a nice weight saving....
Onno K

Sorry David, should have explained more about our hubs on this section. I have on the K series section, so here goes,

The hubs have been designed to take taper roller bearings not the standard/original Midget ones. As the bearings come with only a 1mm inner diameter radius we have produced a 2mm spacer with a 2mm radius to allow the bearing to sit against.
We have similar designs of hub which we use for our 260mm 4 pot disc kits. The basic design has been proven over the last 15 years with our Morris Minor performance developments. see www.jlhmorrisminors.co.uk for a background and product range that we offer.
J L HEAP

Thankyou Onno, note the bare hubs weigh 0.94Kg a saving of around 1.56 Kg per hub.
J L HEAP

So these are NOT compatable with the 40 degree angular contact bearings...only the taper bearing ???
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Correct.
The taper roller bearings are very good quality items in the kit and are available more easily in most countries.
We have used taper roller bearings in our Morris Minor disc kits for 15 years and also the more recent 260mm Midget disc kit


J L HEAP

taper works just fine, as long as they are shimmed for the proper clearance (same clearance as used on an MGB)



Norm
Norm Kerr

But you wouldn't have to shim them in these new alloy hubs I assume? Presumably you just tighten them the correct amount?
Lawrence Slater

Hi

Having seen the results of a number of failures of alloy hubs on Spridget race cars over the years (not involving your hubs I hasten to add), have you run your hubs on any race cars running slicks and can you confirm they are suitable/appropriate for competition use?

Regards

JB
James Bilsland

James... I was thinking the same,

i didnt want to say anything as im definatly not mechanical engineer, but the one area i see that could be an issue are all the sharp edges namly around the drill holes ...id like to see all the harse edging removed / sanded down and the drill holes counter sunk...with even some kind of lip or ridge around the area of the holes that mount to the brake disc...i think its these areas that will be prone to cracking

That said, its a great looking kit, and well thought out, and i like that its been designed to be plug and play with no issues of a proven bearing design....and the fact you can make these to fit the big brake conversion (mgb caliper on spitfire rotor) without an adapter is a huge plus

I think you got something worth marketing, esp if you tske out the hard edging.. Id call moss motors right away for a contract.

Great job
Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Lawrence you are indeed correct.
I think its easier to try and forget what has gone on before and the original Midget type of hub fitting.
Our hubs are quite different in using taper roller bearings.
James, I have used a very similar hub on my track Minor, admittedly not running slicks but Toyo 888's, This car weighs around 850 kilos and has a 240 bhp ( was 360bhp) supercharged Zetec motor and 260mm vented Cosworth AP discs and 4 pot calipers, so we can assume that its a pretty quick and hard pushed car.
The hubs and bearings have not been changed for 4 years of trackdays, probably equivalent to 6,500 track miles, so I can vouch for their suitability for this application.
As you know if in competition use , no manufacturer will guarantee such a product,however I have the utmost confidence in these hubs , for road and trackday use, but for competition use, I can not really advise as we have not tested in this environment.
If someone who does compete in competition with slicks would like to test them I'm sure we can come to an arangement
J L HEAP

JL heap,

So what else do you make... Do you have a web site or an on-line catologe

Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Prop,

We are new to the Midget market this year. We decided that as quite a few parts we produce cross over quite easily from the Morris Minor to the Midget, that we would start with Midget versions of our best selling products.
We have released a 260mm vented disc kit with 4 pot alloy calipers. Hubs are steel in the first instance but we have just developed alloy versions to save weight.
These are as you describe them a 'plug and play' design.
We have started two engine projects with the Midget, namely the 'blacktop' Zetec and the all alloy Sigma engines, the latter I see as a better version of the Rover K series.
We will be moving into both front and rear suspension kits for fast road and trackday applications, based upon our already sucessful front coil over and 6 link kits for the Morris Minor.
We will soon have a section for MG's on our website www.jlhmorrisminors.co.uk which will include unbeatable christmas deals on 13" and 14" minilight style wheel and tyre packages or wheel only, plus a wealth of glass fibre Sprite and Midget panels.
Contrary to the area heading we are not in South Yorkhire but in a small village of Napton on the hill in Warwickshire, 10 miles from Warwick and Coventry.

Jonathon
J L HEAP

Jonathon-
Pretty.
Are these forgings or machined from bars?
Material?
What's the backside look like?

You are not using the bearing inner spacers and shims?

And you haven't told us how to find these wondrous things.

FRM
FR Millmore

FRM, thankyou, I like pretty !!

These are billet hubs made from H15 2014A high grade aircraft aluminium alloy.
The design of the hub internals negates the need for an inner spacer and shims.
I'm in the process of setting up a new MG section on the website, so for the moment its probably easier to email me on info@jlhmorrisminors.co.uk or call 01926 817890

Here's a pic of the 'backside'





J L HEAP

Well JL,

Im certianly impressed, i wish i could help you out, ive got a complete front end suspension and a big brake system in boxes waiting for me to install

Just a thought... ive been looking into using a ford mustange II rack and pinion with bump stops for my 71 midget, it looks like it could fit... But something you might consider looking into...as these BMC rack and pinions are a purple monster with bad breath to rebuild, and some very old tech.

Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Thankyou Prop.
Must admit I find the rack works very well, (in a Minor) infact the Midget rack is simply the same but mounted upside down. We use them for our left hand drive conversions. They are still very cheap too over here at around £60.
Unfortunately, these are also favoured by many types of race cars, from stock rods to grasstrackers,so supply has dried up a small amount.
Not sure of the availability of the Stang rack over here. Sounds a good project though and it will be interesting to see how you get on.
J L HEAP

JL

If you want an introduction to a few Midget racers for testing purposes I can assist - and there are a quite a few racers that post on this BBS every so often.

I'd offer to try them myself, but my racing budget has dried up in favour of my children at the moment so I couldn't commit to much if any use next year

Good luck, they look much better engineered than previous versions I have seen, your brake kit sounds useful too.

Regards

JB
James Bilsland

...and Prop, how many Mustang racks do you think we see in the UK...?

If you need a replacement rack surely you can find a decent one among the US Midget community - and if not I'm sure someone over here can get one to you for less than the cost of the re-engineering of a Mustang rack... #justsayin...
James Bilsland

the thing with a mustang II steering rack is that it requires more turns from lock to lock (slower). The Morris rack is about 2.5 turns.

Factory Fox/Mustang = 4 1/8 ~ 4 1/4 turns

Flaming River Pinto (aftermarket with cut down housing) = 3.8




If one were to change the rack, the most useful thing would be to relocate it to reduce the rather large bump steer that Midgets have. Racers have tried a lot of things over the years.



Norm
Norm Kerr

James, thankyou for the offer, I'll take you up on it if I may.I'm happy to contact them, or them/me on the detailed contacts provided above.

Many thanks


Jonathon
J L HEAP

James.... (and Prop, how many Mustang racks do you think we see in the UK...?)

Hmmm... Im going to guess about the same number as ford type 9s here in the states....hahaha

Theres nothing wrong with my rack that a few shims cant cure.... But i just hate the rack, its a brutal 3 day process, just to get it apart.... Im just not a fan of the ball and cap system... I like a much more modern bushed rack....that last 200,000 plus miles before it ever any service

One thing i have noticed, there are many differant versions of the stang 2 rack and and several system of the bump stops just for thr stang 2 rack....theres one on summit racing website that is a dead ringer for the early midget in spec...ill see if i can find it, but its almost the same cost as moss...$150.00 ???

Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Why buy Moss. There is a large amount of cross over parts from the Minor to Midget, ie poly bushes which are much cheaper from the established Minor specialists such as ESM and Bull Motif Spares.
J L HEAP

This thread was discussed between 11/11/2012 and 17/11/2012

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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