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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Rear wheel spacers on a frogeye

Thinking of fitting 1 inch wheel spacers to the rear of my frogeye . Even with 5x13 minlite wheels and 165/70/13 tyres , they look lost in the wheel arches . Thought that it might look more even with the front track ..Whats your views .
Also what size socket should i be looking at for the rear hub nut , any body know a supplier for them.

Thanks Roy
R Mcknight

This used to be very common mod for Minis. Spacers put mroe stress on wheel bearings, esp rear... same as wider, stickier tyres we have these days.

If you like the look, and can find quality spacer, go ahead. Keep a check on wheel bearing condition.

A
Anthony Cutler

I have 1" spacers front and back on my Sprite, with 4-spoke Revolutions. The wheels peep out of the arches a good bit, and look great. The car feels very stable, even at high speed, and corners as well as most Lotus cars I've had (except a Europa perhaps). I put some little rubber grommets on the wheels studs to keep the spacers centered.
D le Versha

I'm not in favour of wide spacers for wheels, as Anthony mentions above, they wreck bearings and put higher and different stress loading on wheel studs and also remember the studs on our cars are only 3/8" !

Thin spacers up to about 1/4" work fine but the old 'Cosmic' type with the bolt on stud extensions are, in my opinion, not safe.

Perhaps the wheels you have are not the correct offset?

Mark.
M T Boldry

Yes they are proper midget alloys , have disc brakes on the front , does this increase the front track over drum brakes? . The front wheels come right out to the front arch on the frogeye , but the backs are just way in . Would not use 2 piece studs (Bodge), just thought mini wheel spacers or minifins on the back would even it out a bit.
R Mcknight

All Spridgets share a common eccentrictiy, that is that the rear track is slighly less than the front track by about 1". Disc brake hubs shouldn't change the track from drums. A wire wheel axle housing is even narrower than the disc wheel housing, but the front hub offset is about the same so the same difference between the front and rear track is still there with wires. I, like Mark, am not a fan of wheel spacers over about a quarter inch or so. You can get high quality spacers but I worry about the stress placed on the spridgets already small 3/8" studs with the addtional leverage. If you must use spacers I'd highly advise upgrading to at least 7/16" studs.
Bill Young

I fitted 7/8" spacers to the back of my frogeye and am happy with the result. I machined them from aluminium round bar and the studs are a close clearance fit in the spacer holes, the studs I used are the longer mini Cooper studs IIRC. Not had any problems other than breaking a half shaft at the more unusual outer end but whether that was the spacers or 185/60 13 tyres, or both, I don't know. Not instant failure, like most things it's a fatigue issue over time.

The RAC MSA used to, and may still have, a regulation limiting spacers to 1", I was checked once when they were fitted. If you do RAC MSA controlled competition then it is something to be aware of and check the current regulations.
David Billington

Super Minifins are the same width as a std Cooper S rear drum. The Cooper S had taper roller bearings fitted to help with the extra loadings of the wider track.
IF you are going this route, David Billington's option seems far more sense.....

Mark.
M T Boldry

IIRC the hub nut is 1 5/16 inch. I ground the radius off of the end of the socket so it would fit better. Over here there are inexpensive pressed steel sockets available at auto parts stores.
J Bubela

If I remember correctly, the O/E hub nut and the New replacement items are a different socket size....

Best to measure your own...

Mark.
M T Boldry

J Bubela,

I've now got the correct socket but with a 3/4" drive, it was free, but I also have a tube wrench, I think that's what they're called, that I've modified for the job. A local engineering supplier used to sell them and had one with an outside dimension that matched the AF size of the rear hub nut, so I welded a strap around that, heating and bending at the apexes, and a angle iron lever arm and that has served me well.
David Billington

This thread was discussed between 28/08/2009 and 29/08/2009

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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