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MG MGB Technical - Wire Wheel Removal Problems

I'm having serious problems trying to get wire wheels off an old ('67 GT) suspension. I was able to get one knockoff removed but the other three won't budge. From the looks of the first one, lots of rust on the inside. I know next to nothing about wire wheel set-up, I got these in the hopes of one day using this undercarraige on my '75 with mini-lite knockoffs. Also, even with the knockoff removed the wheel still won't come off. It will slide back and forth on the hub about 3/4" but won't come off. Am I missing some mystery bolt somewhere? Thanks
Drew
Andrew Fletcher

You'll have to get the knock-offs loose first --- perhaps by squirting some Liquid Wrench repeatedly around the edges and tapping to set up some vibes. You might try a bit of heat.

Once you get the knock-offs loose (not yet off) you can drive in a tight circle to put some outward pressure on the hub.
Dan Robinson

Andrew,
You might have to have the wheels pressed of the hubs by someone with a hydraulic press. Not a tempting proposition, i agree. If the nockoffs are so so stuck, the wheels will be not much easier.
Keep trying to remove the nockoffs (WD-40, etc), once they are off you might be able to remove some of the wheels.
Having the wheels pressed off will at least give you a chance of reusing our old hubs. If you are planning on getting new hubs anyway, you can grind through the wheel and remove it.
If I were you I would be budgetting for new hubs. Using new minilites on old (worn)hubs will quickly destroy them.
HTH,
Rufus
R Pool

The front wheels on my A were locked to the hubs, like yours. Since driving in circles was not an option, this is what I did. First I got a large 8 ton gear puller, slipped a socket over the spindle and applied pressure. You may have to remove a spoke or two to get the puller onto the hub--but they can be replaced. Since the wheel didn't budge I applied some penetrating oil (not WD40--Use Liquid Wrench, PB Blaster or the like) Still no go so I applied some heat using a propane torch to the hub. Finally I got some movement and the first one came off aafter about two days of fiddling. The other one refused to budge not matter what I did. I even used an oxyacetylene torch to reall heat up the wheel hub. That one, I ended up removing the hard way. I cut all the spokes and removed the rim, put a 3 inch cutting disk onto my die grinder and carefully cut through the wheel hub, without going into the spline. The way to do this is to cut almost all the way through and then split it with a cold chisel. I cut it into thirds and was able to beat the pieces off with the hammer and chisel. After cleaning up the splines and inspecting them, I found that they were still in good condition and so was able to reuse them. One wheel ended up in the spares pile, the other in the trash.
R. L Carleen

Forgive me for perhaps stating the obvious, but have you remembered the spinners have opposite threads on each side of the car? In my haste to get a wheel off at a tyre centre once I forgot this simple fact for a few minutes.
S Coulson

A club member's midget had one of the front wires welded to the splined axle hub from the back side. Apparently a fix for a stripped hub. In another instance, some PO had used beer can metal as shims wrapped round the splines and the wheel hammered on for a force fit. Probably worked for a while but mostly fouled things up trying to get the wheel back off. Sorry, but POs can be a resourceful, if not quite helpful lot.
Bob Muenchausen

Thanks, this gives me a couple of options. And yes, the knockoff that came off was the one I tightened the first go around until I looked at the arrow that said this way dumba**! Maybe I should try that with all of them. I'm not concerned with destroying the wheels, one looks bent and the rest would need to be refinished. I didn't think about old hubs destroying new minilites which would be very very bad. I'll try the Liquid Wrench route since WD40 did nothing.
Another question-
I want to lower the entire car about 1 1/2 - 2". Is it the springs alone that change height in the front or is the cross-member different somehow? I know in the back the rear mounting bracket is up in the subframe so I'll need to put blocks there. I know, one step at a time.
Thanks
Andrew Fletcher

Andrew,
as far as I know for a chrome bumpered B you only need lowered springs for the front. Blocks between rear axle and spring would be easiest for the rear.
Rufus
R Pool

Lowering your car 2" may not sound a lot but it is. You can expect handling and steering problems. Moreover the front springs will have to be much stiffer so the car doesn't bottom out and the stiffer springs will make your car ride super hard and skip over rough roads. You'll also need to change to stiffer front shocks to dampen the increased spring rate. You will also have to have your front end modified so the alignment stays basically the same as stock. Since MGBs have no adjustments you'll need to get someone to modify whatever they need to do to bring it back to spec and make it driveable. The stiffer springs will also cause the body to flex more and create stress cracks and other nasties.

Too many 'Ricers' and other pundits think they can just put in lowering springs and that's all. Far from it.
Mike MaGee

This thread was discussed between 19/04/2004 and 23/04/2004

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