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MG MGB Technical - wire wheels switched to rostyle wheels

I have wire wheels on a 1980 mgb roadster. I want to switch to Rostyle wheels. What must be done and what could be problems? Thanks, Dave
David

It depends on how the wire wheel conversion was done in the first place. Your car would have come with bolt-on wheels from the factory; the wires were added later in its life. There is a conversion kit which utilizes bolt-on hubs, if this was used all you need to do is remove the hubs and bolt on your wheels. The other method involves changing the entire erar end, and the front hubs.
Ken Lessig

I did this swap on my 73 BGT a few months ago. I hada parts car with everything I needed (well mostly) to do the change. The front hubs had to be replaced which was a simple bolt on process (of course I put in new swivel axles, bearings, rotors, etc while it was apart) The rear end was swapped as a complete unit. It was fairly easy to remove- drop the springs, drop the rear end, bolt on to other car. Took about an hour to remove and the same to reinstall.
william fox

David. Paul Hunt has a website. Look at one of his postings on this page and get the address. I believe he used to have the proper dimensions for the bolt on rear axle and the wire wheel axle. The wire wheel axle, because of the longer wire wheel hubs, is narrower than the disc wheel axle. If you have a wire wheel rear axle, you will want to replace it with a disc wheel rear axle. Not a significant problem and allows you to replace the rubber in the springs, giving better handling in most cases. The front wire wheel hubs can be replaced with disc wheel hubs. This is also a good time to replace the wheel bearings and the grease seal. If the front end is in need of a rebuilt, this would be a good time to do it. This is not a particularly difficult operation if you have all the parts on hand, cleaned and re-painted before you begin. It took me three days to do a conversion, but most of that time was spent cleaning parts, painting them and waiting for the paint to dry before I could install them. If you have help to move the rear axle, and do not run into too many stuck bolts, it is an easy week end job. Les
Les Bengtson

I have a 78 B with freshly painted rostyles,
and would like to have the wires.

Are you in Louisiana? Maybe we could figure something out to swap around the necessary parts. Send me an email if you may be interested.

Craig Amos
Craig W. Amos

Dave: Measuring inside the backplate outer flanges the bolt on axle measures 47 1/2"
The wire wheel axle measures 45 7/8". Clifton
Clifton Gordon

This thread was discussed between 18/07/2002 and 19/07/2002

MG MGB Technical index

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