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Wire wheel conversion
- Thread starter Wilks
- Start date
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Steve_S
Yoda
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Where did my post go??? *sigh* Ok here I go again...
Do you need it to be five-lug? Standard MGB hubs are 4-lug. MGC came with 5-lug but the parts are much harder to come by and more expensive.
To make the swap to MGB parts you will need to change the front hubs and the rear axle assembly. You can modify parts in order to keep your existing axle housing but not only is this very labor-intensive but the axle housings are different widths between bolt-on and knock-off units. Your wheel width will be off a couple inches if you go this route.
If you change the entire axle and want to retain your current differential, you will need to change the spider gears so it will accept the bolt-on axle shafts.
If you have to go 5-lug then you may have to look into aftermarket systems such as Classic Conversions, Hawk Engineering, etc.
Do you need it to be five-lug? Standard MGB hubs are 4-lug. MGC came with 5-lug but the parts are much harder to come by and more expensive.
To make the swap to MGB parts you will need to change the front hubs and the rear axle assembly. You can modify parts in order to keep your existing axle housing but not only is this very labor-intensive but the axle housings are different widths between bolt-on and knock-off units. Your wheel width will be off a couple inches if you go this route.
If you change the entire axle and want to retain your current differential, you will need to change the spider gears so it will accept the bolt-on axle shafts.
If you have to go 5-lug then you may have to look into aftermarket systems such as Classic Conversions, Hawk Engineering, etc.
Steve_S
Yoda
Offline
For knockoff hubs there are only three options.
A) Wire Wheels:
Pros: Look nice, excellent brake cooling, quick tire change
Cons: More work to keep clean, more maintenance (occasionally need trueing), less stiff (unless 72-spoke are used), heavier than alloys, many tire shops will not be able to balance them
B) Minilite Style:
Pros: Look sporty, decent brake cooling, easy to clean
Cons: Heavy compared to non-knockoff style (nearly as much as wires), expensive
C) Steel Twin-Cam style
Pros: Fairly lightweight, fairly stiff, vintage race look
Cons: Extremely hard to find and very expensive when you can, limited tire size due to narrow rim
There are also aluminum-rimmed wire wheels available but they are quite expensive and will require more frequent trueing / spoke tensioning sue to the soft rims. Additionally I have heard of people making their own steel knock-off wheels and there are rumors of a company selling them. Unfortunately I don't have a link.
What is it about wire wheels you don't like?
A) Wire Wheels:
Pros: Look nice, excellent brake cooling, quick tire change
Cons: More work to keep clean, more maintenance (occasionally need trueing), less stiff (unless 72-spoke are used), heavier than alloys, many tire shops will not be able to balance them
B) Minilite Style:
Pros: Look sporty, decent brake cooling, easy to clean
Cons: Heavy compared to non-knockoff style (nearly as much as wires), expensive
C) Steel Twin-Cam style
Pros: Fairly lightweight, fairly stiff, vintage race look
Cons: Extremely hard to find and very expensive when you can, limited tire size due to narrow rim
There are also aluminum-rimmed wire wheels available but they are quite expensive and will require more frequent trueing / spoke tensioning sue to the soft rims. Additionally I have heard of people making their own steel knock-off wheels and there are rumors of a company selling them. Unfortunately I don't have a link.
What is it about wire wheels you don't like?