Sorry for the wide distribution, I'm trying to get this to Phil Ethier
who asked about Midget wheels.
For a year or two in 1969-1970, MG (and I believe the Sprite followed
suit) a special 5" "Paddy Hopkirk" wheel *as a factory option*. These
rims have eight squarish holes in the rim, are painted black with a
bright rim and with bright trim around the holes.
I knew of a set of these for sale at my friends' shop in Southern
California a couple of years ago, but I don't know whether they
still have the wheels.
As for 185s om Midgets: I ran 185-60 HR 13 Pirelli P6s on my autocross-
bound Midget. I ran into problems at the rear. I had a 1974, which has
the rounded arches (for the record, cars built in model years 1972, 1973
and 1974 used the rounded arches), and my problem was with the inboard
wall of the chassis/fender -- that is, the part that was *inside* the
track of the wheels. I cured this for the street with a 1/4" spacer
but this would be illegal for Stock-class autocross competition.
I don't know about the offset on the 5" Paddy Hopkirk rims; that might
solve your problem without needing spacers. Or you could just be smart
and use 175-70 HR 13 in something way sticky like A008Rs or Comp T/A R1s
(if you're a Team T/A member like me! :-)
I'm still tempted to do the silly thing and build a Midget into an
autocross car. It would be fun, though it's classed in a way that
would make it almost impossible to be competitive, in stock class
anyway, in SFR anyway. (Somehow I just can't imagine beating
Frogner in a stock Midget... I'm having enough trouble in a stock GTI!)
But the feeling of wind through your helmet, the song of the A-Series
whining away under the bonnet, the feel of the go-kart-like steering,
the gnashing of the gears inches from your knees... Spridgets are sure
fun. (Now, if you want to talk about Prepared class, that's another
story. Spridgets kick some pretty serious tail in Prepared. There's
nothing like starting with a 1500-pound car, especially when at taht
weight it's chock-full of cushy things like roll-up windows, padded
dashboards, bumpers, cigarette lighters, and other silly amenities!)
Good luck to Phil.
--Scott
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