>I have a '73 MGB that a previous owner replaced all the
>wheels with some cheap spokes (now well beyond help).
>I believe that the car was originally equiped with steel wheels
>(spare) and would like to put the car back to (as close as possible)
>that condition (besides the fact that the offset on the present
>wheels causes the rear tires to rub on the wells). I've looked
>at Moss and Victoria for either replica or original's and have only
>found spoke's. Can anyone recommend a source for the originals,
>and are the steel wheels actually original???
>
> John W.
> Shoreham, NY
> whitej@sunynassau.edu
John -
Do your wire wheels go on splines with a center knock-off nut or are they
bolted on with four lug nuts?
If they are the four-bolt pattern, the originals were steel "Rostyle"
wheels and I thought they were in Moss, Victoria British, Roadster
Factory, and Seven Enterprises catalogs. I don't have them handy but will
look when I get home tonight. If not, they aren't altogether that uncommon
- maybe somebody else on the list will know of some used ones for sale.
If you have splined wire wheels, we might presume that the car came with
wires - they did come both ways, but conversion from one to the other
involves a rear axle transplant. It's possible that somebody tried to
convert your's without changing out the rear axle and that's why the wheels
rub the wells. If your spare is a steel four-bolt wheel and if it fits, you
need Rostyles to be authentic - or those imitation minilites which are
available in either four-bolt or knock-off versions. The four-bolt
versions are relatively reasonably priced and if not authentic, they
certainly were a popular after-market item, frequently found on Bs of the
60s and early 70s, and therefore quite appropriate. The alloy wheels ("LE"
wheels) fitted to the '79-'80 model "Limited Edition" MGBs would also fit
- but that's an expensive way to achieve anachronistic non-authenticity!
Good luck,
Allen Bachelder
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