I have definitely had a problem going the other way. We have a 74 that was
a disc wheel car converted to wires. The tires stick out so far that the
fender edges have cut almost all the way through the sidewall of the tires
in the rear. We have never put many miles on the car for this reason. We
have a spare wire wheel axle prepped and ready to go under the car, just
have to find the time to do so. I'm not sure about going wires to bolt ons.
The nearest thing I have to an opinion is this: When I used to autocross my
bolt on equipped 71, I would get light tire rub on the inner fenders (above
the frame rails near shock bolts). It was only enough to buff the dirt off
of the metal, it didn't even go into the paint. This was with 185/70-R14s.
I would think that if you had a narrower axle and didn't have a panhard rod,
that this rub would get much worse, probably enough to hurt exit speed but I
doubt it would do much else since the area that the tires rub is smooth.
There just isn't anything in there to catch a tire on, or to cut into it.
James Nazarian
71 MGBGT V8
71 MGB Tourer
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-mgs@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgs@autox.team.net] On Behalf
Of Paul M.
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 1:05 PM
To: kmwheeler@ualr.edu; mgs@autox.team.net
Cc: MGBnutt@aol.com; Barn.Owl@verizon.net
Subject: Re: From wires to bolt-on
--- kmwheeler@ualr.edu wrote:
> A word of warning: you can not just put on the rear
> bolt-on hubs on a wire wheel
> rear axle, the wire wheel axle housing is narrower
> than the bolt-on, and you'll end
> up with some tire interference (snip...)
There is some argument on this point. I have spoken
with half a dozen MGB vintage racers who have swapped
over the hubs and left the wire wheel axles in place,
and none of them experienced any problems. I
specifically asked: "Won't that cause tire clearance
problems?" and they ALL replied: "Bah! That's an old
wives tale!" They seemed to think my concern was
quite amusing...
Granted, two of the guys were running slightly wider
wheels on the back than on the front (half an inch I
think), but the other four were not.
In fact, I have never met and spoken with anyone who
actually HAS experienced problems swapping out just
the back hubs. I'm not saying the problem wouldn't
exist, but I'd be curious to see if anyone has
experienced difficulties of this sort. If anyone has
ever had any problems with the swap handled in this
way, I'd love to hear them.
=====
Paul Misencik - 1971 MGB - www.sopwithracing.com
THE CAROLINA TROPHY - 2005
A vintage driving event in the spirit
of the Mille Miglia, Rallye des Alpes,
and Colorado Grand.
See www.carolinatrophy.com for details.
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