I always wanted the car the have wire wheels. The question all along was what size and either Chromed or Painted. The chrome always look good but require more care, and are more expensive. The 15" MGC wheels make the car look better, but are also a lot more expensive.

After a lot of deliberation, and the MGB Hive having a good deal on, I decided on a compromise. I chose 14x4.5J Chrome plated wheels with Stainless Steel spokes. They are manufactured by MWS in slough and are of very good quality.

The spare most probably will be under a cover so I will get a painted one for that.

Front Hubs

The front splined hubs were provided by the MGB Hive. They are the later 8 tpi hubs. Firstly I attached the stainless steel disc covers which will help to make the wheels look better.

The next job was to press in the inner and outer bearing races. The smaller outer was drifted in with a hammer and various sockets.

Ensure that the race goes in square otherwise it will be harder. For the inner one I used the race from the old hub, again making sure it went in square. Next the oil seal was pressed in. The stub axle was greased up with LM grease to ease fitting prolong bearing life.

First the spacer was slid onto the axle, next the hub. I initially fitter more shims than initially required so that the surplus could be removed when I know the exact play.

Next was the retaining washer and finally the hub bolt.

After tightening the hub nut I checked the play in the hub with a dial gauge. This should be between 0.002" and 0.004". I removed enough shims to bring the play to within tolerance and retightened the whole assembly.

Split pins were then fitted to the nuts and axles and finally the wheels were fitted.

I used the Octagonal spinners to hold the wheels on. These, along with the hubs, are specific to each side of car, labelled left hand and right hand. It is important that they are fitted correctly to ensure that the motion of the car does not inadvertantly loosen the spinners.

The spinners themselves are not SVA compliant, however Findhorn do hire out a special set of compliant spinners for the SVA test. (For a fee)

Rear Hubs

The rear hubs were much more straightforward. I had to press in 4 bolts to allow the brake hub to attach to the wheel hub. The Hubs were slid onto the axle and tightened to the correct torque. This was extremely high and I needed to brace the hub with a tommy bar to stop the axle turning. Also it is important when sliding the hub onto the axle to ensure that the holes for the split pin line up, otherwise the whole lot will need undoing later. The brake hub was slid onto the wheel hub and tightened. The wheel and spinner were then fitted.

Tyres

I spent a good deal of time thinking about tyre choice. I wanted a brand for quality but I didn't need superior wet weather protection, or even long life, due to the expected usage of the car. Most important was low road noise. Also I had no requirement for any "period look" so I chose Goodyear Duragrip tyres. The size is 165/65R14. They were a good price from my local fitting station although they couldn't balance them for me. Because of the nature of the fitting, the wheels and tyres need special balancing equipment. The MG owners club will do this so maybe a trip to Swavesey is in order.