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I’m thinking about getting a set of wire wheels for my car. The wheels that MG Magic has listed for $695 (set of 5), will they fit directly on my hubs without adapters?. The tires on my car are 185/70R14, will these wheels fit my tires?. It’s a toss up between new rims or rechroming my old rims (wire baskets). Thanks in advance for any help.
my two cents on wire wheels ..as they weren’t generic to the original car ..
why waste the money on them..were tring to make the replica look like the
original…..NO
Sarge, I think the wire wheels that MG Magic sell are really chrome wheels with wire baskets. Call them to be sure. Most wire wheels I have seen are much more expensive than the price you mentioned. It’s really whatever you prefer as to wire wheels or disc wheels.Seems like I read somewhere that wire wheels were either an option or a popular period accessory. I think that CMC/FIBERFAB designed their fenders slightly wider to keep the wire basket wheels under them on the front engine cars.
I purchased the $695 set of 5 chrome wire wheels from Brad Anderson at MG Magic for my Chevette based MGTD. They are in fact true wire wheels – supported entirely by the spokes. They incorporate an inner rim seal covering the ends of the spokes to support use of tubeless tires. Initially I was skeptical of this but my tubeless tires were mounted last December and hold air just fine. I really like these wheels.
The wheels bolt to the 4-bolt Chevette hubs – they do not use real knock-off type mounting. As I understand it they have different wheels specific to the type of hub they’re intended to fit. The wheels are trimmed nicely with fake knock-offs (which actually fooled a local mechanice for a few minutes). The biggest downside is that they are a bit larger (14×7) than oem wheels would be. Mine fit fine within the wheel wells. They do have a beefier look than original MG TD wheels – but that actually suits me just fine.
If your goal is to trick people into actually thinking you’re driving an original MG TD then these wheels don’t really fit that requirement. But they’re very robust and I like ’em.
My other choice for wheels would have been chrome wheels offered by ‘US Wheel’ that I saw on pictures of Pink MG’s car. But on inquiry, I was told they don’t make them anymore in my required bolt pattern.
A nice set of wheels and tires made my MG TD look 100% better. Get something that meets your expectations.
Thanks for the info. Not really interested in tricking people into thinking I’m driving an original MGTD. It’s just my wire baskets are showing rust along the edges.
I stand corrected. Glad to know that they are so reasonable. Brad at MG MAGIC is a very knowledgable person and I did not mean to imply any thing against him or his company. I was under the impression that real wire wheels cost more like $500. each.
Real wires usually are in the $400 to $500 range. I’m amazed to read about a set of four for $650. Heck, twenty years ago, Dayton had a 52 spoke 15″ wire wheel for the VW four-bolt pattern. And a four wheel set was well over $1,000 then.
I just started a new thread on conversations I have been having with the folks at Truespoke.
Take a look… wire wheels?
Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
John [hawlk521] and his wife Linda drove their Chevette based MG over to our house today . The wire wheels from MG MAGIG look great and suit the car perfectly.They have just the right offset and back space to fit just where they should within the fenders .I was impressed with the car as John has done an excellent job with the assembly and he has plans to finish it as it should be.
It was good to actually meet a fellow forum member who is in easy driving distance.The fact that they are such nice folks is like icing on the cake.
Larry M
Larry
It was a pleasure to meet you and Becky on this beautiful day. And I appreciate the chance to look over the two really great MG TD replicas in your stable. As a relative newcomer to the replica car world it is always helpful to see how things have been done on some of the nicer cars. Mark’s PinkMG is certainly an eye catcher. I plan to take some ideas on upholstery with me to the uphosterer and at least give him some ideas of what he needs to try to accomplish. I’ll leave the details of how to do it to him. He’s highly regarded in the car restoration business and I will trust him to do a great job.
Was very proud of my little MG today. She made the longest trip of her young life ~110 miles – and showed no signs of stress or any problems. The drive was splendid and my wife enjoyed her turn to drive so much I’d hear her giggling when she pulled out of a few sweeping curves on the road home.
My next big step is upholstery and carpet. With luck I’ll finish my prep work this weekend and get it to the upholstery shop next week.
One thing I meant to contribute regarding the MG Magic wire wheels. They are TUBELESS. Although they are true wire wheels – the manufacturer has installed a sealed band inside the hub that separates the spoke holes from the inner hub space where the tire mounts. I was skeptical at first – but all 5 tires have held air properly for about 9 months now. Of course you could put tubes in them I guess – but I don’t think that’s necessary – and might not even be a good idea.
Brad does have several different wheels for different hubs. Mine bolted right up to the oem Chevette hubs with no problem.
I have been driving on a set of 80 spoke real wire eheels from MG Magic. I am veryy happy with then . They are made by MCLean Wheels.
I started with tubeless installation, I could park the car foe 30 days and not loose any air. I could drive it 50 miles and loose 10 pounds of pressure.
My recomendation is to tube the rims and don’t worry about air loss. I find the basket wires cheap and tackey in aperance, Ok if you driving a Gazelle?
After changing to wires it has greatly improved the aperance of the car.
I used 3 inch round spot mirrors to cover the center caps and put MG logos on the center of the mirrors. The final effect was excellent.
The fifth wheel on the back of the car is pure eye candy . I installed blue LED strip lighting behind the spare and connected it to the running lights.
Look great at night. Add the center cut out wheel cover from MG Magic to finish the project.
I guess my car is cheap and tacky. I’ll be sure to tell my best friend with the Gazelle it’s okay for his car to be cheap and tacky.
James, Anyone who looks at your photo gallery can see that your car is not cheap or tacky.The wheels are not cheap or tacky either.A while back a ”friend” told me that I should be working on another car instead of that piece of trash,referring to my BCW,then he went and bought a Corvair . Sometimes we speak without thinking what it will sound like to those who hear.
Thanks for the picture. Reminds my of the old saying,”A picture is worth a thousand words”.
Sorry to speak out of place. I have owned both CMC kit and as with most peopleopinions can get you in trouble. I spent a long time finding my TD.
The problem is after seeing so many bad cars you tend to speak to generaly about other cars.
My only issue with baket wires is they rust and require upkeep, but the so do wire wheels.
I you take two identical TD cars side by side , I feel that the wire wheels will make one car stand out above the other.
Again sorry if I spoke out of term. There are to few of us to stand up for these fine automobiles.
Sorry
Hey CoffeyD
Don’t apologize for sharing your views and opinions as that is what forums and discussions are for. The word Replica in my dictionary states:- copy and or reproduction and you sure did not see any TD’s out of Abingdon with those “cheap and tacky” baskets on the wheels.
As soon as I have some spare cash in the bank I’m going to give MG Magic a call so I too can pull those ugly things off my TD.
We all own and drive TD replicas for a lot of different reasons and one high on the list is getting home at night under it’s own power.
That’s my two cents
Al.
Also, Does anybody have any pics of the MG Magic wheels in question .Octagon
If we’re trying for exact copy or reproduction, then forget wire wheels altogether. Real TDs didn’t have ’em! That’s what makes our cars a little more fun, setting them up the way we want them. Hmmm, I wonder what a set of Cragar SS’s would look like?
Ringo
Hey Ringo
I thought I read somewhere that wires were an option on TD’s in 52 .
Craigar’s on a TD. Probably look good on the strip with the back end jacked and a big lump up front.
Have fun while the sun still shines Al.Octagon:
Wires were an option on the TF, TD’s had vented steel wheels. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, personally I like wires and am very happy with my baskets.
Mel if you like wire wheels so be it ..It’s your car.. Have it done up the way
you like and tell the nay sayers to take a walk..I was one that thought wires
on a TD didn’t look right But since have done some google on the web and
did find some pics of the TFs with wires so guess I was wrong ..My big but is
that I find chrome a big headache that they have to be kept at or rust is a
definite
Mel
Just took a look at your wheels in the photo gallery. They are different to mine and look good. I have the ones that sit proud of the wheel and look like they were made by the Safeway shopping cart company.
AlMine are recessed and may be the same as Mel’s. A friend of mine has the polished stainless steel. David is right about all the rust and maintenance on many of the baskets, what a headache
. I think the TD looks good with wires even tho the original had the vented steel wheels and the wires came back with the TF. In my opinion, either way, the body style carries thru as one of the finest, balanced, design flow that MG made. The buying public was very much taken with the TD. In my research, you could buy wires for the TD in 1952, but not from the factory, it had to be done by an outside party and adapted. As I understand it the vented steel wheels moved MG into a more modern 1940’s-1950’s day mode, even tho the body style was basically pre-war. I need to make a correction in my post. I was wrong. I found a website that did state that the factory did indeed offer wire wheel options in 1952 on both the MGTD and MGTE (never heard of this one) models for a short time. Here is the site for more reading.
http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z1624/MG-TD.aspx
JasCochran40078.6965625
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