If I were you, I’d buy the wire wheel kit from Rimmer Bros and make it fit. The MGB/MGA, Triumph TR3/4 (etc.) knock offs are made to fit on a 4 x 4.5 hub. That’s like 113mm or so. Looking at the hubs, it’s clear that one could re-drill them for a 4 x 100 pattern. Plenty of room for it and won’t hurt the strength any.

The correct wheels for a TD are 15-inches by 4.5. But the MGB wheels were 14 inches and all these makes and wheels will fit with no problem on the hubs. So in your case, wanting to save the tires, the way forward is MGB spokes. Currently 150 pounds sterling each, plus shipping.

(And these tires you wish to save are new, right? As in ‘less than three years old?’ Because if they’re just “new” as in ‘I only drove the car 40 miles in the past 10 years,’ then throw them away. They’re dangerous.)

Legit knock-off wires, man!! So cool it hurts!!

The problem with used wires is that the splines in the hubs are often rounded off. Not always, but usually. That’s why people take them off. Then the wheels sit around in a shed for 10 years, or 20, or more, and get a little crusty and rusty. Then someone finds them and they’re like, “Hey! Wire wheels! These are worth money! I’ll sell ’em on ebay!”

And up they go. And everyone who has old wires they’re looking to replace laughs at the ad, and all us newbies are like, “yeah, that’s maybe a deal. Those’ll clean up with some steel wool.”

There are exceptions. But rare. My advice is look closely in person at anything you’re considering, cause pics made at the resolution usually available on the ‘bay are not good enough to tell.

Montie those wheels look pretty nice. The price would be hard to beat for those that have an interest in going with wire wheels. Thanks for the information.

Montie,
I think those may be the wheels I have on mine – I think I paid about 350.00 to my door at the time.
They told me it would fit the 4x 130mm, but it was not so – I had to have a local machinist re-drill my rotors/hubs for 50.00 total. They work real nice on my ride and I like them – the off set is wrong if they are to fit under the fenders. My car is a bit hot rod looking, but I like the look and with the wider wheel span it stays on the road like on rails.
Have fun

If you pull a wheel off your car you can measure the back spacing & get a pretty good idea how well the new ones would fit. Get the back spacing for the new wires, and the width of those, and compare to the width and back spacing you have now.

Okay…here are the wire wheels photo, a 52TD that was in the show, and a Ghia with some nice looking cooling air hoses from the fan housing to the heater boxes.

newkitman2012-04-21 21:55:01

Well guys, I took the gamble on 5 used wire wheels & adapters & spinners that Allen found at the show (see the above post).  I realize that they are 14’s instead of the “correct” 15’s and 72 spoke instead of 48 spoke.  Turns out that the 185×14’s are very close in size to the 165×15 so I don’t expect any problem there.  Having once had 48 spoke wheels on my TF, I prefer 72 spokes.  The 48 spokers were for bias ply tires and I feel that the extra grip of the radials justifies more spokes.  So, when I get the wheels, I will see if I still have any talent for tuning them. 

 Roy , If I am reading Allen’s description correctly, the adapters fit 4 lug VW. If they don’t fit, it would be better to adapt the adapters than to redrill the VW drums. They are reinforced in the area where the lugs attach and may be too thin to support the lug bolts if redrilled elsewhere. I love the wire wheel look . Hope you can make them work.

I think your adaptors are the same ones I test fit. The diameter is a tad too small to redrill at 4×130, so adjusting them would require some welding. My concern was in locating the lug bolts outside the original 4 x 4.5-inch circle, however slightly. The wheels’ inside flange might then seat on the bolt heads, which would be bad.

They might not though, which would be good. You could check it by getting two new lug bolts with short heads, or by grinding off about half of the top of an existing lug bolt. (I’d maybe try to find a cheap low-grade bolt that fits the threads, just for the test). Then you grind out two “D” shaped reliefs in the space between the holes on one of your spline adaptors. Mount that to your drums (front, then back) using the low-headed lug bolts, slide a wire wheel on and torque it home. If it wobbles on your two bolts, you know that’s not working. If it seats flat, then you could consider getting a shop to weld “ears” on the adaptors and drill them to 4x130mm. That would be sweet.

This pic gives an idea of how much of a notch you’d be cutting:

But if that doesn’t work, the way to go is to take your drums to a good machine shop with the adaptors. The shop will either fill the existing bolt holes with metal and re-tap them just inside that diameter to fit, or they will pile up some welding rod on the backsides of the drums between the existing holes and then tap into that. Either method should work.

What’s going to happen either way, though, is the outsides of your new wheels will sit a little outside where the old ones were. Your track, front and back, is going to get wider by an inch or two, maybe just a little more than that.

Luck! And post pictures.

edsnova2012-05-01 08:16:52

I don’t beleive the TD’s came with wire wheels ?

John, you are correct.

PMOSSBERG2012-05-01 10:53:58

Glad you found the blank drums. For $41 each, I would go with that, rather than welding and redrilling old drums.

PMOSSBERG2012-05-01 10:54:15