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Looks great Roy! I am not tired of hearing the details and am glad for you that you found the solution. Even though I do not plan to install wires on mine I have been very interested from the start.
P.S. I really like the red drums peeking through the wires.
Not tired at all!
I like my steel wheels and TD style hub caps.
But following your journey on the road to wire wheels has been very interesting…and educational…and fun to watch!
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)
Roy,
Very cool – they look great and as you know I am a big fan of wire wheels on a TD – thanks for sharingI had posted in the gas tank thread “Let me tell you my latest turn in my wire wheel story. After completing cleaning the wheels I went to put my spare in the “trunk” and (wouldn’t you know) it doesn’t fit. The damn thing doesn’t fit!! The center spindle on the wires is about 1″ too tall and it holds the hood up. My spare is supposed to sit atop the gas tank which, in my MiGi, is mounted longitudinally up front. At Carlisle, I admired the extra under hood room that those kits with the tanks that sat crosswise just forward of the “firewall” had. Guess I’m gonna tear my tank out and investigate if I can mount it 2″ lower than it is. Else I’m going to have to install my spare on the engine cover and do away with my somewhat slick continental cover and possibly my luggage rack.”
This post is to close out this thread (for now at least). I finally (after 27 phone calls to every junk yard/used tire sales place east of Raleigh, NC) found a small, almost tiny, 155/65/14″ tire. Drove 96 miles round trip for a used tire. Looks almost like a donut. Mounted the tire on my 5th wire wheel and now I can close the hood, just barely, as the wheel fits on top of the gas tank. I’m not going to call it a spare tire. It’s an “emergency tire”. All’s well. All done. Thanks.
This is hopefully the last wire wheel post. (Though I still am contemplating mounting the spare aft a’la TD. – need to find one poor condition adapter then do some engineering and welding to make a bracket.) You may know that the speedometer has not worked since I put the wires on. The problem there was that the front axle grease cup was too large and would not allow the wire adapter hub to fully seat against the brake drum. Well, I finally made it small enough that it would fit yet large enough that it would fit over the funky nut that holds everything together. It is only a whisker smaller but that was enough. Then a 3/16′ hole squared out with some jewelers files.
The last shot shows the old cup atop of the new one.Wow. What did you start with, Roy? My idea of buying an EMPI Chinese replacement cap and modding it was no good?
No Ed, your idea of starting with cheap Chinese caps is a fine one. I had an extra original and that (plus a piece of conduit and some flat steel, metal lathe, dremel and a grinder, drill press, mig welder, and some jeweler’s files) is what I used. It was the diameter of the cup, not the flange that was too large. I’d be embarrassed to tell you how many man hours went into the cap mod. I really missed my speedometer….but no more.
Nice work Roy. I had a chuckle when you listed tools used. It was almost a complete machine shop. I always say there is nothing a good man can’t fix with enough tools.
Roy I’m like ed…Hammer, hammer, hammer. Old air force maintenance saying…hammer it to fit and paint it to match! Dats me! Nice job.
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackI tried the hammer. then another hammer and then a different hammer. All I managed to do was make the original cap smaller. Don’t forget that there is important stuff (the wheel bearing nut) that is inside the cup. No way could I get it small enough to fit inside the adapter yet large enough to fit around the axle spindle nut. Maybe there are too many moving parts on my hammers.
You must have been using a right handed hammer…ya need that left handed one!
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackMost of my tool collection is left handed. Very little seems to work right.
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Seriously. My thought was to use a thin-walled replacement (I assume they’re thinner-walled) and hammer it: set it in a vice (probably in a piece of wood drilled so the cap lip is supported all around), open end up and get a dowel that’s just a bit smaller than the I.D., then whack the crap out of it.
Thinking the cap will elongate a bit and get a bit narrower. Hope it doesn’t get too long for the speedo cable to reach the square hole, and that the hole stays small enough so the cable doesn’t spin in it.
This is my theory, which is totally mine. If/when I ever try the wire conversion I’ll post the results.
edsnova2012-08-23 19:57:08
Seriously Ed, It grew in diameter when I did it. The exact opposite from what I wanted. I wish I had saved the cap that I “whacked the crap out of”.
Sorry, but not having a VW based machine, I’ve been confused over the last bit here
with the bearing dust cap. From what I gather, your speedometer cable goes through your drumbrakes from the backing plate and is secured to the dust cap which in turn, turns the speedo cable? Seems a bit bizarre, but after working on my wife’s and son’s past VW’s I wouldn’t besurprised.Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Bill, Exactly correct! The axle spindle is hollow and the speedo cable runs through it and through a 3/16 square hole in the end of the grease/dust cap. I think that this was standard on VW’s for many many years. A bit non-conventional if not odd. Did you know that the windshield washer fluid for many years was propelled by air from the spare tire. When you couldn’t wash your windows, your spare was flat. 🙂
At least it made VW owners check the air pressure in their spares!
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)
Dating my wife in High School, she ran a 67 Beetle. The washer fluid item I was aware of.
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"Roy: did you “whack the crap out or it” as I described? By stretching the inside forward in order to try to “pull in” the sides? Or did you tap it on the outside to try to “bang it in?”
Because the latter method is sure to stretch the metal, and that will slowly make it bigger. The former method, done carefully, might actually make it thinner where you need to.
Moot in your case, I know. Your solution is not elegant, but we know it works.
My solution is NOT elegant? You gotta be ****in me! “Whacking the crap out of it is? (Not to mention that my cap is almost pretty.) I’m gonna have to look up “elegant solutions” in my dictionary. I think that you would need a cap made of silly putty for your method to work.
Here are 4 TR adapters with 2 eared knock offs for a decent price on eBay. This is step one for a wire wheel conversion using the method described in this thread. This would be for a true 50-60’s British roadster look, not Dayton. All you need after this is 4 or 5 wire wheels, the tires & tubes, lugs and of course the machine work. $80 start price $140 buy in now price + $20 shipping: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150925871698&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123#ht_500wt_1414
The 2 missing “special lug nuts” are still available new here: http://www.rimmerbros.co.uk/Item–i-GRID006722From the Rimmer Brothers …
Here is the high dollar approach…complete kits, available in 4.5 by 15 and 5.5 by 15:You’d have to make the same drum brake modifications to adapt the hubs. Or if you want to keep writing checks, front and rear disk brake conversion kits are available for the VW, with undrilled rotors. Have them drilled to the correct pattern for the spline adaptors and you’re good to go!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)
Dan
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