Actually I wanted rostyles for my trailer as its 4 inch PCD and I found a full set with chrome wheel nuts and chrome finishers with great tyres so bought em.
Put em on Kermit just to see what they look like I could be tempted to sell as they are perhaps too good to go on a trailer and I'll look for another decent pair.
That said, I recon if I dropped a spline on the tbars it wouldn't look half bad.
graham1957 wrote:im a purist and they look ok to me ,are they mg midget wheels??anyway ten mins work and you can revert back to original!!
Spot on sir
They are indeed 13 inch midget wheels
I have no intention of ditching my minor wheels, so as you say, 10 mins and I'm back to standard.
Tell you what though, I noticed a brisker acceleration and I dare say they would be good hill climbing wheels
The changes of gearing will depend to a large extent on the tyre size. The wheels are probably wider than standard Minor wheels ( ? I can't remember the width now) but fitting them was a popular mod in the past when lots of rusty/crashed MG Midgets were broken for their mechanical parts. 13inch tyres are certainly less expensive and available from many more manufacturers than the standard Minor size! I drove my Minor fitted with the Midget engine and Rostyle wheels all over GB and down to the South of France and found the gearing perfect. I can't now remember which differential or tyre size we settled on but I was very happy with it I bought one set of Rostyles brand new from British Leyland for just a few pounds each at the time.
If you like them, keep them. Why not ! As I'm sure you know, you do need to use the correct wheel nuts as the profile is different to the Minor ones.
ManyMinors wrote:The changes of gearing will depend to a large extent on the tyre size. The wheels are probably wider than standard Minor wheels ( ? I can't remember the width now) but fitting them was a popular mod in the past when lots of rusty/crashed MG Midgets were broken for their mechanical parts. 13inch tyres are certainly less expensive and available from many more manufacturers than the standard Minor size! I drove my Minor fitted with the Midget engine and Rostyle wheels all over GB and down to the South of France and found the gearing perfect. I can't now remember which differential or tyre size we settled on but I was very happy with it I bought one set of Rostyles brand new from British Leyland for just a few pounds each at the time.
If you like them, keep them. Why not ! As I'm sure you know, you do need to use the correct wheel nuts as the profile is different to the Minor ones.
Indeed, the only thing that governs the gearing is the overall diameter and thus the rolling rad. The wheel itself could be 8 inch in theory if the tyre had hugely tall, comedy side walls.
This particular rostyle wheel /tyre combination is however a good bit smaller as the tyres on the rostyles are 145 80 13. The tyres on my minor wheels are 145 80 14 so the difference is quite large at a tickle over 1 inch reduction in diameter. I've not checked yet, the rims may be wider but fitted with the 145's anyway. If that is the case I could get wider tyres if available keep the 80 aspect and bobs your uncle.
The rostyles came with the correct nuts, all lovely and shiny and are proper old ones, not modern junk.
Al
Last edited by The vast minority on Sun Nov 29, 2015 7:02 am, edited 2 times in total.
mike.perry wrote:175/80/13 tyres will give you the same diameter as 155/80/14. Try it on a tyre comparison chart
Thanks, I did but i need to find out if the rim is wide enough for them.
It's impossible to find the data on the midget wheel width so I need to physically measure one I think.
I like them.
But they hint at the possibility there may be a V8 engine under the bonnet, if you get my gist.
So if you couldnt leave the lights in a cloud of burning rubber and a twin piped throaty roar then...................maybe not.
mike.perry wrote:175/80/13 tyres will give you the same diameter as 155/80/14. Try it on a tyre comparison chart
Thanks, I did but i need to find out if the rim is wide enough for them.
It's impossible to find the data on the midget wheel width so I need to physically measure one I think.
Cheers
Al
I think they are 4.5J, similar to Minor LP917 van rims. They would suit a 145- to 165-width tyre; maybe you could squeeze 175-width on but they would probably 'baloon' out at the sidewalls.
I had a set of the Austin-Healey Sprite 'rostyles' on my 1970 Traveller for some years, and found the overall gearing with standard running gear to be OK - they were certainly an improvement on the standard Minor rims with crossply tyres my car came with!
I could be tempted to sell as they are perhaps too good to go on a trailer and I'll look for another decent pair. 
I bought one set of Rostyles brand new from British Leyland for just a few pounds each at the time.
