Measuring wheels

[RobThomas]

Does anyone have any wheels without tyres hanging about?

I'm after finding out EXACTLY what the spec of the wheels is. Some places say 3.00x14 and some say 3.50x140. The ones below are 3.00x14, as stamped into the rims (if you can see it?) and are exactly 3.00 inches between the faces where the rubber sits. If possible I'd also like to know the same dimensions for the 8cwt Van wheels (LP917?)

Thanks

Rob[frame][/frame][frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[SteveClem]

I've followed these discussions before and have gained the impression that although there is a 'norm' there are also exceptions. Whether that is because the factory had occasional supply issues and followed the the old 'make do and mend' principle ie bought in batches of non standard stuff, or maybe early owners were doing a few modifications...we'll probably never know.

[oliver90owner]

'Thought for food'? Anything to do with pre- and post-tubeless rims?

[bmcecosse]

All standard wheels ARE 3 x 14....

[RobThomas]

Thought for food'? Anything to do with pre- and post-tubeless rims?

Yup!

It's always easy to quote from a book or repeat something that has been 'doing the rounds' for years but I tend to check things out rather than mindlessly regurgitating stuff, hence the search for proof. Someone telling me that that 3 inch rims are actually 3.5 inches made me pop a tyre off, photograph it and send it off but then I have to ask myself if maybe there ARE 3.5 inch rims out there. None of mine are but perhaps somebody will suddenly come up with an odd wheel bought in by Morris when suppliers had a temporary shortage or perhaps there were odd sizes sent out to countries where 5.00x14 tyres were hard to find.

None of my Service Parts books give anything other than 3.00x14 although they only go up to the mid 1950s. The Van wheels are said to have been supplied with 5.60x14s so they may well have been 4.5 inch, although, again, I don't have any that I can measure as proof.

Does anyone know if wheels were supplied by Dunlop or Rubery Owen?

[frame][/frame][frame][/frame]

[SteveClem]

So there we go again... We can all check out what 'standard 'was, but oddities crop up. Were they later mods or did the factory bend the rules from time to time if standard parts were delayed? When I started work with the Coal Board in the early '70's we had to meet production targets and if we didn't have the proper parts to hand we improvised. It was the ethos of the time. Surely BMC managers would have done the same...or would they?