Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi

At great expense, I have bought some LP917 van wheels. They are as easy to find as rocking horse poo here in Oz, as none of our vans or pickups ever came equipped with them. They are for my imported Austin Minor van, which I am restoring to close to original.

Unfortunately, when the wheels arrived, I found that there are some areas of deep pitting from rust, mainly near the edges of the rims. There is serious thinning of this area, extending for about 6 inches around the circumference.

Has anyone had experience with restoring rims in this condition. I know that it is possible to find suitable rims and weld them to the Minor centres, but this would defeat the point of getting the authentic items.

I gather that welding is likely to cause too much distortion. And I am guessing that plastic/resin body fillers won't be strong enough. Is brazing or metal spraying a possibility? Is using the type of leading that is used on car bodies a satisfactory solution?

I would be grateful for any suggestions.

Cheers
Don

Is using the type of leading that is used on car bodies a satisfactory solution?

Lead is a soft metal. I would say No to that. Plastic/Resin, again NO. The rest, don't know, sorry.

There will be a way to re-metal the areas. A while ago I was talking to a chrome plater. He was talking about the most time consuming thing he had to do, which was restoring a flat surface to eroded metal. It is quite a skill apparently to do this, for example on an old bumper, without distorting the part but done properly it does work. Unfortunately he was a bit short on how he did it.

It's one thing to replace rusted metal where it is just cosmetic - prior to chrome plating - but if your rims are seriously rusted the only hope is going to be to cut away the bad parts - and weld in new/much better pieces cut from another wheel - possibly a standard Minor rim will make a suitable donor . Obviously - this is a Safety Critical area - so should only be done by a very competent welder - and the wheel carefully checked/adjusted for true running afterwards.

but if your rims are seriously rusted the only hope is going to be to cut away the bad parts - and wld in new/much better pieces cut from another wheel - possibly a standard Minor rim will make a suitable donor

That's a thought Roy!

cut away the bad parts - and wld in new/much better pieces cut from another wheel

Yes Roy, that had occurred to me, but that would probably involve even more welding than building up the thinned areas with weld. The more welding--the more risk of distortion.

I have seen lots of magic done with the welder on this site, but I wonder whether anyone has done this repair successfully on a wheel.

I certainly have a few standard wheels lying around that would be candidates for a transplant. The LP917s seem to be made of thicker steel though--I will get my vernier calipers out and check.

I suspect this type of surgery to a wheel would be illegal here. The widening of wheels by welding in a band was banned eons ago.

Thanks for the suggestion.
Don

Trying to 'build up' rusted metal is fine - if there is enough good steel left to take the weld. You would need to 'butter' it on in a thin layer - grind back - repeat as necessary. Patching in a section of rim - if done by a competent welder and ground back on completion, will be completely invisible and every bit as strong as the original.

Don, I agree with BMC ... there will be a decent engineering shop in Wagga ... go down with a wheel and talk ... If they can't , then they might point you in the right direction.

How about a 14 inch rim from a scrapyard and cutting out the inner section (Datsun or similar) and welding the good modern outer section onto the old LP inner? Someone here on the site was doing this with GM (UK Vauxhall Vectra) rims but I can't recall who it was.
I wanted to do the same but didn't get the details of the donor car.

Not the same as 'banding' so ought to be aceptable.

RobThomas wrote: but I can't recall who it was.

Hi Rob it was Wanderingstar

RobThomas wrote: but I can't recall who it was.

Hi Rob it was Wanderinstar