Morris Minor Owners Club

I had my first dirty-hands play with my new Moggy today. The main objective was to sort out why the front grille was bent at the bottom, and also have a general look around the sharp end. After 4 hours playing, and only one cup of coffee from my wife - AND in my favourite mug (please use an old one, love, when I'm throwing tools and bits of car around) - I'd managed to remove the front bumper, the nuts on the hockey sticks (a joy), take of the front wheels to allow access for a spot of greasing and remove the remnants of what used to be the upper bump stops. I'd almost forgotten the pleasures of rusted on nuts, and my last classic - a Wolseley 16/60 - was some while ago when I was a fitter, more agile bloke. Still enjoyed every minute, though. Even when I lost concentration while using the point of a circuit tester to poke at the ball bearing in a grease nipple, and shoved it down the back of my thumb nail . Hopefully unbolt the rest of the front panel over the next few days and straighten it out. And of course then find that none of the holes will line up. Quick question. I asked my local tyre place for a quote to remove 5 crossplys and put on the Toyos I just bought from Bull Motif. No tubes to be fitted; they want £17.94 per tyre. Am I going nuts, or does that seem horribly expensive?

Soiunds pretty expensive to me. To put it in context my local garage charged £8 + Vat to repair a puncture so I would have thought tyre change would be nearer a fiver and certainly no more than a tenner even if they have to balance em.

Look around for a small outfit and avoid the swift fit comglomerates

small outfit every time!

i had 4 new Falken 12" tyres(not that easy to get hold of now,certainly at major tyre places) fitted to a Reliant Fox that i had 2 years ago,cost £76 inc vat,balancing,new valves,old tyre disposal,for all 4!(and thats also including all 4 tyres!)

so yes,the price youve been given is very high!

cats-whiskers wrote: I asked my local tyre place for a quote to remove 5 crossplys and put on the Toyos I just bought from Bull Motif. No tubes to be fitted; they want £17.94 per tyre. Am I going nuts, or does that seem horribly expensive?

Don't shop around as others have suggested: jfdi. Then you'll feel even better for having saved 90 quid, whereas if you spend all day poking around backstreet places who'll do them for 25 quid, you won't feel so pleased with yourself and you'll still have shelled out enough to buy something that will still be around tomorrow - like some new spanners and a replacement coffee mug.

I hate paying people to do things I could do myself.

Yes, it's hard work fitting tyres without a machine, but perfectly doable.

Kevin

The worst part will be getting the old cross-plys off, but since you don't care about them - just cut the beads with a hacksaw! And slip them into the bin one-at-a-time for disposal! Although actually - they are very good as bonfire starters. Then clean the beads - remove any rusty bits - and smear them and the tyre beads with swarfega - and pop them on. You don't even need a tyre lever - just ease the last part over with thumbs - or gentle blows from a mallet. Pull the beads onto the rims as best you can - take the valve core out - and apply compressed air (local garage if you don't have a compressor) to seal the beads onto the rims - inflate to ~ 40 psi to get them seated. Then fit the valve core - and set them to 30 psi. Job done - just 4 more to do! The price you have been quoted is just a rip-off!

I got a local tyre company to supply and fit 5 Toyos which included balance, valve, cap and vat at £35 each. If I supplied the tyres I was quoted £12 a tyre which included balance and valve, which brought the tyre down to £23 a piece. So i would suggest try local first it could save you some money.

I took my old crossplys off in the back garden and put them in the dustbin rubbish just like bmc did.. .

I used this opportunity to rub them down and spray them.

I then bought a bag of 25 of these for £2.68.... you'd pay that for one at a tyre place.
http://www.tyrebaydirect.com/7-Standard ... _x_25.html

Then I bought two Toyo's from BM.

The weekend I needed two new tyres and tracking done on my daily driver. I took my two moggy wheels down that needed the new tyres putting on and balancing at the same time.

Having just had £122's worth of stuff done I said "how much to do these too"..... It'll cost you a beer mate.. was the reply. I gave him a tenner cash. They normally charge £20 apparently.

cats-whiskers wrote: Still enjoyed every minute, though.

Glad to hear you are having fun... I have to be honest, I've enjoyed every minute doing mine, but I haven't put myself under any pressure to get it completed. I guess too... if the moggy were my daily driver, it probably wouldn't be so much fun... but who knows, I haven't got that far yet.

The only problem with fitting tyres with tyre levers is the chipping off of paint, but if this is of no concern, narrow tyres are pretty straight forward to fit. Breaking the seal from the old ones can be a game.

In the past I've managed to get tyres fitted and balanced for a fiver, but this is getting increasingly difficult.
I tried one of the same places again for a puncture repair last month and got charged £15 cash instead of the £16.95 official price including VAT!
If it had been a Morris Minor wheel and I'd turned up in a banger wearing old clothes etc.. and offered them £10 to fit a tyre I expect I'd have got away with it. For the Astra the probably saw the newish Conti tyres and thought I didn't need a discount!

National Tyres charged me £10 for removing 5 tyres and £15 for refitting and ballance. Give them a try.
Cheers Bob

cats-whiskers wrote: Even when I lost concentration while using the point of a circuit tester to poke at the ball bearing in a grease nipple, and shoved it down the back of my thumb nail

Did anyone else wince and clench their fists when they read that? I guess that's what happens when you only get one cup of coffee.

Some good advice here, as always. Thanks guys. I grasped the nettle and decided to attack what was the spare tyre. I was ready for the bead to put up a fight but it yielded quite quickly when I put the wheel flat and stood my considerable frame on the tyre. A little boinging up and down and both sides came free. I have a bit of arthritis in my hands so decided to saw through the tyre to ease removal. That done, cleaned up the beads on the wheel and rubbed down ready for a freesh coat of paint. I'm going to invest in a bag of those tyre valves and have a go at fitting the new Toyo. There's a few helpful videos on Youtube, although I think I'll pass on squirting hairspray around the rim and then lighting it to "pop" the tyre on to its bead

Well done that man!

I've never had to resort to sawing through tyres, even when the only tools I used were a big hammer and a very blunt cold chisel for bead breaking, and a tyre lever and 18" crowbar for getting the beads over. The two tricks are: use plenty of very soapy water at each stage of removal; and remember that the tyre bead won't stretch at all, so you have to make sure that the part that's opposite where you're levering is right into the well of the wheel.

For fitting, buy or scrounge some proper lubricant for the bead, and, for tubeless tyres, it does make life easier if you've got a compressor. Do the first blow up with the valve core removed to get maximum inrush of air, and be prepared to bounce the tyre around while you're doing it.

As cats-whiskers says, it's a good chance to clean and paint the wheel, too, especially the areas the tyre and valve seal against.

Kevin

well kevin he did say he had a bit of arthritus

I had 4 tyres fitted (supplied by me) for £30 last year, thought it was a touch dear at the time but apparently not

PLEASE buy (beg, borrow or steal) a set of tyre levers it will make life so much easier and, as a bonus, you have a handy set of pry bars.

A kind poster should now direct you to ebay for the price or maybe offer to sell you a pair.

Cheers , sorry smilies required but I can't find them!!!!

millerman wrote:PLEASE buy (beg, borrow or steal) a set of tyre levers it will make life so much easier and, as a bonus, you have a handy set of pry bar.

Hi millerman. Yep, seems reasonable to me. As it is, my local auction is on tonight and I've seen the necessary tools go through before at a decent price. And having stuck a circuit tester point in my thumb, just think what fun I can have with tyre levers.... Wonder if the auction would have a suit of armour for sale?