Morris Minor Owners Club

Having just had my wheels blasted and powder coated I took them to a tyre place to have the tyres fitted and new valves. They told me that I needed 'fat valves' and they didn't have any. It seems the standard ones are too small for the hole in the wheel.

Does anyone know where I can get the fat valves or is it a case of taking the wheels and tyres to another tyre place? All the other tyre places in town are part of a chain so will probably charge an arm+leg for the job so I'd rather find some valves that fit if possible.

Thanks.

Okay, got it!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Large-Tubless-Tyr ... 53e0077e66

What wheels are they ? Cos standard valves fit normal Minor wheels just fine. And - I only pay 20p each for valves at autojumbles............

the normal valves are 12mm where as the moggy rim are 15mm
i had the same problem and searched everywhere. ended up going to a landrover place.
all the tyre places ive been to only stock 12mm.
one even said i had to buy 400 valves as they wouldnt sell me 4

Most standard Minor wheels have the common .453" tire valve hole. Older wheels from early Series III cars have the larger .625" hole.

Series MM/early Series 11 wheels need the wide valves. I always ask them before they rip the old ones out, and I remove the chrome dust caps before they get thrown across the workshop floor.

Yes - when I typed earlier i was thinking the early wheels probably had the larger 'fat' valves. Standard Minor wheels = standard valves. I know I just fitted a set of standard valves to my 'new' 4.5" wheels!

OK, I'll bite.

What is the story with tubes? Do they come with different sized valve sections or are they one-size-fits-all? I have some tubed Minor tyres where there is a rubber/plastic sleeve that goes in the hole first to sleeve the valve to the right size. I've tried Minor (well, Sprite) wheels on a trailer with just normal tyres and valves but they didn't seal well enough so I used tubes in them. Does the term "tubeless" mean that tubes are either 'not recommended' or even 'not permitted'?

Tubes come with both sizes of valve stem, and, as Rob says, you can also get "top hat" section plastic adapters to locate small valves in big holes. Some Beetles have big valves.

According to the British Standard, tubeless radials must not be fitted to plain well-based rims - they need retaining humps to prevent the tyre de-beading under extreme conditions. Having said that, many people, myself included, feel that the extra safety of a tubeless tyre, (the reduced chance of rapid deflation after a puncture) outweighs this risk. How this would stand up in front of a court, I have no idea.

Tubes in tubeless tyres is another difficult subject, which, iirc, we've covered here at length previously. Some tyre makers say yes, some definitely "no". The risk here is that internal ribbing of the tyre, resulting from the manufacturing process, can fret on the tube and puncture it. I've experienced this with Range Rovers, but others will say they've had no problems. You shouldn't use a tube instead of a proper plugged puncture repair, because water can get into the structure of the tyre and damage the reinforcement.

Kevin

Out of interest, who sells those "Vicars' Collars" for using the small tube valves into early rims?

Back to the old discussion of tubes verses tubeless. Unless you are a completely loopy driver I don't think many Minors are cornered under extreme conditions. I have always used tubeless radials with no problems except on very rare occasions when a tyre has a very slow leak of maybe 2-3psi/week when it has then had a tube fitted until the next time the tyres have been replaced.

Strangely - one of my tyres is marked 'Tubed Type' and runs perfectly without a tube - another is 'Tubeless' and needs a tube inside to keep the pressure good.........

The air leak could be through the wheel itself or a rusty rim

No - it has a puncture!!

if you get stuck on the larger valves tom roys stock them just replaced mine on a tyre change