Morris Minor Owners Club

Hello there i am thinking about putting some newer wheels on my minor does anyone know of any other wheel that will fit my minor?. some one sed to me B M W or Fiat ones might but i dont know how true this is .

Lo Horace you say elsewhere that you are new to the Minor. Fitting different wheels
invariably means wider tyres. Due to the age
of the cars wider tyres can cause half shaft
failures and definitely make the steering
heavier. If you have not got radial ply tyres
fitted then fit 145X14" and the car will be
transformed. I believe that the early MG
Midget and Healey Sprite wheels (both 13")
will fit but you must use their wheel nuts
too
Willie

I agree the old girl has a new leese of life since i put 145X14 's on here, in fact she become a bit of a naughty girl being told off by PC plod for overtaking him n a rounderbout, not my fault honest guv, she just insisted!

Makes a serious improvement to grip, ride and noise

Hey,

I was interested in fitting steel midget wheels to my '63 as well, as correct tyres are hard to find (and expensive) here in the USA. Does anyone know what years will fit?

Many Thanks!
-Charlie.

Try vauxhall wheels

I understand Viva wheels bolt straight on, also the Viva brake system can be made to fit fairly easy. I 'm not talking from experience here, just what a fellow who has done a bit of that kinda stuff with them.

Charlie.

I have a Rover 200, and the PCD is the same as the Honda Civic (1994). I tried a Civic wheel on my standard Minor hub, and the wheels don't fit properly!

They physically go on, but the studs are offset from the hole centres. You could make them tighten up but I don't think they would be too safe, as they would probably bend and the Minor studs are quite thin anyway.

The Honda and Rover wheels have 100 mm PCD, wheras the Minor has a 4 inch (101.6 mm) PCD. I know 1.6 mm is not much, but when I tried it, it did not look at all safe!

Charlie, yes I was referring to the Rover 216 mark 1 (1984 - 1990).

The wheel studs should have come through the centres with out a problem but the studs will bend slightly when tightened up and deflect by almost 1mm.

The Rover HAS a 100mm PCD and the Minor HAS a 101.6mm PCD so there IS a 1.6mm difference.

If you are happy with your setup then that's great (and it seems to be OK after 20,000 miles), it's just that I don't think (for me personally) that the Minor studs are particularly thick enough to stand the heavy stresses that a wide wheel can exert especially when cornering hard with bent studs.

I am not decrying what you have done, but I think that others should understand the implications before trying it themselves.

the width on the tyres fitted was probably no wider than the guys who fit marina wheels

Yes, I think mine (Rover) are 165s and I think that was what was fitted to the Marinas. But mine are steel wheels, so the tyres on your alloys might be the same or slightly wider

Hi Miked44
On a standard Minor, you get good ride and handling with 145's on standard rims. Bull Motif can supply new radial tyres for 20.95 + VAT and only £5 delivery for up to 5 tyres. 01386 831716
Even if you pay between £5 and £10 each for fitting and balancing per wheel it is still likely to be better value than almost any other option. (my local tyre place will fit and balance for just over a fiver)
145 radials will be far superior to your old crossplys.

You can go for non-standard rims but I don't see much advantage to do that on a standard Minor (unless you can get them for free)
There is also the option to use 4.5J van rims (wider) but these are an expensive option as many people are after them!

I have 145/14's on my traveller, all I can say is "I can't wait till I get some decent rubber between me and the road". I use Continental 175/65/13 on weller wheels on my van and they are fantastic!!!
Driving with 145's again is terrable, not to mention terifying, if you want the standard look then go for the 4.5J X14 van rims with at least 165's on. Just my personal preferance but I like it.

You might find that it's the brand of tyre rather than the width that is causing you the problem. I had two VW's that were great on Uniroyal and a real handful on Pirelli.

Amazing, how anyone can say that using 145 radials on a Minor
give a terrible ride is beyond me! You should try driving on the
original cross plies. Then you would appreciate how good the
change to 145 radials is.....to get that sort of improvement in
handling on a modern car you would have to spend hundreds
of pounds. Add the added comfort and greatly reduced
noise and there is no contest.

I am with you on that point Willie, also I feel that going beyond 165`s on van rims is pushing the width a bit to far, as in a previo]s posting it was stated that these only give a 1/4" clearance with the top trunion as it is.
Ray what did you find as regards the clearance, and what did you fit on your van rims.

I have some Dunlop 155's, but they are not fitted yet as I haven't cleaned and repainted the wheels.
At my last rally, I checked a couple of Minors with van rims and 155's - Using my fingers as a feeler gauge, they did have sufficient clearance to the top trunnion, (not to mention plenty of grease around the trunnion )

I had to fit a pair of the van rims anyway (long story) so fitted them on the rear (this pair still have the 175/65 s that they came with). As they are 65 profile, they are firm on hard cornering, with very little tyre roll. The 175 isn't very bulgy on the rim, and are similar to a 145 on a normal rim.

I have just had a look at some of the pictures I took of Ray's car with the 175s on, and I can confirm that it does not look at all podgey they look pretty good actually!