Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi All,
Just took delivery of Willum's banjo wheel which is to be cleaned and repainted and I have noticed these three oblong holes in the underside of the rim.
They are all the same size and shape and in the same position in each rim section.
I can only assume that they are designed to be relief points to minimise the risk of the rim splitting.
Anyone else seen holes in the wheel like this.?

Just been into the shed to check , have a couple hung up , and it seems you have the choice , slots or holes...

John ;-)

That's amazing,
Many thanks for the reply.
I recall that my Series 2 wheel didn't have any holes like this so I guess they were introduced on the later design wheels.

Mine has always had those - although yours shows some additional cracking too which is common as they get older. Perhaps those holes are to do with the moulding process?

Piccies... Manufacturing process?

John ;-)

Very common in the insert or over-molding operation to have supports for the metal inside so it's in the center.

Interesting information..... and what exactly is the material on these wheel rims?
I have restored several Series 2 catalin rims with Milliput epoxy putty but the material on the wheel I have just bought seems more like a plastic resin.

jagnut66 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:19 am Hi,
I believe it's Bakelite but I stand to be corrected.
Best wishes,
Mike.

It very probably is Bakelite, although my wheel has been very carefully cord wrapped in the past, so I've never looked at it in detail.
I believe the Bakelite manufacturing process means that you will never see a line around a Bakelite product left from any moulding, but I've no idea why. It's still used today, but in limited specialist areas like aerospace. There are small sheets of it for sale on FleaBay.
It's a phenol-formaldehyde resin rather than a 'plastic' as such, so making it is quite a toxic process and it can't be recycled.

Two minutes work with the hot glue gun and the holes are gone!

That's your Concours entry binned...

John ;-)

I would love to enter Willum in a concours event just to see the look on the judges faces when we drive up sporting his sun visor, searchlight, model T klaxon, sunroof and all the other bits I've crammed in.
Our previous car Jethro had much the same
effect on the purists with his led trafficators and twin klaxon horns. I was even tut tutted at for having the wrong bolts on the radiator frame! I smiled benignly at the p#@t and told him to enjoy the show if at all possible.
The object of the exercise is to make people smile and our cars certainly do that!

I did draw the line at Willum's Pioneer CD player wedged into the passenger glove box
He now has a 60s radiomobile unit with proper twiddly knobs. Tuned to Radio Caroline of course..... some things should never be changed!

Tuned to Radio Caroline of course..... some things should never be changed!

Depends on what 'music' they play on Radio Caroline' these days.......
Best wishes,
Mike.

Refurbished wheel ready to go back in the car when he comes back from the garage.
If you enjoy retro songs from the 60s and 70s and excellent album tracks then you won't find a better radio station than Caroline!

Perhaps I did make a bit of a meal of it!