Morris Minor Owners Club

Just got some wire wheels off ebay but they are painted grey and have some surface rust. How would I go about getting them chrome plated?
Tim

Well, they will obviously have to be shot blasted etc and I do not know
if they could be chromed without the individual spokes being dis-
mantled. Sounds very expensive to me and are you sure they will fit
your car??? Have you got Midget hubs?

Hi Tim

Best idea is to take the wheels to a reputable chrome plater and having a chat with them - they will be best placed to advise what needs doing.

Rog

Wire wheels ought really to be dismantled to be re chromed. Do not shot blast the spokes as this will weaken them, best save them if not to badly rusted or replace them with stainless items.

The wheels came with a set of four adapters, they are splined and having a mounting flange with four holes to secure to the minor hub. I'll check they are the right PCD before spending ££ on the wheels!! Where could I get stainless spokes from?? Some of them have light surface rust but not serious. Would I be able to take the spokes out and put them back together as a DIY job? If I can I may just sand and spray the wheels silver rather than chrome them.

fitting the spokes is a skilled job!!

hmm.. having them chrome seems a bit of a bother... might just spray them. what colour would they have been on the car they came from probably austin healy sprite or something??

They would normally be silver. Before fitting the wheels it may just be worth having them checked, to see if they are running true. Most MG specialists should be able to do this for you, the last thing you want to do is fit a buckled wheel.

well they already have balancing weights on them so ill just drive slowly at first to check they dont make any funny noises!!

Any ideas on how to store the spare? the hub of my wire wheel pokes out and stops it from going in the spare wheel slot in the boot. I cant keep my original spare as it is 14" and the wire ones are 13"

They should be aorung the sanme diameter, should't they? If not the speedo would be highly inaccurate. don't know what tyre you are going to use on your wires wheels?

hmm maybe I didnt explain fully although the diameter is similar, the hub of the wire wheel pokes out by about 1", preventing it from going under the boot floor. Also the tyres are wider so its a tight fit anyway.

Hello Picky,

I think the only way to store the wheel is to remove the boot floor frame work. This makes it a bit untidy, but on the other hand, if you make a boot floor cover (Hardura felt or similar- from Automobile trim suppliers) you will have a net gain in space.

Some points about wire wheels are to ensure that the splines are not sharp on their peaks or they are worn out, fit the hubs to the correct side (are they marked?) or the spinner will tend to undo itself!!. Keep the splines greased and have fun cleaning them.

Alec

Yes I had noticed that its difficult to undo a left handed screw thread in the normal way The spinners are marked left side and right side. They are filthy and quite a bit if surafce rust.. gonna take my ages to clean them as I dont dare take them apart!! About the boot floor I think If I remove the board above where the spare wheels goes and drill a large hole in it, I may be able to place the spare wheel in from above. Then just cover the hole with felt as suggested.

If you feel inclined then you can cut the frame out and weld it back in a little further up giving more space for a non-standard spare. I have seen that done on a few cars at rallies before...

Sounds like you are having trouble with these wire wheels! One of the most important things though (as Alec has stated) is make sure that the splines are greased (copper grease is good). As you really don't want the wheels rusting to the hub adapters and left in the situation where you can't get the wheel off!! I've experienced that and it's a right pain to put right.

Right ill make sure I put loads of grease on the hubs when fitting the wheels. Are there any ways of preventing theft of wire wheels? Its just that its very easy for someone to undo the nut with a hammer.. Also how are you supposed to tighten the hub nuts?

Are these wheels held on by nuts or do you bolt a spline on the the hubs? if they are sprite/midget wheels they will be 4J x 13 in which case you shouldn't use a tyre wider than 145...

I have four adapters that attach a spline to the brake drum and then the wheels attach via a single chrome spinner. Just wondering if there is anyway of making them harder to remove!