Modification to a mgb gt
Discussion
I have a 1979 mgb gt which we have taken the heavy bumpers off and fiited sebring rear valance and the le front splitter with round indicators sat back where the old ones were fiited. The only problem know is it sits way to high and has the original wheels. We were talking about lowering it but someone said it would be unusual if you fitted bigger wheels ie 16 or 17 inch possibly of the zs range. Would that be possible or are there any problems in doing so or can you use other wheels of different cars. Or should we just lower it at fit minilites instead but i do like it to look different from ordinary mgb as from last year the car was in 5 different colours we have had loads of people asking about it. Any suggestion would be brilliant.
I had issues fitting 15" minilights to my '72 bgt after it had been lowered (185/65 rubber) which caused issues fouling the rear arch edges. I went with the 14" minilights in the end. Despite what i was told by the garage who sold me them I think the offset is incorrect on the 15" minilight type wheels that are sold for B's. If you look on the Moss website there is a disclaimer of sorts about these size wheels and tyre sizes that almost admits as much. You pays your money i guess.
15" might well work with an unlowered rubber bumper car though car (i still have them if your intereted, no more than 70 miles on them if yo want to mak eme an offer) but TBH, your better off lowering it. Fit a 7/8 ARB while your at it, makes a huge difference.
neil
15" might well work with an unlowered rubber bumper car though car (i still have them if your intereted, no more than 70 miles on them if yo want to mak eme an offer) but TBH, your better off lowering it. Fit a 7/8 ARB while your at it, makes a huge difference.
neil
Its more cosmetic than performance it does reduce the weight by 50-60kg but it doesnt really help handling a lot but if you want it to look different then thats the way to go i try to get a photo of it up so you can see how it looks but the back can take a lot of time to get right using filler and fiber glass to get the back smooth but it does look a lot better without the bumpers
Hi,
I've had Rover 820 Vitesse wheels on an MGB GT, Tyres were 195/55/16 and I needed 19mm spacers on the rear and 15mm on the front to centre the tyres in the wheel wells. Also I used Ford metric studs allowing the original Rover nuts to be used.
The rear clearance was ok on passenger side but drivers side rubbed, not sure if the shell was suffering previous accident damage, or if it had ben made that way?
I never really liked the look of a modern wheel on the car.
Rover 600 and 800 are the same PCD, 100, 200 and 400s are different.....
Regards,
Ian
I've had Rover 820 Vitesse wheels on an MGB GT, Tyres were 195/55/16 and I needed 19mm spacers on the rear and 15mm on the front to centre the tyres in the wheel wells. Also I used Ford metric studs allowing the original Rover nuts to be used.
The rear clearance was ok on passenger side but drivers side rubbed, not sure if the shell was suffering previous accident damage, or if it had ben made that way?
I never really liked the look of a modern wheel on the car.
Rover 600 and 800 are the same PCD, 100, 200 and 400s are different.....
Regards,
Ian
Modern wheels to fit the 'B' are a bit thin on the ground.
There is an american site which lists other cars which share the 4x4 1/2" PCD which is ok if you want to dredge for scrap steelies.
http://www.britishcarforum.com/bcforum/ubbthreads....
http://www.kewengineering.co.uk/upgrades4mgs/Drive...
As far as alloys are concerned, as said above, look for 4 stud Rover 800's and 600's or classic stuff on eBay.
I went the second route and found some 15" Slot-mag style Shelby Cal's so I could use modern 15" tyres now the standard 14"'s are becoming a pest to source cheaply.
I still have plenty of sidewall with 15"'s so 16" or 17"er's are deffinately doable, but I reckon would very harsh down the road as MG B's run fairly low tyre pressures and this would be countered by stiff side walled low-profiles.
Just my opionion though.
The biggest issue you will have with any wheels is offsets. I was put off the modern Rover wheels because the are basically FWD wheels and will need spacers which scare the sh!t out of me.
Fortunately my wheels came from a TR6 who's offset is only sightly more outboard (can never remember which is positive or negative) but even only going up from standard 165 to 195 section tyres I still suffered rubbing at the back. There's shed loads of space inboard but the outside of the tyres will rub the arches. Flaring them solved it and does look cool, but do it before painting!
Having said that mine is a chrome bumper car that sits very low, so it might not be so bad for you unless you slam it to get some handling... which you should!
Mouse
There is an american site which lists other cars which share the 4x4 1/2" PCD which is ok if you want to dredge for scrap steelies.
http://www.britishcarforum.com/bcforum/ubbthreads....
http://www.kewengineering.co.uk/upgrades4mgs/Drive...
As far as alloys are concerned, as said above, look for 4 stud Rover 800's and 600's or classic stuff on eBay.
I went the second route and found some 15" Slot-mag style Shelby Cal's so I could use modern 15" tyres now the standard 14"'s are becoming a pest to source cheaply.
I still have plenty of sidewall with 15"'s so 16" or 17"er's are deffinately doable, but I reckon would very harsh down the road as MG B's run fairly low tyre pressures and this would be countered by stiff side walled low-profiles.
Just my opionion though.
The biggest issue you will have with any wheels is offsets. I was put off the modern Rover wheels because the are basically FWD wheels and will need spacers which scare the sh!t out of me.
Fortunately my wheels came from a TR6 who's offset is only sightly more outboard (can never remember which is positive or negative) but even only going up from standard 165 to 195 section tyres I still suffered rubbing at the back. There's shed loads of space inboard but the outside of the tyres will rub the arches. Flaring them solved it and does look cool, but do it before painting!
Having said that mine is a chrome bumper car that sits very low, so it might not be so bad for you unless you slam it to get some handling... which you should!
Mouse
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