Amy,
I have a complete rear end from hub to hub for a Bugeye with wires. This saves
LOTS
of headaches, as the axles and casing are made for wires in the first place.
Will
sell for $250 plus shipping!
Patton Dickson wrote:
> Amy & Group...
>
> The problem with the conversion is conversion the rear end.
>
> The casings on the steel wheel cars are slightly wider than that of the
> wire wheel car. I had read that you could just remove the axles and
> hubs from a steel wheel car, and replace them with the wire set. I was
> partially right. This is possible, but the axles will be about 1/4 -
> 1/2 inch shorter into the differential than they should be since the
> wire axles are meant for a shorter setup. With this in mind, this will
> give you less support at the ends of your axles, and MAY cause you axle
> to break. There are several people who have run like this though and
> have experienced no problems.
>
> The other problem is that the wire wheels will stick out slightly
> farther than the steel wheel, and on anything but the stock tires and
> could rub on the inner wheel well.
>
> As for me, since I already have the axle half shafts anyway, I'm going
> ahead and doing it this way, I figure that if I ever do snap an axle,
> then I'll go out and find a complete rear end for wires (or at least the
> casings and shafts). I will not be racing this car, and I don't foresee
> much more than light around town driving and some highway miles.
>
> But anyway, what you will need to do is remove the front hubs and brake
> rotors, and replace them with a set off of a wire wheel car, this is
> pretty straight forward. I'm doing this along with the total rebuild of
> my front-end, so it may sound like I have had more troubles, but that
> has been with the other parts, the hubs and rotors have been fine.
>
> For the rear, you can
> 1. replace the entire rear end
> 2. replace the casings, emergency brake rods, and axle shafts
> 3. just replace the axle shafts.
>
> I can't tell you what to do about that since I have had as many people
> who I trust tell me that I'm ok doing this the way I'm planning, as tell
> me I'm a fool.
>
> I hope this was some help,
>
> Patton
>
> Amy Soich wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Larry and Sandi Miller wrote:
> > > > There is a set of Spridget wires currently advertised on the "MG parts
> > > > for sale" web page for $100. This seems to be about average of the
> > > > ones that I've seen.
> > >
> >
> > You know, I would _love_ to put wire wheels on my sprite. However, i am
>left
> > terribly confused by the recent thread on this. I believe Patton was trying
>to
> > convert to wire wheels and received various messages that it was more
> > complicated than he thought. Can anyone break it down into steps for me so i
> > know what all is involved? Is it possible? is it hard?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Amy
> > 67 Sprite MkIV
>
> --
> Patton Dickson Dallas, TX
>
> 1967 Austin-Healey Sprite H AN9 L 69437
> See My Austin-Healey Sprite Page
> http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/1256/page2.html
--
Harris
'59 Bugeye Sprite (Buick V6 powered!)
'74 1/2 MGB Roadster (for sale--$1500!)
'59 Bugeye Sprite (basketcase for sale--$1950!)
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