Banded Steel Wheels

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Casiofi
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Banded Steel Wheels

Post by Casiofi »

So the Minor is finally MOT'd and once I sort out a few niggly electrical problems, like the fuel gauge not working, the fuel pump with a mind of it's own, and an alternator that charges when it wants to, it'll be back on the road! So now my mind is wandering to what else to do, and alongside various other jobs and modifications planned, I have a set of 5 spare wheels that I bought off a scrapper a year or so ago, which got primed then left in the corner of the garage. I love the look of banded steel wheels on most cars and the Minor is no exception, and I've found someone locally (well, in Scotland I class 150 miles away as local!) who will band them for £40 a wheel.
So my questions are: 1) How wide a band would I be able to get without causing problems, and 2) how to choose tyres to fit the new wheels? As I recall, standard wheels are 4J, and the Weller wide wheels are 5.5J with the same backspacing. Anyone else on here running banded steels that could weigh in? Thanks!


Alexander, 20, Aberdeen
Florence, '69 (many shades of) Almond Green 2dr saloon
bmcecosse
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Re: Banded Steel Wheels

Post by bmcecosse »

Not sure banding is allowed these days - and that price (plus carriage etc?) is madness. You can buy the wider van wheels for less - and indeed not far off a nice of Minilite replicas..... I wouldn't waste money on 'banding'. Some folks take the inner out of a Minor wheel and fit to a later/wider 14" wider rim. This is much safer if done correctly, but the thin Minor centre is not necessarily strong enough for the extra forces the wider wheel (banded or wide rim) will impose on it. Look for van wheels - or Minilites is my recommendation.
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Casiofi
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Re: Banded Steel Wheels

Post by Casiofi »

Unfortunately van wheels tend to be a bit hard to come by! Working on the basis that weller wheels are £80 a pop, and new van wheels around £60, wheels banded to my desired width for £40 I thought was half decent - and I have a full set of standard wheels sitting doing nowt! I wouldn't be against a nice set of minilites if I could find some in the right size etc, but I do quite like the look of the steel wheels. I have done a bit of research on the legality of banded wheels and nothing has come up saying that they're completely and utterly illegal.

Anyway this is all for 6 months time or so when she's running and riding smooth, was just seeing if anyone else had done something similar!


Alexander, 20, Aberdeen
Florence, '69 (many shades of) Almond Green 2dr saloon
IslipMinor
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Re: Banded Steel Wheels

Post by IslipMinor »

Picking up on Roy's comment about the strength of the wheel centre, we have had a number of problems with failures.

We have never fitted 'banded' wheels, as the original 'wide' wheels were bought in 1970 and were a one-piece 5.5" x 13 Rubery Owen rim, welded on to the centre from the Farina A40. The original tyres fitted to them were 165/80x13.

All went very well for 50,000+ miles and 20+ years, until we fitted the current 1380 engine, disc brakes, etc. We then fitted 185/70 x 13 Yokohama A021R, road legal track tyres and had 3 centres fail over a period of time, one quite badly, so bought a fitted a set of 5.5" x 13" genuine Minilites.

Then found a set of 'stronger' 5.5" x 13" steel Midget wheels, without the brake adjuster holes, which is where the failures had originated from on the first set of wheels. Fitted them and despite repeatedly checking the wheel nut torque, the NS rear nuts kept coming loose - the 4 countersinks in the centre for the wheel nuts are now slightly damaged, so the wheel cannot be used. I didn't see anything before the wheels were shot blasted and powder coated, but it could have been there already and why the nuts would not stay tight?

So have very reluctantly refitted the Minilites and still hate the look of them!

I would think that the centres are perfectly strong enough for a car used for 'normal' road use, but not on a car that can create any real side load from cornering.
Richard


RobThomas
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Re: Banded Steel Wheels

Post by RobThomas »

I was looking at the wheelnut situation and it may be that the taper on the Minor wheels is circa 66 degrees rather than the common 60 degrees on things like Rostyles. I've got a couple of wheels here with holes that have worn unevenly and wondered if someone has been suplying 60 degree nuts by mistake. I'd welcome having someone else measure their nuts (no sniggering!) to see if they have 60 or 66 degrees. I used 2 rulers to mark the angles on a piece of paper.

In order to salvage 2 of my wide rim wheels I have been looking at inserts that have a 60 degree taper on both faces making a sort of dished washer in hardened steel that gets TIG brazed into the old hole. About a quid each.



The situation is easier with the early MM wheels since Hyundai Lantra wheels fit the 4.5 PCD hubs.
Cardiff, UK
bmcecosse
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Re: Banded Steel Wheels

Post by bmcecosse »

Van wheels are out there - and the 'going rate' seems to be about £40 these days (used to be £25) - so they are effectively money in the bank, and I believe have thicker centres - although mine are away now so I can't check... There have been some 'troublesome' reports of the 'new' van wheels - I would avoid. And Wellers - well - just horrible..... Keep looking for the van wheels.....
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