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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGA - Wire Wheel Spinner Wrench

I see on a list of new products a'Eared Wire Wheel Spinner Wrench',has anyone out there tried one,do they work okay?can you get enough pressure?do they save the chrome?My wheel spinners are now showing the abuse of the copper hammer over the last 14 or 15 years.
Cheers Rex
Rex Thompson

They are marketed by'The MGB Hive'...Rex
Rex Thompson

Rex,
If you are talking about the wooden "spinner spanners",it's very easy to make one from thick ply glued and pressed together to approx 30mm thick,although they are quite cheap to buy here in the UK.If I can find my original plan,I will post a copy.
Regards,
Steve A.





S Ash

Hi Steve
No these wrenches are metal and seem to fit over the ears of the spinner.Price quoted is 29.99 pounds.I have seen the wooden spanners and did not think they would stand up to the abuse......Rex
Rex Thompson

I have one, which I bought from AH Spares. Find it useless for taking the spinners off. It just wont shift them. But handy for tightening them afterwards, if you want to be gentle
Graham M V

These metal units are made by Clarke & Clarke Speciality Products in the USA. They will ship worldwide, but MGB Hive won't (I've never been able to fathom out why, but they must have missed out on a huge market!)
Gary Lock

I bought two of the wooden wrenches. The one from Sportsparts in Sydney has been perfectly durable for over six years and has protected my MGB knock-offs perfectly through multiple removal/replacements of the wheels.
The other one was from SC Parts Company in the UK through eBay. It was cheaper than the Sportsparts one but split the first time I used it on my MGA, and has proven to be useless as it's unable to cope with the force required.
Yet again, you get what you pay for!
I've no first hand experience with the metal wrenches.
T Aczel

Hi Rex,

Not sure what you have available to you 'Down Under' but here in the states, most automotive stores carry plastic dead-blow hammers that have a hollow plastic head filled with lead shot.

Works great on my knock-off hubs and makes nary a scratch. I imagine the plastic will wear through eventually, but they are so cheap I can easily pick up another without draining my wallet. I'd much rather wear out a plastic hammer than my spinners.

Cheers,
Larry
Larry Wheeler

This wire wheel spanner supplied with the car when I purchased it. It is a length of steel pipe with what looks like two chain link welded to one end.

The part that contacts the wheel spinner have been coated with plastic to help protect the spinner from damage.

I've never seen one for sale, and I'd thus assumed this was hand made.

The spanner works very effectively to both tighten and loosen the wheels.


g Harrison

A photo of the wheel spanner on the car


g Harrison

Hi g Harrison
That wheel spanner of yours looks very good.....Simple and effective....Regards Rex
Rex Thompson

i have just changed to WW and have the ply 'spanner' from SC Parts. However carefully you use it, the spinner or the hammer catch the edge and split it. I doubt if it will last more than a couple more times.

I like the look of the G Harrison spanner and might ask my local Blacksmith if he can knock one up for me.

Shane
Shanerj

I bought a Moss wooden spanner about 6years ago and have used it countless times. It works very well and no damage to the spin ons.
Neil Ferguson

Hi Rex ,FWIW -- I found the wooden things split after a few uses and abandoned them -- also I hate swinging a hammer near the body work.
I've used the steel unit now for about 5 or 6 years
and find it is first class.
I also use a short length of aluminium scaffolding tube (about 30 inches long which fits nicely in the boot/trunk)to give me some extra leverage and this way the spinners can be really well tightened and also easily slacked off. Final tightening and also initial slacking off must be done with the car on the ground other wise you will pull the car off the jack !!
For me it has been money well spent.
David
D C Grahame

I've used my thick plywood 'spinner spanner' for over 12 years now. I find it quite sufficient to literally tighten-up the spinners by hand. They always tighten themselves and are actually tighter on removal. This necessitates the spinner spanner being given a couple of smacks with a mallet to release it enough to be able to do the rest by hand.
I have also heard of the things splitting. I think they are either from an incorrect grade of plywood or used by animals! I guess these things can be abused like anything else.
A small point - I have found it useful to write O/S(Offside) on one side and N/S(Nearside) on the other corresponding to each side of the car, so its always the right way round to fit straight on a spinner. (Its easier to do that write that)
Pete
P N Tipping

A plastic faced dead blow hammer.

R J Brown

Rex, do you mean the thin steel ones? I tried one once and like others found it lacked the leverage necessary for removal. It also left dimples in the chrome after the attempt. The only thing I've found to both install and remove easily, and leave no mark behind, is a lead (or faux lead) hammer. I've beaten hammers down to a small stump and never suffered so much as a mark on the spinner itself.
Steve S

Thanks very much guys gives me something to think about....My wife and I will be in UK July/August so have a good at what is on offer....Regards Rex
Rex Thompson

Rex I bought one of these knock off spinner tools from this website; www.knockoffspinnertool.com and I have to say that it works great. It's nicely made and doesn't damage the spinners at all. I have 4 MGs and use it all the time. I've tried the wooden and rubber ones and they don't work. Not affliated with this product. I just love it.

Andy
Andy Preston

Got my wooden/plywood spinner spanner from Hutsons - the people who do the T-Type ash frames -

http://www.e-typecars.co.uk/contactus.html

Had and used it for about 8 years now with no problems, no splitting at all.

Hutsons are always at MGLive selling them.

David
David Wardell

This thread was discussed between 28/02/2012 and 07/03/2012

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