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MG MGB Technical - Can't remove wheel and other questions

Just picked up a 1971 roadster. One owner, 90,000 miles,wire wheels, been stored for 24 years. I've been crawling through it. The engine set up during storage and I wanted to remove the LF wheel to put a breaker bar on the crankshaft bolt. Got the retaining nut off the wheel hub, but the wheel won't come off. It wiggles a bit, but that's it. Tried tapping the backside of the rim but no luck. Before I put a puller on it, any thoughts about what's going on?

It didn't come with an owner's manual or shop manual. Is there an owner's manual on the web somewhere? I have two MGA's and there plenty of info for them. The cockpit controls are very different on the B, almost modern! Some things work, others don't seem to. I don't want to damage anything trying to figure it out.

Any tips on freeing a siezed engine? I've poured PB Blaster into the cylinders for now.

Thanks,
Gerry
G T Foster

If the car will roll, try rolling it back and forth to help break the wheel loose. Otherwise a lot of PB blaster and time. Heat may be required, only use a puller if you plan to replace the wheels as they will likely damage the wheel. Same for the engine, lots of PB Blaster and time. Try and get a factory service manual, you can find them on the web or Moss, VB etc. they can be had in both paper or on CD's.
John H

Method 2: Loosen the hub nut; drive in a tight circle away from the wheel. Then try again.
Dan Robinson

Gerry,

John said it, but I'll say it more emphatically. Don't try to turn the engine dry. Load it up with your favorite concoction through the spark plug holes. Don't be afraid to fill it till the cylinders are full, but leave the plugs out when you try to turn it.

I would let it sit with the cylinders juiced for at least 24 hours before attempting to turn it, maybe a week. I sometimes mix ATF with kerosene/diesel to fill the cylinders. Wouldn't hurt to heat it up before you put it in, as long as you don't set yourself on fire, in which case it would hurt a lot. May not help either, but could just be the little extra help you need.

Also, I had one freeze up tight on the wrist pins, and freeing the cylinders didn't help.

Don't get too handy with the crank bolt or you may snap it off. Also that only works well in one direction. You can also put it in 4th gear and rock it back and forth.

You already have the word on the wheel. The splines are rusted together. Juice, heat, wiggle, and judicial hammer.

Charley
C R Huff

OK,
Thanks guys, I'll let you know how it works out.
Gerry
G T Foster

I've had this happen with more modern cars and alloy rims.

As was mentioned, just roll the car some and the rim will likely work it's way off. Don't do this with the lugs completely off though. Just have them so there is a visible gap between the lug and the rim. You wouldn't want the tire to fall off the car completely!
Jeff Grant

Modern cars with disc and alloy wheels usually do have a very small clearance between a flange on the hub and the hole in the wheel, this can corrode and make the wheel very difficult to get off. MGB disc wheels shouldn't suffer from that problem as the centre hole in the wheel isn't precision and there is more clearance. If it's wire wheels then that is different. These can seize onto the splines, and I've even heard of them being welded when the splines have stripped! With the spinner loose driving in a circle should move it, in a right-hand circle if it is a left wheel and vice-versa. The movement you are seeing at the moment could well be in the hb bearing which is supposed to have some end-float, or wear in the king-pin, track-rod end etc. You can only get at the hub nut with the wheel in place if you have wire wheels - short of cutting the centre cap off Rostyles. If you have wires then there is nothing to be gained by slackening the hub nut and driving in a circle (compared to leaving the hub nut alone and driving in a circle) except damaging the bearings and hub assembly. You might as well remove the hub nut altogether and remove the wheel and hub as a unit and tackle parting them on the bench.
Paul Hunt 2

A "redneck" fix on this side of the Atlantic has sometimes been to use thin sheet metal to shim a tight fit of the wheel hub over the splined axle hub on wire wheel cars. Unfortunately, the metal of choice is often an old beer or coke can and because it is aluminum, the corrosion that takes place can be pretty awesome and stubborn to break loose. I hope that is not your problem.

Bob Muenchausen

This thread was discussed between 10/04/2008 and 13/04/2008

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