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MG TD TF 1500 - WIRE WHEELS

I am looking to re-finish my wire wheels, for the TD and PB, as they are now showing signs of rust.

Would anyone have recommendations / suggestions on the best finish [silver colour] for wires - powder coating? stove enamelling? painting? to give the most durable finish.

Any ideas on who can do this, preferably in the Norwich, UK, area.

Thanks,

Doug
Doug Wallace

Doug
I looked at doing this with my wire wheels, but the cost of refurbishment - if you are going to pay someone else to do it properly, is a significant proportion of the cost of new wheels. In addition, you still have a set of old wheels with part worn splines, etc. You can get new wheels from MWS or SC Parts who have some special deals on wire wheels if you ask them.
Dave H
Dave Hill

Hi Guys,

I can not comment on the colour to paint wheels but I can make a suggestion which will keep any wire wheels looking fresher.

To prevent the common grubby wheel centre look, remove the wheels and thoroughly degrease the inside of the hubs where the heads of the outer spokes are. Then apply silicon sealant inside the hubs to seal each spoke head. When the silicon has set, the splines must of course be regreased before refitting the wheels. If this job is done properly, the spokes and wheel centres stay clean!

If you get that wire wheel "knock" caused by worn splines, remove the rear wheels, clean the cone/taper section at the back of the wheel and hub thoroughly with paint thinner or acetone and apply "Loctite" 601 or 680 to the cone/taper section ONLY. Leave the splines and threads well greased. Refit the rear wheels and tighten the knockoffs REALLY WELL. Leave the car for several hours for the loctite to set before driving. Next time you want to remove the wheel you probably won't notice any difference. Rarely the wheel might need to be given a kick, after loosening the knockoff, to break if free. Loctite is not a glue but it helps prevent sliding action.

Bob Schapel
R L Schapel

Hi Doug - I have read that powder coating is not a good option for wire wheels - as it tends to be a brittle coating and can not be repaired once chipped. A good full single-stage paint coating might be best. Remove all the grease, then sand blast the wheels - prime and repaint. You may want to have your wheels tuned/trued before the painting.

As mentioned above, unless you do most of the work yourself, you will end up spending a good bit on having the wheels tuned and repainted. Just compare costs.
DLD

Doug. My TF1500 came with newly powder coated silver wires about 2.5 years and 8000 miles ago. They still look bright and are easy to clean. However, as DLD mentions powder coating is fairly brittle and does chip - in my case almost entirely on the inside fortunately. You cannot repair chips, so I use a Hamerite plain silver paint (not metallic) which protects the exposed metal but is visible at close quarters.
Neil.
N D Wallace

Powder coating, as mentioned, is not a good coating for wire wheels. If you need to retension the spokes (which should be checked and done periodically) will invariably crack the power coating round the nipple, leading to rust and simple ugliness.
Lew3

This thread was discussed between 03/02/2016 and 05/02/2016

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