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MG MGB Technical - Wire wheels

Anyone know of someone who can respoke wire wheels in the Midlands? And how many broken spokes you can get away with!?
Paul Hunt 2

people say to go to classic motrcycle shops as they respoke wheels
Ste Brown

Hi Paul,

A spoke missing, loose, bent or excessively corroded will fail the MOT.

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_420.htm

If you can buy spare spokes, you could have a go at changing them yourself, replacement and tensioning isn't difficult, I've done a few motorbike wheels without a problem.
Martin Layton

Paul

If you decide to do it yourself, I can send you the pattern for a jig I use to check true. It takes a bit of time, but not really hard to do. Only big issue is soaking the rim so the spokes can be adjusted.

If you just have one or two broken or loose, it is fairly easy to add these and adjust to proper tightness.

B. Cunha
BEC Cunha

Someone on the TA/B/C board came up with the new location of the people I used to use - Phillips now at Oldbury, phone number 0121 544 9060 in case anyone else is interested.

On the question of spoke replacement myself I've been looking in to that, is a spoke spanner/wrench the crucial implement? Amongst the hundreds of cycle items I found a pair for motor bike wheels covering spoke sizes 8, 9, 10 and 11. Any one know how they compare with MGB spokes?
Paul Hunt 2


Paul,The nipples vary as to the manufacturer of the wheels. I worked for a number of years as a motorcycle mechanic and one of the the most frequent jobs was spoke replacement. The wrench size is not that important, an adjustable will do in a pinch. RAY
RAY

With further research it seems that they are 5-7 gauge, which means 7 gauge (4.45mm or .175") for most of their length, and 5 gauge (5.21mm or .205") for the thicker part near the hub. The nipple itself is 0.3" or 8mm. The problem is the space available to swing a spanner or wrench, the short spokes (which are the one that break on my wheels) are very slightly recessed on the rim compared to the long spokes, which reduces the swing room, and the nipples are only 4-sided which means you need a 90 degree arc. I understand that sometimes you have to remove the long spoke in order to get enough swing room to tighten the short spoke, then replace the long spoke.

So, any sources for a spoke spanner/wrench for 5-7 gauge spokes and a 0.3"/8mm nipple?
Paul Hunt 2

This thread was discussed between 02/05/2007 and 04/05/2007

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