Wanted, a wheel

[Mtrike]

It was a 13 inch mini wheel with 175 50 tyre which fits the well perfectly. The offset means it slightly overlaps the arches so you have to avoid going too fast or big bumps and heavy cornering but treat it as a get you home alternative and it's ok. And it was an alloy mini lite look alike.

[streetsy]

Its a girth thing, turbo wheels are 5.5", I think steels are 4.5".

[Stuart]

Its a girth thing, turbo wheels are 5.5", I think steels are 4.5".

Which tyres do you have? and what size are they?

You'll have to get a Metro 12" wheel then. A-series Metro's never got 13" steel wheels.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Austin-Metro- ... _460wt_960

The first Midas convertible as featured in Motor magazine had a 13" alloy squeezed in with a Pirelli P7 fitted, which in reality was actually 195 mm wide. Perhaps that had a modified boot floor?

[streetsy]

I think a 135r12 may be a good solution, the diameter is very close to the tyres I have on my wheels. Many thanks Richard.

[Mtrike]

Odd that the well is different to mine. In my car it is at the rear offside and definitely sized for the bigger wheel. My car is a Pastiche build so it may differ from earlier convertibles and I'm going to go and have a look in a moment to see if it's been modified ( whilst I check why the petrol gusge has suddenly stopped working).

[streetsy]

I cannot fit one of my turbo wheels in even with the tyre deflated. My car was built 1995 so it is a little earlier

[ACourtney]

Modifying the wheel well to take a larger spare is quite easy. I have done it a couple of times to take 185-55/13 spares, which theoretically should only be 5mm taller than the original 165-60/13 fitment, but seem to be more like 12mm taller. Obviously they are 20mm wider too, but this didn't seem to be an issue on the convertibles I modded.

The modification requires cutting an H in the bottom of the wheel well with a jig saw, with the horizontal of the H running right across the bottom, front to rear, of the well and then cutting slots of about 150 to 180mm, either side of the central slot, around the edge of the well, to form the verticals of the H. You can then place your spare wheel in the well and gently push down to bend the two tongues of GRP out of the way to create sufficient depth to get the wheel in and the bootlid closed. If the wheel doesn't want to go in far enough then increase the lengths of the cuts around the edges of the wheel well until you get the depth you need.
Obviously this now means that there will now be large gaps where you made your cuts. These should first be filled with bridging filler (glass laden filler such as Isopon P40) - having first put something like a bin liner or clingfilm under your spare wheel to keep your tyre clean. Once the gaps have been filled, you should lay-up a couple of layers of chopped strand mat on the underside of the well to lock it all in place. Then take the spare wheel out and clean up the inside of the well with a sander or grinder. I finished off with a layer of glass tissue and a coat of black flowcoat.

I shall have a look through my photo archive to see if I have any pictures of this mod as that would help to explain it better.

Alistair

[streetsy]

That does seem quite a simple solution, it hadn't even crossed my mind to simply make the wheel well bigger.

[cubera]

I've come to this one a bit late, but I would like to correct one of Stuart's comments. The Austin Metro certainly DID have 13 inch wheels, not 12 inch, and my experience of Mk3 Midas cars was that they came from Harold's factory with 13 Revolution wheels as a rule. All four with which I have been involved (either by owning, or looking after) had the same wheels, and they always fitted the spare wheel well properly. I can't vouch for Pastiche-made models, and though I know Peter Fellowes' s outfit cut some corners, I would not have thought it would have been to their advantage to make any modifications to the spare wheel well - after all, there would have been no point, and anyway it would have cost them. Anyway, if anyone wants it, I do have one of the original Revo wheels, rather badly scragged on the rim, where some fathead pushed me into a kerb a few (many!) years back. It needs some work, but my local tyre people said it was not useless. It has a tyre on it which IS useless, and I have no means, nor strength, to remove it. Yours if you want it; I'm in sunny Berkshire.

[Stuart]

but I would like to correct one of Stuart's comments. The Austin Metro certainly DID have 13 inch wheels, to remove it. Yours if you want it; I'm in sunny Berkshire.

I'm not aware of an Austin Metro ever coming with 13" steel wheels. Alloys yes, but not steel.

You'll have to get a Metro 12" wheel then. A-series Metro's never got 13" steel wheels.