The Rostyle wheel was the standard steel wheel fitted to the MGB and MGB GT from September 1969 to the end of production in 1980, with the same wheel used across the wider BMC and BL range, distinguished by its sculpted face with raised metallic-silver-painted highlights against a darker base, both a functional steel wheel and a styling feature. Original Rostyles have generally suffered over the decades from kerbing, corrosion of the painted finish, and the various small impacts that any working wheel sees, with the distinctive appearance coming from the contrast between the satin black recessed quadrants and the bright raised rim face, so when this contrast is lost to corrosion, chipping, and accumulated brake dust the wheel looks tired and neglected. A renovation rather than a renewal is the cost-effective approach for owners restoring cars to original specification, and the renovation kit allows a corroded or chipped Rostyle to be refinished to near-original appearance without the expense of professional powder coating or purchasing new wheels.
What the Kit Contains
The Rostyle Renovation Kit is a complete DIY renovation kit comprising twenty-five die-cut self-adhesive masks, one for every area of the wheel face with appropriate spares, covering a complete set of four wheels and ensuring precise, sharp paint lines when refinishing to the original factory-specification appearance. The kit includes silver wheel paint matched to the original Rostyle specification used on the raised highlight areas, satin black paint for the recessed quadrant sections, and wet-and-dry abrasive paper for the surface preparation work, with primer for the prepared steel and topcoat lacquer where the original specification called for one. The colours are matched to original Rostyle samples, so a refurbished wheel finished using the kit is genuinely indistinguishable from a freshly-pressed factory wheel in appearance, the precision of the die-cut masks replicating the factory finish in a way that is difficult to achieve by hand masking, particularly along the compound curve where the bright rim meets the black quadrant around each slot.
Preparation & Application
The renovation work starts with thorough surface preparation, each wheel stripped of its existing paint by chemical paint stripper, mechanical wire-brush, or media-blast preparation to bare steel, with all old paint, centre caps, and tyres removed from the rims before starting. Any corrosion is treated with a rust converter such as Fertan, appropriate for the residual surface rust that wire-brush preparation leaves behind on a tired Rostyle, and the wheel is then primed with a quality etch primer. The masking templates from the kit are applied to define the highlight and quadrant areas, with the masks pressed down firmly to prevent paint creeping beneath the edge, the appropriate areas painted, and the masks removed while the paint is still slightly tacky for the cleanest edge definition. The key to a professional-looking result is patience with the masking, as the boundary between the bright rim and the black quadrant follows a compound curve and a crisp paint line at this boundary is what distinguishes a well-renovated Rostyle from a poorly done one, with rushing the masking showing in the finished result.
Topcoat lacquer where used seals the work and gives the wheel its final gloss, and the full job is typically a weekend's work for a set of four wheels, with the MGOC blog article on refurbishing Rostyle wheels providing a step-by-step guide.
Which Rostyle to Renovate
Two Rostyle offsets were used during MGB production, cars from September 1969 to August 1976 using the narrow-offset Rostyle and cars from September 1976 to the end of production in 1980 using the wider-offset Rostyle that produced a wider rear track, with the renovation kit working identically on both as the painted finish is the same and the offset is a structural rather than a cosmetic specification. For owners restoring a car to original specification, confirming which Rostyle offset the car carried originally is important, and using the wrong shade of silver or black is immediately obvious on a car with clean bodywork and bright trim, which is why the factory-matched paints in the kit eliminate the guesswork. The same renovation principles apply to the Rostyle wheels fitted across the wider BMC and BL range, the kit being appropriate for cars beyond just the MGB, and the technical team is available to advise on the correct specification for a particular car.