A wire wheel conversion kit allows any steel-wheel Midget to be converted to wire wheels, adding one of the most desirable visual and mechanical features of the classic MG sports car, the conversion being fully reversible and not requiring any permanent modification to the car.
Conversion Components
The kit includes splined hub adaptors for both front and rear, knock-on spinners handed left and right, and all necessary fixings. However, the conversion also requires the rear steel wheel half shafts to be replaced with wire wheel half shafts, which have a flanged end for the hub adaptor rather than the pressed-on hub with wheel studs used on steel wheel shafts, and the front hubs to be changed from the steel wheel type to the wire wheel type, these additional components not always being included in the kit and so should be confirmed when ordering.
Axle & Clearance Considerations
It is important to understand that the Midget's steel wheel and wire wheel axle specifications differ. The distance between the hub faces is not the same on the two axle types, and this affects the wheel track width and the clearance between the rear of the wire wheel and the brake drum. On the Midget this difference is less pronounced than on the MGB, where the axle width varies by approximately 1.5 inches between steel and wire specifications, but tyre clearance should still be checked after conversion, particularly if wider-than-standard tyres or wheels are being fitted at the same time.