New Wheel Studs
Now why on earth would anyone want to change the wheel studs on the car ? They aren’t broken, have held the wheels in place for almost 40yrs without complaining and now you want to change them ? Why ? Haven’t you got any other toys to play with ?
Ok, it is silly, but heck, I drive a 40yr old car so it’s all par for the course. And there is a reason, which is to do with the next project of fitting 15” wheels to the car.
I intend to use MGF wheels as my first trial of 15” wheels, mainly because I picked up a set very cheaply and so if I decide I don’t like them I won’t get in too much trouble from the project manager (SWMBO)
Chunky New Modified Studs
And when I looked at the wheels I realised that modern rims are using much thicker studs than the old Triumph hubs, with larger holes and wider wheel nuts as well.
So what fits on the old 13x5” Cosmic alloys isn’t going to hold these new rims in place. hmmm.....
And here’s the next caveat for anyone following this route; I bought the wrong wheel studs.
I bought genuine MG studs which were fitted to the MG Metro rear hub on the basis that I knew they are the same diameter as the MGF and I could use genuine MGF wheel nuts which appear better than aftermarket ones.
Fitting to the front hubs
The problem came with my project aim of wanting to use the MGF rims but also be able to fit the Cosmics when I wanted “period” looks. The thickness of the Cosmic rims is less than the MGF alloys, and the nuts bottomed out before securing the wheel properly. Dohhhh…..
Ok, so they’re too long. Cut a bit off the end and all will be fine. So I reduced the overall length by about 1/4”, ground the non-threaded portion to give a slight taperand so both Cosmic and MGF wheels can be held securely.
The second photo shows the front hub part with two new, two old studs in place so that you can appreciate the difference between the old Triumph studs and the new 12mm metric ones. It’s not until you see them together that you realise just how small the originals are.
The final shot is the front hub back on the car, looking quite chunky.
So now the MGF wheels fit perfectly as you would expect but not so the Cosmics. Because they were produced in an era where 3/8” (9mm) studs were commonplace they aren’t going to accept a 12mm stud without the holes being re-drilled.
Fortunately there’s enough metal there to allow this and still retain the bevelled seating for the wheel nut, which is important as this centres the rim on the hubs.
What started out as a job which would normally take a morning ended up taking two days. All 4 hubs need removing and as you know this is easier said than done on the Europa rear hubs, and then the Cosmic wheels needed modification.
New Metric studs in place
Nothing difficult, I just didn't think too hard before starting out, bought the wrong parts, had to modify them and then realised the original wheels wouldn’t fit and hence more mods.
There’s nothing like planning a job for it to go smoothly….. and that was nothing like planning a job…..