MG Sports Cars

looks like i can get pretty big tire under my stock mgb plenty of clearence back to frt going to 15 in rims what width, whos rims mini lite type and what size tire can i use ,close to rubbing lip is ok stock rims 165/60 really are small thank v8 conv ready to start you barry

Scan the MG photo gallery & look at Steve Carrick & Graham Creswick's cars. Both have 225/50/15's on the rear. Graham's says he has 15x7 w/+22mm offset. Both look about as much as you can fit without doing flares.

If I remember correctly Steve Massaged his wheel wells to fit his tires on the rear

Joe is correct - Steve's car has rolled wheel well lips and a subtle message job........as mine does!
Any large width rim/tire combo, will require be some fender well rework , but how much rework largely depends on axle width. I firmly believe that an optimized axle flange-to-flange width will allow a 15x7/22mm wheel with 225/50 rubber to fit with only a fender wheel lip trim. That axle width (and don't quote me here) needs to be around 50-3/4" and mounted perfectly centred between wheel well openings.(typical MG axle left bias eliminated).
I've often thought, with the std MG axle removed, that a pair of tire/rim combos could be placed in situ in the wheel wells in a bump condition and a flange to flange axle width derived....then there is no question of a fit.......this, of course, assumes that a new axle is part of the conversion plan.

Graham,

Perfect timing thanks for your input. I have been running 16X7 wheels with +38 mm offset for a year or so. Stock rear and I have been using 3/8" spacers and 205/55/16 tires. Slight rub on LHS under hard driving. Now going to a Ford 8" with Bill G 4 bar and trying to figure out the best width to get it made in. Also changing wheels to same size but offset now +22mm. Think you are about right on with 50 3/4 " as my stock was 51 3/4 and as you say they all seem to e offset to the LHS ~3/8" or so. Great to hear the 225 can be made to fit as that is what I am hoping to get in there. What was your subtle message job? BFH on the bump stop bulge?

Now who has an opinion on Rota RB wheels?

[www.racinglab.com]

Finding a wheel with the offset you need can do the same job as narrowing the rearend. Worked for my Camaro.

Bump stop bulge removal primer (courtesy of Jim Blackwood):

[forum.britishv8.org]

It's most of the way down the page.

Mike, I don't think the bump stop bulge hammer message is necessary if rims/offset/axle width are optimized - but it is an option if things are tight.
In my case, the messaged area was the outer fender profile (a la Steve Carrick rolling baseball bat technique), as my overall axle width is perhaps 3/8" too wide.
As for the CCE 4-link rear suspension, Bill G talked about making an improvement to the forward lower link attachment design by making the bushings/spacers a multi-piece affair that would allow some lateral adjustment of the axle to allow centering of the axle/tire in the wheelwell. As my 4-link was an early one, I have had my bushings reworked and spacers added that essentially allows a 1/4" axle shift for some fine tuning.
If you are contemplating Bill's 4-link, make sure that the axle is where you want it before welding the upper link brackets.