magnesium wheels

esper · 16 May 2006, 06:56 (Ref:1611218)

does anyone know when a magnesium wheel is to old and britle to use on a historic racecar? Ofcourse wheelsellers tell me wheels from the early seventies are ready for the dustbin!

simon drabble · 16 May 2006, 07:34 (Ref:1611243)

the wheel manufacturer should be able to crack test them and refurbish - minlites do it for £50 a wheel.....

zefarelly · 16 May 2006, 08:45 (Ref:1611313)

wow, how do you know thats Simon ?

its not hust crack testing but getting them correctly treated as well to avoid deterioration.

simon drabble · 16 May 2006, 09:03 (Ref:1611328)

some prepper down on the south coast told me!! couldn't be ar5ed to do them himself so told me where to get them done!!!!! just joking!

**Peter Mallett** · 16 May 2006, 09:04 (Ref:1611329)

I thought magnesium wheels were banned due to their flammabilty.

simon drabble · 16 May 2006, 09:07 (Ref:1611335)

no - most single seaters and sportsracers run with them and now Zef has told me where to get them refurbed and crack tested I will run the Lotus Cortina with them as they are so much lighter

zefarelly · 16 May 2006, 09:27 (Ref:1611358)

we had a long hard look at them and decided not to race on them without knowing exactly whats what, so its worth getting thewm checked properly

I can't crack test at home and if I go to hospital with a wheel under one arm and claim 8 broken wrists in a week they might get a little suspicious !

jonners · 16 May 2006, 15:47 (Ref:1611603)

I have loads of old magnesium minilites but they need a lot of TLC - I approached Minilite about having them looked at but when I told them they were original ones rather than the magnesium versions that Minilite are making now, they didn't want to know - perhaps they'll only service new(ish) ones?

There is a bloke in York who by all accounts is completely fearless and welds up magnesium wheel with his teeth - I spoke to him about mine and he didn't see any problems at all but said it wouldn't be cheap

here's his website

http://www.ianjemison.co.uk/

Having said that my uncle is a metallurgist and he really didn't like the sound welding magnesium due the the effect on the surrounding metal.

These wheels are just so light it's ridiculous but they've been sitting in my garage for ages without protection and I doubt whether they're 13" in diameter any more...

Personally speaking I'd only go for new ones. They are widely used but professional teams life items such as these.

zefarelly · 16 May 2006, 18:24 (Ref:1611713)

I'm happy on my Dunlop steels and alloys, if i had more money than Sense I might get some wobbly webs made or BRM's but no way would I run vintage Mags, not sure I'd even trust them to support the Paddock BBQ !

jamesl · 16 May 2006, 21:46 (Ref:1611917)

Ian Jemison repaired some of my mag F2 wheels a few years ago. I ran on them without any problems. One of the problems you can get is contamination in "old" magnesium, which causes it not to weld properly.
However, money allowing new is always the best option. I prefer 3 piece split rims. At least if you do have a shunt, normally its just the outer rim that needs replacing.
As an aside, MB Wheels (Mike Barnby) is very good for new wheels.

zefarelly · 17 May 2006, 09:34 (Ref:1612395)

I'd like some new Dunlop steel rims . . .6" wide instead of 5 1/2 J please, I've got a pair but ones buckled

jonners · 17 May 2006, 09:55 (Ref:1612411)

Zef - try the Lotus Cortina Spares Centre - he had some 6" steels a while ago so you may be lucky - won't be cheap tho

another thing that worries me about magnesium wheels - a chap in my class faced the Spanish Inquisition over his wheels on his Fiat Arbarth - scrutineer said he knew the original magnesium wheels weren't available new so he wouldn't pass the car without proof the wheels had been crack tested - that was a new one on everyone - trouble was the wheels were actually very nice alloy replicas and the scrutineer got very difficult about the whole thing when he realised he'd dug himself into a hole

wish this thread hadn't come up - am thinking of phoning Ian Jemison again...

zefarelly · 17 May 2006, 13:13 (Ref:1612568)

thanks Johnners, TB @ LCSC is a funny one, and I can guess his 'not cheap' will be well outside my price range ! . . .I have an old Hub as a jig on the go at the moment in an attempt to straighten a few rims out, and may reinforce at the same time if needs be, if it works, great, if not I'll make a deep dished coffee table !!!

jonners · 17 May 2006, 13:40 (Ref:1612591)

Never had a problem with TB but I know several who have....

Some delicious magnesium wheels on this website

http://www.historicparts.co.uk/Parts_contents.htm

On the Lotus Cortina front some of the Team Lotus Gp 5 cars (mk 1 & 2) ran on magnesium wheels and I have a number of still photos of them but although they look like Elan 26R wheels I'm not certain they are??

Infact on that website the new Brabham 4 spoke looks very similar to the 26R wheel and Brabham wheels did appear on the Boreham (Ford) built Gp 5 mk 2 that appeared before the Team Lotus mk 2's.

Any of this mean anything to anyone?

Serious anorak territory, needless to say...

johnh875 · 18 May 2006, 02:18 (Ref:1613116)

Quote:

Originally Posted by zefarelly

I'd like some new Dunlop steel rims . . .6" wide instead of 5 1/2 J please, I've got a pair but ones buckled

Could you have new rims put on your centres?

zefarelly · 18 May 2006, 08:57 (Ref:1613240)

thats possible, most things are for a price ! new steels are available to a different style, so it might not be too prohibitive if they are too far gone.

I've never had a problem with TB, but he's different to say the least in his approach and mannerisms with customers !

I know Lens site has Mag wheels, and I have seen one of Andys cars with wobbly webs which where apparently cast blank and drilled to fit the cortina.
I've got a few pics of late 66 LC's with BRM mag wheels.

Q: I have Dunlop D1's . . .where they ever made in Magnesium ?

esper · 19 May 2006, 07:57 (Ref:1614019)

is just that I bought my TVR Grantura in Canada and it came with American Racing magnesium wheels. Nice wheels , minilite type. I bought 8 compomotive minilite lookalikes in England. So we run those now (good wheels b.t.w.)
But now I have those american wheels in the workshop without using them which is a pitty because they look good. I might get them cracktested but that might be more expensive then a new compomotive!!

zefarelly · 19 May 2006, 08:03 (Ref:1614022)

Quote:

Originally Posted by esper

But now I have those american wheels in the workshop without using them which is a pitty because they look good. I might get them cracktested but that might be more expensive then a new compomotive!!

We've established that getting 8 Mag wheels restored to new is the same price as a new set of 4 Aluminium wheels . . . . given that Mag wheels are 4 times the price of Aluminium its worth it AMR weels are cool too !

jleonard · 7 Jan 2022, 18:00 (Ref:4092800)

Does anyone know what happened to MB racing wheels? I was working with Mike Barnby on some Dymag replica four spoke wheels. Now seems shut down and website gone.

piekey · 15 Jan 2022, 20:48 (Ref:4093900)

MB was/is based in Medway towns & lives up in Surrey, i did hear the retirement word muttered a few times. There are phone numbers about online.
Good luck with crack testing.

terence · 19 Jan 2022, 04:45 (Ref:4094347)

There are diy crack testing kits available for very reasonable money. I used a few different types when fabricating at Cambridge motor Sport. Best one was a two components type spray. Aerosol the 'finder' onto the piece, let it soak for around five minutes then use the second can to show up any cracks etc. I'm pretty certain that kit came from Wurth.

Gerard C · 19 Jan 2022, 18:59 (Ref:4094433)

Dont we need an official crack testing made by a recognized company, delivering a certificate with numbers and so on?

Duddha · 24 Jan 2022, 10:46 (Ref:4095152)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Dont we need an official crack testing made by a recognized company, delivering a certificate with numbers and so on?

Read regulations, Appendix III to Appendix K to answer guesses.

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