7j wide steel wheels n axles narrowing?

[deluxemk1]

Hi everyone my names simon im one of the Mad Moomin Racing lot you may of seen me tinkering with all our cars including Jeffs (prefectopop) 100es. I have a task and im hoping you guys can help me.We have managed to aquire the almost imposible and got hold of a set of 7j wide steel wheels which was a fantastic find but i have issues with em now!It seems the backspace on them is no good as when the wheel with the tire removed vitually touchs the wheelarch lip and with a 185/70/13 tyre there is no way it will ever go under even if i trim the arch lips and knock in the inner wheel house we are gutted! I have a full backhalved drag car and i have the sinking feeling that to get these wheels to sit nicely in these wheel houses im going to have to get the axle narrowed.Even if the rims had cleared the archs they would of sat to far out in the archs and looked a bit weird.My question is am i doomed? Does anyone know anyone who could alter the back space of these wheels by moving and rewelding the centres or where I could get the axle sorted? I know the usual drag racing chaps like geoff hauser who did my rear end in my plymouth roadrunner for drag racing but just wondered if anyone knew anyone in the old ford circles first to help me with this first? Its the halfshafts im most concerned with i know companys like Strange Engineering do racing halfshafts like for my yank for shortened axles but what about a 105e axle?As most 100e guys know a 105e axle on spax shocks allows up to 7j rim without any axle mods but as my backspace is not good I think it may be the only way to get them tasty wide steels under the back right.We searched the earth for these wheels and now we got em We cant fit em grrr!!! PLEASE ANY ADVICE GRATEFUL. I know a few of you guys have been through this already with 100es as ive seen your cars! Thanks SI (Mad Moomin)

[mk1mexico]

Yeah theyre no good mate best give them to me

[V8ian]

If you have a 105e axle on a 100e, that is the narrowest english axle made by ford, All may not be lost, depends how much you need to lose on the width, if its only about an 1", you may be able to shorten the shafts yourself, look at any shaft and the witness marks on the splines, they never go right to the end of the splines. you may be able to remove 1/2 inch or more before the end of the splines bottoms out in the spider gear, and narrowing the case is not too hard, I did mine in the back garden

BTW Moser and Strange both make custom shafts, I had new shafts made for my Toyota axle by Mosers. via Geoff Hauser, and I think Andy Robinson does Strange shafts,

Ian

[Supercharged Nat]

i would certainly consider rewelding the centers, ive never seen it done, but im sure it canbe, depends on how orginal you want to keep the rims.

 

do you know what the offset is? and what you need it to be?

[James HPE Motorsport]

I did mine in my back garden too but I only had about a 1/4 of an inch left before the splines bottomed out!!! If it comes down to it and you shorten your shafts and axle as much as the shafts will allow and you need a couple of mm clearance then you can always have some material turned off the shaft flanges where your wheels bolt up!!!

 

Good luck!

[alladdin]

interesting thread.

how did you both narrow the casing while keeping the ends square ?

[V8ian]

interesting thread.

how did you both narrow the casing while keeping the ends square ?

scribe a deep line along the top of each tube, use this for a reassembly datum, and mark or number the flanges and tubes either side of the cuts you will make so they can be identified as which side they were removed from, deep centre pops will work,

Now about halfway between the flange and spring perch, mark round the tube the amount twice allowing for the amount you want to remove, cut the flanges off, and cut the the extra bit of tube not needed, I used a fine [1mm] cutting disc. if you are happier using a hacksaw and can follow a line with it, use that, grind a bevel on the outside of the tube to aid penetration of the weld, de burr and clean the axle of swarf,

do the same with the flanges, hopefully you will have about 1"or 25mm or more of tube at the back of the flange,

Next bit is easy for me as I have a lathe in my garage, I machined 2 off 6" tubes to a nice interference/tight push fit inside the axle tube, [anything loser than this fit will allow for Misalignment] and obviously plenty of bore to get a shaft up, with the tube held in the lathe, fit the flange the tube so the original axle tube and the new tube are level checking that its square, put a small weld inside of the flange from the bearing side and tack the two tubes together, again check the flange is square after tacking each time and adjust if needed, you should have about 3-4" of tube sticking out of the back if the flange. remove from lathe when you are happy, now insert the correct flange assy inside the correct end of the casing and align the marks , check you are happy with the amount you have removed and tack together in 4 places, again check your dimensions and and refference marks, if all ok. final weld together, If you are not happy with your welding skills, get a pro to do it, it wont cost much, clean out the casing of all crap and reassemble, Make sure the bearings are SEALED halfshaft bearings as the tube will impair any oil getting to an open bearing,

It is also a good idea to fit a adjustale panhard rod or watts linkage to maintain the position of the axle or adjust the axle to be central,, 5mm either way can make all the difference, I only run less than 6mm clearance to my arches, and have a panhard rod fitted,

just as an afterthought , before tacking the tubes in the flange, ensure there is plenty of room for the bearing retaining ring once the tacks are in position,

 

Ian

[deluxemk1]

thanks guys looks like its as i feared gonna have to save a few pennys together to sort this one we want to fit the wheels as they are rare and will look the part just might take a bit longer than we hoped

[V8ian]

thanks guys looks like its as i feared gonna have to save a few pennys together to sort this one we want to fit the wheels as they are rare and will look the part just might take a bit longer than we hoped

 

Before you start getting all the bits together, have the rims checked for trueness, the wider the steel the easier it is to bend it, and they are expensive to get repaired, ask Petrolhead01,

Ian

[alladdin]

in case it helps, i measured the spare spline on my mk1 axle today. 1/2 inch or 13 mm spare (safely) on each shaft which means an inch narrower in total.

[deluxemk1]

Thanks chaps i think that will do the job i might ring kev at Milton Racing and see if he can cut the shafts and casing for me so we can get them tasty fat steels on