What is the widest 15" panasport and tire combo that can be used on a rubber bumper 1980 B
I'd look on mgexp for several threads on this, but I think the safe answer is 15x6 with 195/60r15 tires.
Some MGBs can handle 15x7 wheels, but not all. Apparently the factory was not precise when welding brackets onto the rear axle, and some cars have rear axles that are up to 1/2" off center. In any case, 15x7s require a very specific offset, but I'm not sure what that is. Turning up the rear fender lips may be required.
There's a guy selling VTO wheels that are a very close match to panasports at a fraction of the price.
Wait for Graham to chime in. Pretty sure he fit 205's or maybe 225's on his before he switched to a 4-link rear. He should be able to give you the wheel size including offset or backspace and tire size.
As Rob has mentioned, I have 15x7 Panasports with 22mm offset and currently shod with 205/55R15 Yoko S-Drives. Prior to these I had 225/50R15 Goodrich T/A's.
In a perfect world with the axle centred between the wheel wells, 195's should work with no fender lip mods - anything above (205/215/225) , I'd expect some lip removal/rework....but no rework to the axle bump stop.
If your axle is not centered, then the above does not apply!
On the front, depending on tire size, I'd expect some possible interference with the front sway bar at full lock (I have that condition on mine)
15x7Panasport.jpg
Hi Graham,
What is your rear axle width out of curiosity?
Per my old notes: 51-11/16" across the rotors.
IIRC I had Moser essentially duplicate the std MG bolt on axle width.
EDIT: Found some other notes that suggests 51.0" across axle flanges - that implies that rotor hat thickness is 11/32".