MGB wheel widths? How much wheel/tire under stock body?

Okay, a VTO wheel vendor and active guy on a major MGB forum says 15x6 is the limit when I pinged him, though I'd swear I found an entry on said forum where he was talking about sourcing 15x7 VTOs for this application.

Revolution wheels says they don't recommend bigger than 15x6.

Moss sells a 15x7 Panasport, ET22, with warnings of the possible need to massage fenders with a 195/60-15, and a certainty of massage at 205/55-15.

I'd like to run a 205/50-15, just because that's where all the cool tires are; as soon as I get this sorted I'll be ordering a set of wheels and a set of TW200 tires. A slightly taller tire can fill out the wells a bit more, but I've seen plenty of MGBs looking sharp on 205/50-15s.

Anybody have any personal experiences they'd like to share?

Are we talking about rolling fender lips, or is it flares for room and a panhard/Watts/etc to keep the axle centered to avoid sidewall-shredding mayhem?

RE-71Rs are available in 195 and 15" in three different aspect ratios, I think, but 205/50-15 feels like it will be more reliably available, and I'd feel better about both the extra footprint of the 205, and given a 205, I'd feel better about the 7" rim.

I've run 195/50/15 on 15x6 Z-car wheels on stock rear springs with a slight rolling of the lips & minimal issues. However if you're  loading up the back with tent, sleeping bags food etc there will be contact on bumps.

In reply to Ransom :

Opening up the fender slightly is a simple job that takes a little over fifteen minutes per wheel. Bottle jack, 2 flat boards  and sand bag

A inch or so is virtually invisible 2 inches starts to be noticeable  

205 is pushing it. If you are lucky and the axle is centered side to side and you are willing to roll the lips and add a panhard, you might pull it off.

I run 195-60 14 on the GT  with 6" rims and would not go much more.

Pete

*Sigh*. Sounds like I'd probably better stick to 195s on 6" wheels. Which should still be a bunch of grip on this car, but one hates to give away easy contact patch. But I'm certainly not going to be installing a panhard bar before I get new wheels/tires, which I need just to start driving the thing in earnest, as the existing tires should be in middle school, at least.

It dawns on me that we've been talking only about fender lip clearance.

That ET22 on the Moss wheels is important.

I don't think Z-car wheels have the ideal offset for an MGB... Pete, any notion what offset your 14x6s are, and how much room you have on the *inside*?

In reply to Ransom :

Not offhand and the car is not here to check. The wheels are the Minataur alloy center locks, so maybe its on MOSS's site?

What I do have that is nice is the 4 link coil over conversion from Classic Conversions. Not only does it transform the ride from buckboard to something that the wife unit will ride in, but it also gives you the opportunity to center the rear axle to where you need it.

The car is running on  Azenis and with the 195 patch and the sticky tires and MOMO prototypo wheel it is fun to park.

Pete

In reply to NOHOME :

Thanks!

Okay, I'm calming down. I can get a lot of use out of some 6" wheels before I'm ready to do everything that'll really make 7" or more useful.

I was almost tempted to just to throw some basic fresh tires on the 14x?? Appliance wheels that came on it, but I know I'm going to autocross soon, and I know it'd drive me nuts running around on all-seasons...

In reply to Ransom :

Looks like Tire Rack has 195/60-14 Azenis. Maybe that'll work for your autocross fun?

Are you taking it to the autocross at PIR this weekend?

In reply to thatsnowinnebago :

I've got a few issues to sort out before an autocross, so not quite yet. But soon, I hope!

I'm moving across town in a week and a half, so though this car's more usable than most of my projects, I probably won't get to much for a little bit.

In reply to Ransom :

Same here. I have to do my radiator and timing belt before I'm confident that my car won't leak errant fluids all over the lot.

Good luck on the move!

In reply to thatsnowinnebago :

Thanks! Hope the rad and timing belt go smoothly!

Speaking of hoping things go smoothly, I'm heading for the DMV right after this bowl of ramen. Fingers crossed the seller signed all the right bits of the Washington title...

Tge ideal tire size used to be 185x70-15, but sadly they are all gone now so you need to upsize for any sort of performance tire.

The 195x65-15 Pirelli 6000 is OK but pricy.

In reply to wspohn :

I'll probably go 200-treadwear since autocross will be one of the main uses and I've got other things to drive when the weather totally precludes a summer tire.

195/65-15 sounds tall! For that matter, so does 185/70-15. It's got 185/70-14s on it right now (original size or near, I think?), and they seem like plenty of diameter... 195/65-15 would be 0.8" taller.

https://tiresize.com/comparison/

I stuck my head under there the other day and it looks like there's a lot more room to play on the inside than the outside in the rear. I'm wondering whether the conventional wisdom limit is down to folks always running the same offset front and rear. I'm wondering whether running a bit more offset in the rear than the front might allow for more width without rubbing. But I need to look at the inner clearance up front as well.