winabbey wrote:
I'm in the process of restoring the wheels on my 1970 MK II Cooper S. Since they are still factory original (apart from the usual dirt, rust and gutter rash) I thought it might be useful to capture the colours and various markings before the repairs take place.
First some manufacturing data.
The wheels are 4 1/2" width by 10" diameter and were manufactured by Dunlop in the UK with BMC part number 21A1286 and Dunlop part number LP883. One of the hub cap securing lugs has LP883 stamped into it.
The centre is welded to the rim in four places around the circumference. Each of the four welds comprises what looks like a round spot weld with a flat resistance weld either side. You'll see what I'm talking about in the photos.
Wheels were primed in a dark red paint and then painted with Silver Birch on the outside surface only. Inside the wheel and rim remains in red primer. I have a spray can of Silver Birch from Mini Kingdom Online which I'll test to see how closely it matches the original colour.
It looks like the wheels were hung vertically when painted because all five of mine have a couple of pools of primer in two spots which you can see in the photos. Interestingly those pools of primer are exactly adjacent to the valve hole on all the wheels, so there was clearly some method in the way they were suspended for painting.
Stamped on the inside of the rim is the following coded data:
RSM 62 4 1/2 J x 10 CT, followed by the Dunlop logo and Made in England.
The following photos hopefully capture all the above information.
Feel free to comment, especially if you know the meaning of RSM, 62 or CT in the stamped codes.
Brian Moylan wrote in Anatomy of the Works Mini...
"In the early days of Mini racing the centre ripped out of the steel wheel. The manufacturers were quickly alerted because the problem caused the Mini to be banned from all RAC competitions. When the strengthened wheels were brought to Abingdon and stamped with an MG logo. Only cars with wheels carrying this stamp were allowed by the RAC scrutineers until the new wheels were standard fitting"
End...
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