Replacing 16" 11 spoke wheels with hairpins

I have just acquired a rather nice set of 16" hairpin wheels. I wanted to use them to replace the badly kerbed 11 spoke 16" wheels on my 2004 TF 135 with sports pack 2 (including the front AP brake calipers). I had assumed that this would be a straight swap but now, I am not so sure. I have trawled through loads of old messages here on the subject of 16" wheels and AP calipers and it seems that it may not be straightforward. I am confused! I think I might need spacers?

Please, can any one advise? If I need spacers, how will I know and where can I get them? There are universal spacers on ebay; can I use those?

Here is one of the current wheels:




Here is one of the new wheels I want to use:




Sorry to be a numpty!

well the PCD is the same so they'll fit on the hub. I think i'm right in saying that the issue is with clearance for the front ap caliper brakes.

It's can certainly be done, take a look at this post on another forum:

http://www.mgfregister.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20334

Unfortunately they are ZS Hairpins, which means the PCD is 100 X 4

They are very easy for the uninitiated to mix up with the F Hairpins.PCD 95.25 x 4 So they would only fit with PCD adapters.

Here is a photo of an F hairpin for comparison.



Spot the difference...



Denial is correct in that F Hairpins need a spacer of around 6mm to clear the big AP callipers

I had hairpins on my F and keeping them clean used to drive me crazy. I don't know why but they just seemed to attract more road crap than other designs but, they look great!

I still can't see the difference lol, so which ones does he have? If you need PCD hub adapters, i can tell you that they aren't cheap (mine were £152). Checking on the company website that i used your probably looking at around £125 per pair.

It looks like I may have made a schoolboy error. I can see the difference between my new wheels and those of David and Denial. The dimples...

I'll measure the PCD tomorrow and report back.

The person I bought them from assured me that they would fit a MGF/TF! Good job I didn't pay too much for them. Perhaps I'll be able to get something back on them.

Yes, I can confirm: I am a numpty! Having measured the PCD, they are 4 x 100mm. There is no way they will fit my TF without adaptors, which are too expensive/hard to find. It looks like I need to sell them on to a ZR/ZS owner and take my wheels for a refurb.

I'm just glad I checked before getting the tyres swapped over!

Thanks for the help.

Maybe this side by side comparison will help others avoid this confusion. They are very similar wheels, but probably because I have 'hairpins' fitted to my F and see them day in / day out, the ZS hairpins look immediately 'wrong' to me.

BruceTF135 wrote:
I'm just glad I checked before getting the tyres swapped over!

Unfortunately I didnt! :bang:

Tyre fitter was sympathetic, and changed them around at a discount price!

Managed to sell them on ebay but at a small loss for £40 set of four. Shame as they were immaculate wheels.

Peter