I meant to write this tome to the list sooner, but... I forgot!
After taking a good look at the original wire wheels on
Donna-Owner-Sister's MGA we decided that the rims were too rusty inside to
trust anymore. The car had been living in a carport and under a car cover,
but the weather appeared to have caused a lot of rust on the inside of the
two wheels exposed to the open side of the carport. I did all the necessary
research (another message if anyone is interested) and we made a decision.
I spoke several times with BWW. They were most helpful. After comparing
prices of redoing the original wheels locally, or by BWW, the price of new
painted wheels, and the price of new chrome/stainless wheels, we went with
the chrome/stainless wheels. (I supervise the car, DOS writes the checks!
And I drive the car. And I'm a good 'sales-sister'! ) We also opted for the
tubeless seal option.
I ordered the wheels through Classic Restorations (George Merryweather) and
he had BWW drop ship them directly to the tire store so I didn't have to
fool with them.
I knew in advance that the tire place couldn't balance wire wheels. So they
mounted them for me, and I took them back to where the car was on jack
stands to redo the brakes. When it was ready, I drove the car to Southwest
Brake. SB worked on the wheels for about an hour doing an on-car spin
balance. The rear wheels were fine. The front wheels had a horrible
vibration. We turned them by hand and you could see them wave back and
forth as they turned.
We found the I-can't-ever-remember-the-name-of-it measurer and checked the
trueness of the front hubs. They were perfect. We needed to rule out the
possiblity that they were amiss. We put the tires on the rear axle. They
vibrated at high speed, and you could see them "wave" there, too.
So, I called George who called BWW immediately and related my dilemma. I
ultimately spoke directly with BWW to describe the problem. They said they
would verify trueness on two new wheels there in California and ship them,
instead of sending two more from the Dallas warehouse or having me ship the
warped wheels back for truing. Four days later, I had the two new wheels.
The tire place remounted the tires, packed the warped wheels and had UPS
take them to BWW in California for their inspection. "Look, ma! No hands!"
Great service!
Besides the original cost of the wheels and tires, how much do you think
this cost me?
Nada! Zero!
BWW took care of the shipping both ways for the two wheels. The tire place
didn't charge me a dime to remount the tires. Southwest Brake didn't charge
me for all the time they spent on the car. "We didn't have to put any
weights on the wheels," I was told.
Needless to say, I cannot say enough good about the entire experience!
Everyone involved was absolutely wonderful. I thought BWW went far beyond
what I would expect of any major vendor.
Southwest Brake has my undying gratitude, as does Discount Tire. And, lest
we forget, George kicked everything in gear as soon as I told him about the
situation.
BWW was as amazed as SB and I were about the two bad wheels winding up on
the front axle. What are the odds?! One bad wheel? Maybe. Two bad wheels?
Not likely. Same axle? Sorta' weird!
It feels good to share a story with a nice spin on it. (No pun intended!)
BTW, I bought every single part I put on the MGA through Classic
Restorations. I saved a lot -- I'd say about 40% -- over straight retail
prices, and the parts were delivered where and when I needed them. Some
came to me, and I had some delivered where out-sourced work was being done
-- like where we had the axle pulled from the old rear hubs and reinstalled
into the new hubs. (New wheels = new hubs, at least in this case, but only
for the rear.)
Then a parking light fell off the front. A bolt on one of the carbs jiggled
loose and turned into street litter somewhere. And the DOS MGA saga
continues...
But the Lil' Darlin' sure has purdy new war wheels!!
Something else that was really warming was that everybody loved the car and
treated her as gently as if she were a fragile infant! Maybe that's why the
money thing didn't enter into this particular situation: the people
appreciated a nice classic.
Carol
BTW: With all the putting on/taking off of the new wheels, the eared
knock-off wrench was a REAL godsend. If you don't have one, get one!!
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