The MGA With An Attitude
Substitute wheels for the MGA Twin Cam - TC-205C
REALM ENGINEERING Die Cast Wheels
If you get really carried away you can have die cast pin drive alloy wheels from Realm Engineering. On the left is inside view of a 5-hole bolt-on wheel. On the right is outside view of the 4-lug pin drive wheel. Below is the alloy pin drive wheel installed on an MGA.
Now we have a discouraging word on this product.
On 9/27/2018, Dominic Clancy wrote:
"Here is some information about the latest batch of these wheels, and the supplier, and it's not good.
 My friend ordered a set of five 5.5J wheels from Realm directly back in February. There were lots of delays in delivery, always with a different and increasingly less plausible excuse. The wheels were finally delivered mid August, and are pictured below. Several problems were quickly apparent.
1. 6J were delivered, not 5.5J. Realm insisted they were 5.5J in spite of careful measurement showing this was absolutely not the case
2. The wheels have a 14mm spacer at the rear to avoid the wheel rim fouling the caliper
3. The increased depth of the hub reduced the engagement of the wheel spinner to just 2 complete rotations before becoming tight. The difference is easily visible comparing the original steel wheel (Classic Tyre) on the hub and new wheel (Trac Tyre)
4. The verdict was that two thread engagement was insufficient and the delivery was rejected.
Then the fun started.
1. Realm arranged collection at their own expense, and the wheels were collected in their original packaging by FedEx and signed for
2. The wheels arrived back at Realm five days later and were signed for as OK
3. Nothing happened on the agreed refund, so I called Realm again
4. The claim was that the wheels were damaged in shipment (although signed for as OK) and that there would be a problem with the refund. More information would be provided that afternoon.
5. Five days more of silence
6. I contacted my credit card and initiated a charge back that has been approved after supplying the history.
"The wheels are well made, and well finished, just not safe to use. The suspicion is that a standard WW hub has been used instead of the correct TC hub - apparently there is a difference in length. Pictures front and back attached, plus the side views on the rear hub. I would advise ONLY using a credit card to deal with this company, as any restitution would otherwise have been almost impossible to obtain".
Regards -- Dominic
Addendum September 22, 2021:
On 9/22/2021, John Russell wrote:
"I asked the vendor of those Realm wheels on Ebay for the dimension between the rear face of the wheel and the chamfered seat that the spinner tightens up on. He came back with 50mm (2"). The original TC steel wheel dimension is 1 5/8". Hence why the Realm wheel is unsafe to use in place of an original wheel, as there aren't enough threads protruding to attach the spinner to safely".
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