Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) Wire wheel spinner difficult to undo.

When applying grease to the splines be VERY careful as they get razor sharp--Dont ask how I know!!!!

Hi Robbie,

Hope this finds you well! I see you are retired now! GOOD! Times flies....

Splines, if you examine them, arrive at their most effective when new, with flat-topped, triangular profiles, harmless to owners. They become "razor sharp" from wear aka fretting very quickly when their spinners are not tightened enough. And once there is wear on either the hub or the wheel it immediately prejudices the other.

I treated my wire-wheeled Morgans differently. With the first, I followed MWS tightening instructions which are very vague involving "taps with a rubber mallet"...as technically precise as wearing garlic cloves for the flu. Their instructions quickly ruined both hub and wheels splines. With my third Morgan, fit with MWS all-ss and MMC splined hubs, I followed Ferrari's advice. Over six decades, Enzo popularized wire wheels (using Borranis) for his racers. He understood their distinct advantages and the extra care they require did not outweigh all those things for him...(more on this if anyone is interested). I have learned that we should not meekly accept everything we are told!

Ferrari recommended that the spinners be tightened until one's eyes popped. Torqued to 250-280...which is pretty much everyone now except MWS. Google "how much should wire wheel spinners be torqued"

To make that torque easy, I bought a spinner adapter, bought a breaker bar to suit (like the MMC were forced to send out for their first Aeros) and had a long pipe extension measured and made so as to make this torque easy for me to achieve. It also made the spinners easy to remove. Those problems ended. I also left behind the annoying need to regularly replace my hammer-bashed spinners...a right PIA.

Punchline? 24 years later those "test wire wheels" are still on the car! The splines are fine and not razor sharp. The ss wire wheels are as good as the days I received them from the MMC. The only thing they require is tuning every few years or those horrific bumps we all encounter, albeit rarely. SS wire wheels do not rust as chromed ones do. They are merely expensive.

Your cure on the wheel side is to contact MWS. They can replace the splined section. The other side is the problem. It requires new hubs. (

Be well my friend.

Lorne