If I was going to replace the tires, I needed to repaint the rims. I took off the wheels and got the tires removed from the rims at the local gas station. Some planning was required to paint the old rims, and some parts were needed. An order into Moss for the Rostyle paint shield was made, and a trip to the local body shop supply store was done. The guy at the supply store used the old rim to match the paint and make up a couple spray bombs. One for the silver and one for the black. After I had all my supplies in order, time to sand blast the old rims.
I took off all the weights and sandblasted the old rims with a portable sandblaster using play sand. Worked fairly well except that the compressor couldn't put out quite enough air to keep the sandblaster nozzle from getting plugged. Took a full day but managed to get all of the old paint off. Primed the rims and they were ready for paint.
I painted the rims using the Moss supplied Rostyle mask with ok results. The mask didnt do a perfect job, but managed to keep the paint in roughly the right spots. I had to go back with a fine brush to touch up the spots that were missed. Overall, it was worth the purchase, just dont expect it to do all of the work for you.
Once the rims were painted it was time for new tires. I went with a lower profile tire than what is recommended for the car (175/70R14) and bought some Toyo 185/60R14s. I knew the speedometer would be out but I wanted to improve my 0-60 time. I purchased the new tires from OK Tire in Calgary and had them install and balance the tires on my freshly painted rims.
Once the new rims and tires were installed on the car it not only improved handling but made the car look so much better! Slow but sure, that car is turning its life around!
Update: The MG Experience has a really good review of MG tire sizes, http://www.mgexp.com/article/tire-sizes.html
