Spitfire 1500 rear wheel studs

[Kevin R]

I would like to replace the rear wheel studs with the longer 47mm version.

The current ones are probably original and I would prefer to remove them with the hub left on.

Any hints or experience would be appreciated - can they just be hammered out or is penetrating oil, heat etc required?

Thanks in advance for any advice

[glang]

They come out quite easily as they are just splined and not taper fit but it does depend on how corroded theyve become. However the hubs, although they dont look it, are quite delicate and bend easily so that to get the studs out its safest to support the other side with a socket or tube which is obviously difficult to do in situ.

The other thing to consider is if theres enough room between the backplate and hub to be able to get the new longer studs into the hub holes...

[Ben Hutchings]

I wound my weedy 3/8" studs out, and the new M12 ones back in with a large G-Clamp, at a slight angle. I seem to recall it being easier than I expected, and know that some had problems with back-plate clearance when fitting longer ones.

[sparky_spit]

I fitted Freelander studs all round on mine. There's no problem fitting them on the front, but on the back they are too long to be able to wiggle them into the rear hub flange as the backplate is in the way, as Ben says above.

The easy fix was to drill a 1" diameter hole in the backplate using a 1" hole-saw, at about one o'clock, if I remember correctly. This was pretty easy and makes access for the stud to pass though and into the flange a doddle.  When done, I used a 1" rubber blanking grommet to seal the hole. This was done years ago now, and there have been no problems.