Knock off wheels question

[Edward J.]

I have a customer with western wheels ,and the wheel is hogged out where the pins fit, is there anything to fix the wheel, drill and install sleeves???? thanks Ed

[Russ S.]

Re: Knock of wheels question

I know a restorer of these wheels that has drilled or bored the holes out and installed bushings but I would think you almost need a machinist to do this who can make sure that the sleeves(and hole) are in the correct location.

[Loren L.]

Re: Knock of wheels question

The other question would be the "hardness" of the material of the sleeve - you don't want to do it twice.

[Russ S.]

Re: Knock of wheels question

There isn't much that would be softer than the original aluminum.

The other question would be the "hardness" of the material of the sleeve - you don't want to do it twice.

[Joe R.]

Re: Knock of wheels question

This problem could be solved by any machinist that is willing to take on the task. My thoughts would be to weld up the holes and then machine them to factory specs. As long as you have the factory adapter with the wheel the indexing would not be a problem.

JR

[James W.]

Re: Knock of wheels question

Once the bolt pattern is mapped out the holes can be machined to a specified oversize. Aluminum bushings can then be machined to with and interference fit tolerence of a couple thou. The bushings can them be frozen (cooled to shrink their size) and then installed into the wheel bore holes.

James West

[Mike Z.]

Re: Knock of wheels question

We have been restoring these wheels for years and have tried several processes for repairing the guide pin bores. We first tried welding, but if the damage is more than about 1/8" deep-expect to burn out the tig tip (expensive, so you won't do it more than once). We then realized over-boring and installing a sleeve would be the best process. We tried brass, which we deemed too soft, but did work OK and are still on a car-no problems. We then went with stainless steel, thinking of rust potential with carbon steel; but stainless is very hard to machine and we realized was probably over-kill. We have ended up using for that last several years an aircraft grade stock that is stronger than the original cast material, of course will not rust and is easy to machine. Once installed and the hub surface machined, it is very difficult to tell there was a repair. The process requires a precision machinist, not an automotive machinist. We understand from customers, most precision machine shops will not touch automotive parts of any kind-guess the potential liability is the reason, or at least that's their story. If you can find a precision machinist that is willing to work with you, the process is not difficult for the experienced and the talented.
Mike

[Wayne M.]

Re: Knock of wheels question

Did y'all see the set of 4 that Proteam has on eBay ? Two are stamped with "C" (whatever it means) followed by (probable) '66 date codes. My set of five '66s all have "B" prefixes.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251480865198?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT