TECH'....Narrowing aluminum 5 spokes.

I ended up with a pair of 6" wide wheels with all negative offset and decided to narrow them 2" to make some skinny front wheels. Here is how I did it..........

BEFORE........




AFTER........

 

I took them to a machine shop with a big lathe and had them cut the 2" section out and add a step so the pieces would be true when they were put back together. I also had them bevel the edge so I would have a weld prep. Machine work cost me $100.

 

The pieces fit nice and snug. I clamped them in 4 places and tacked them by the clamps. Then I moved the clamps between the tacks and added more tacks.

 

Now it was time for welding so first I pre heated the wheel with a rosebud. I welded a few inches and then moved to another section and welded a few inches repeating until done. It was pretty time consuming. From beginning to end the wheel was hot. When the welding was complete I wrapped it in an old leather welding jacket and a welding blanket to retain the heat and cool down gradually to avoid any stressed areas.

 

Now "This" is what tech week is all about,..... Man that is just too cool! Great job !

 

Awesome Tech

 

The finished product........

 

That my friend was a well thought out process. And a fine job welding. You did yourself proud.

 

Legend idea, great execution and awesome end product.

 

Nice work Kev! How tight was the fit between both halves after machining? What did you end up with for backspacing and how much amperage did it take to weld? Sorry to bombard you with questions but I have been wondering about this process for sometime and you really made it look easy. Did they balance okay? Thanks for the post!

 

What a bitchin post. Makes a guy think twice about walking past all those wheels at the swap meet....

slim

 

damn Kev, thats impressive.

wow

 

sweet....2 questions though...

* did you have a photo of the back side of rim after welding?
* did you weld the inside of the join as well?

Certainly a great job, well done.

Cheers,

Drewfus

 

You never stop amazing us Kev!!!! Seriously!

 

dontlifttoshift......The fit was snug, no gap. Backspacing is 1 1/4". I don't know what amperage I used. I usually set the machine on some scrap before welding anything of a different thickness than the last job. I don't pay too much attention to the numbers.

Drewfus.....I don't have a picture of the back but I will take one sometime and add it later. I didn't weld both sides as I felt I got full penetration with the weld prep.

 

Forgot to mention.....yes they balance fine. One needed no weight at all.

 

That is shit hot! Thanks Kev.

 

Very nice. I'm gonna have to save that. Thanks.

 

Great tech work Kev,always wanted to see how this was done.

 

Binga.....not sure if this is the right way to do it, it's just the way I decided to do it for myself. I would be interested to see how the pro's do it. I imagine it is generally done on a lathe.

 

As long as it works for you and is safe then it is the right way.

Thanks for showing us how it can be done.

Now I need to start collecting some of these wheels.

 

That is awsome, but your weld's just piss me off. Now i'm inspired to cut up some old wheel's, AND learn to weld better.

 

what size and brand of tires, I like em..

 

very nice job, did you save the leftover rings to turn another set of 6" wheels into 8" wheels? and dont forget to take pics.

 

Or did you use the rings for filler (so it's the exact same alloy)?

 

Damn, those welds are nice! This is probably one of the best tech articles this week.

 

I think we just saw the winner of tech week. Do you have the info on the machine shop that did that for you? Also would they do another set?

 

slick kevin! they turned out bitchin

 

Sweet work! Now that's tech!

It's funny, I've got a big lathe and could have done that part but don't have a TIG.