I am sooo mad right now. I spent a bunch of time and money installing buick finned drums on the front of my roadster using rat's bearing adapters. I had them redrilled for small ford pattern and am now at an impasse. The problem? Wheels. I tried the chrome 15" wheels I have, but the wheels won't go all the way to the face of the drum before the fins interfere. So I tried a couple of old Ansens I borrowed from another Hamber (15"), had tires mounted and whamo, they will not meet the face of the drum, guess what's interfering? The fins. Now at the 11th hour, I need a pair of wheels that WILL fit on these damn buick drums and have a small ford pattern and are no wider than say 5-6". Does anything like that exist? I'm on a time crunch since I can't put my 40 drums and hubs back on since I installed the bearing adapters on the spindles. HELP!!! P.S. I HATE buick drums... r
Raven, Don't know if this may help, the spares may be risks when you run heavier weight on them. Mine are 16's X 4 wide in small ford pattern. Several types are in this thread however. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=9117253#post9117253
How much interference? Is it the full width, or only at the start? Could you grind some of the fins off???
I don't understand why you can't remove the adapters? I also have a set and have taken mine off and on with no issues . What wheels are you using ? the 15" vintiques work with Buick drums.
Rubs outer fins? Would a 16 clear? I may be up the same creek missing the same paddle. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Probably not the look you want but I do know the narrow front wheels rocket racing sells will fit on the buick drums.
What Backspace on your wheels? Perhaps a set of wheels with less backspace may work. If your wheels were balanced with weights on the inside they may be hitting the fins as well. Mick
Ok, I may have a solution. I have some '39 Plymouth wheels (16x4 with 4.5 bolt patter that will fit if I have a little taken off the diameter of the hub. I don't really want to run the 18's up front since I'm going with 15's in the back and was hoping up front too, but since I'm out of time, I may be able to get the machining done with the little time I have left. I guess in the long run, I will have to special order some wheels to fit, damn. r
Most yards save them out. Three years ago, then current price was ~$40. Not bad for a sand cast finish, 4" width, 16 dia. alloy wheel.
No doubt. Do any of them come in a 15" wheel? What am I looking for specifically? Model, year, etc? r
The 16's, which might clear, (you'd have to confirm), are from Town car, Grand Marquis Merc, other marques in the top end Ford line, early 90's. Far as I know, are all 4.5" bolt circle. How heavy is your app, does matter too. Read the stickers on them!
maybe i got lucky, 15" ford pickup (yes they are 5.5" BP, but yours used to be, are the holes in the hub still there?), steel wheels, circa, late 50's early 60's slid right on. With the drums on the outside of the hub flange.
You could always run a spacer to move the rims away from the fins. Just make sure you get some good quality billet spacers. On our Buick fin conversion we made a set of spacers to support the 16" Ford rims we are running. The Ford rims have a nub that sets on the 40 drum way out and the Buick drum doesn't have any meat out there to support those nubs so we made a nice spacer to run out that far and support the wheels.
There on a 27 roadster, so the weight is not a problem. Initially, I was hoping for something I could get right away since I'm thrashing for the drags again. Every year, I say that I'm going to start sooner and still end up in the same situation...even if I start earlier. If I can get the machine shop across the street to get the hubs in and out in a day, I'll be ok. If not, I'm screwed. r
Hmmm, I had no trouble getting my '35 wires to fit...lol I also used the simple bearing adapters available here...cut the back edge of the drum to clear the ford backplates...HOWEVER, i did NOT re-drill the bolt pattern due to needing extra back-spacing on the wheel..SOOOO, just use ADAPTERS and centering-rings....it doesn't get any easier.
On one set of wheels, it's the backspace that is interfering, on the other it's the center hole being too small. I have the hubs at the machine shop as they were nice enough to take my rush job on short notice. I'll get them back today and go with '39 Plymouth 16" wheels up front and 15" on the back. Not happy about the difference, but it will roll like that for now. I'll have to either order some wheels with the proper specs or go with one of the 90's Ford spares that were posted earlier in this thread. But neither of those options would help me out today as I leave for Joplin tomorrow. Oh and I sold my wires... r
What about a simple wheel spacer. Not an adapter to change the bolt pattern, but what used to be called a disc brake spacer, it is about 3/8 inch thick, fits between the wheel and the hub. They were common back when you put older drum brake wheels on a disc brake equipped car, when disc brakes became more common in 70's.
Why can't you have the machine shop turn the drums on the lathe, and remove the offending part of the fins? -Brad
That would, in my mind, defeat the purpose of the finned drums. The lugs are not long enough for a spacer and then I would have to have one made for it. I appreciate the ideas, but what I was looking for is a fix that I could apply this week in time for the drags. As it turns out, the front hubs I had were different from each other. That was most of the problem. r
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