I recently brought home the remains of a 29 Phaeton. I'm in mock up now, and have installed a 40 rear end that measures 59 1/2 inches flange to flange. The Model A rear end measured 57 inches. I had envisioned using 35 Ford wire wheels, but they are 4 inches wide. They look fine for the front, but appear skinny and too far away from the body in the rear. I would like to add and inch or so to the inside of the rears to better accept 700-16 Firestones, and close up the gap. Does anyone know of a person that bands wheels to increase their width? Here's a picture from the rear of the car. Thanks View attachment 4569909
I used Danny at Bruce's Rod Shop in Texas to widen my 32 wires on the inside 2 inches. I had them do the complete job which included finishing the welds. Not cheap but nice.
Pico Wheel Service (http://picowheel.com/wheel-widening-or-narrowing/) comes to mind. I believe I have good things about them but will leave it to you to research them as it has been many many years. At least they are in the same time zone as you. Charlie Stephens
Any qualified welder, mechanical engineer type with a few clues..... That’s what I did, and I also widened them inwards, so that the hubcaps protrude the same amount front and rear. Widening them outward doesn’t look quite right to me, and the hubcaps disappear, although that is how most people do it.
“Does anyone know of a person that bands wheels to increase their width?” I’d suggest that you try calling “Rallyamerica”. (559) 322-2128 They created a pair of 7 1/2” wide “Bubb“ 1935 Ford 32 spoke wire wheels for me. Be forewarned, it was expensive. Part of the fun was it took 6 rims to make the two that I ended up with. They load a rim into a engine lathe. Then using a part-off blade/cutoff tool they carefully cut off the outer rim width leaving the center section that contains the spokes along with the inner rim section. They cut a “weld prep” chamfer onto the remaining spoke section. They pull the wheel from the chuck, turn it around (clamping onto the center spoke section) and cut off the remaining inner rim width. Once again they cut the weld prep. This leaves the center (spoke) section intact. Now they take another complete rim and cut off the outer wheel lip/rim edge leaving as much material as possible. They weld prep the outer rim “blank”and throw away the rest of this wheel. Again they chuck up another wheel and cut off the inner wheel lip/rim leaving as much material as possible. Once again they toss the remaining pieces Now they fixture the three sections together checking that everything “dials in” in each axis and tack weld it together. Once again they check roundness and runout, if it looks good they finish weld it together. If there’s an issue they will address it till everything is ok. Once welded they check that the wheel runs true and will potentially clean up the exposed weld joints. They may leave the welds alone on the inner (tube) side choosing not to weaken the weld by cutting it down. All of this work is for (one) complete wheel. Now you go back and start all over again... I started with (6) excellent rims so that I knew that the final parts would be the best product that I could get. I hated throwing away good pieces but that’s what it took to get the rim width that I wanted. Would I do it again? Nope, what a pain in the ass (and a lot of money)
Check with True Spoke wheels for new made.They look a lot like Ford wheels,and you can have them made to your specs.As always not cheap at about 350 bucks per wheel,but hey that car isnt going to be cheap to build.
Got these, made by "vintage , vintique ?" bent spoke wires this fall... they use the same spoked rims and weld in the bolt pattern you ordered... 15" x 4.9" and 15" x 8" not what you want but they are making them... .
Eric Vaughn in the San Gabriel valley. Sorry, I don't have a number. So-Cal speed shop may have a number.
I have to wonder if a little creative measuring/machining in the areas pointed out by the arrows wouldn't allow for the complete installation into a larger (16/17/18") rim that was also wider. Getting a big/little look with wires and saving some money in the process. Might even leave the welds exposed for a homemade look rather than trying to conceal them. Don't know if it would work since I don't have any wire wheels to measure.
I met a restorer who said he had a Phaeton that wasn't worth fixing. It was cheap, and it had paperwork. I'm afraid I will never out grow hot rods...
Those are nice looking body pieces for a car that isn't worth fixing. Sure won't find anything like that around here!
Ya that sure looks like a tough fix I can come on out and take that scrap off your hands if you need the space haha Sent from my SM-G935V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I'm 73 years old, and have never outgrown Hot Rodding. I saw this add on Craigslist and decided to call. The seller was a very nice man, who was technically over his head. He asked me several times if I was sure about this purchase. He said "you know this is almost not worth saving, it's so much work, and they make reproduction bodies" A car like this Phaeton is a blank canvas. Anything you do to it is an improvement.. Here' a picture of the other end of the car. I disguised a Mercruiser motor, and installed an early drive line, with other vintage stuff .
That's a bitchin tub you've got going I dig it alot! Sent from my SM-G935V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
A guy called Jason, I think was his name from Bear Metal Kustoms in Morro Bay CA used to do wheels and had a hot rod shop as well. He seemed to produce good quality work and was likeable enough. Maybe worth checking him out
Hello, I have been narrowing and widening wheels since the 80's. I have only had one request to do a set of '35 Ford wires. The customer wanted 15 x 4's up front and 16 x 5-1/2's in the rear. I removed the center hub with the spokes attached and welded (tig) all 32 spokes back into a different outer band. The welding itself took over 3 hours per wheel. To insure that the wheels were round I built to fixtures. The first was to cut all the spokes on the hub "round". I mounted a die grinder on a set of linear bearings to cut each spoke as I rotated the hub on the axle I had it mounted on. The second was to hold the hub and spokes parallel to the outer band so the wheel did not have any run out. It also was adjustable for changing the backspacing of the wheel. The way I did this was to mount the rear hub from a Jeep with an AMC 20 rear end on a piece of TGP shafting that would raise and lower in another set of linear bearings. This was all mounted in the center of a small table where I would place the outer band. I know that it was a lot of work to go to before I even got to the wheels themselves but it worked just as planned. These wheels have been on the road for many years with no problems. And yes, it was expensive.
Yeah, I asked a wheel guy in San Jose how much to band a pair of Kelsey-Hayes 16". His answer: "Plenty, and that's only an estimate!"
Ever consider Cadillac wire wheels from the early fifties? I had some I was going to blast and paint. They make adapters to early Ford hubcaps. Charlie Stephens s
I've had 2 pairs of 32 Ford 18 inch wires widened about 2 inches on the back side. I spent the money because I wanted a certain look that I can't get with new wires. (to many spokes) This was a costly procedure and may have been my last? I like the way they look when combined with 16 inch 35 wires on the font.
I have 15 inch wires on my model-T. The fronts are 6 inch wide. The rear wheels are widened out to 8 inch. Back in the 1980's, I worked at a machine shop so I had access to a lathe big enough to put these wheels on. I cut the front lip off the wire wheels. Then I put up a regular 15 inch steel wheel and cut the back lip off it. This back lip was machined out so it fit onto the front of the wire wheel and they were welded together on the inside. Here you can see a line going around the wheel close to the spokes. That is the seam between the wire wheel and the back lip of the other wheel.
Lonnie Gilbertson and I built some narrow ones, using VW rims. He did the machining and I did the welding.