rehoop help needed! Would very much appreciate some help with finding four or five 15x7 donor steels wheels to make a custom set of 5x5.5 lug pattern wheels. I found this older thread which was very helpful. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/wheel-help-needed.1112403/ I’m going to cut the centers out of a set of ford truck steelies and then have them welded into a set of donor hoops. I’ve had a hell of a time finding a set of donor 15x7 steel wheels with an internal diameter of 12.625” to fit the centers that I cut out of the ford truck steelies. I’ve found a bunch of good deals on 15x7 steel wheels but they have all had 13” or greater internal diameters which obviously won’t work. I’m not looking to buy new wheels or hoops (my build is already waaay over budget), just want to figure out what year make and model cars/trucks I should be looking for that have the 12.625” internal diameter? Or if anyone has a set that they’d let go for a good deal in the northern LA area. Thanks in advance, this message board is awesome.
I used a pair of aftermarket chrome reverse hoops and put the stock f-1 centers in them. Don't remember the exact measurement but they fit without modification.
I don't know what size they were, but a guy near me used to make a lot of wheels. Seems like he always used Chevy truck hoops.
My Hey Wheel 15" blanks are 12.48" ID. The centers I am using were riveted to the rims. When I drilled the rivets out, there was a considerable amount of press holding them into the rims. Like a bunch. When they popped out, they grew at least .125". I'm changing diameters and made spacers to fit the old rim's ID and new rim's ID, 4 per wheel. After the centers sprung out, it made it near impossible to push them in to the new rims. I tacked the spacers to the center and made a press ring to push the center back in (by the spacers). The center compresses as it goes in. I decided to do this instead of machining the press off of the centers and just welding them in. Henry made them that way for a reason. I don't know if this has any bearing on what you are doing. If I had pushed 15" centers out of 12.48" rims, they would probably have sprung to 12.625". I'm using 100E Ford Anglia centers (~11.214" ID rims) with Hey 15x4 & 15x5 blank rims (12.48" ID) and .633" spacers. Mike Spacers are .500 thick. The rivets are decorative. This picture hasn't been welded yet.
Thanks for the helpful replies. AccurateMike: that’s very interesting about the centers expanding after they were drilled out. The ford truck centers that I’m going to use are actually riveted as well so I’m going to drill them out. I’ve been holding off on drilling out the rivets until I know that I can find some donor hoops first but maybe I’ll do one and see if/how much the center expands.
A friend of mine found hoops on ebay to make his own steel wheels, I just looked at the link but it's defunct, Speedway motors sells hoops in their stock car section.
Have you measured the hoop on an 80/80 F150 spoke wheel? 15x7 and you be cutting the ugly out but they should be fairly easy to find.
I’ve found a couple possible donor dodge steel wheels but they all have a 13/13+” ID so unfortunately they won’t work for the 12.5” centers that I’m using. Per the thread that I linked in my original post, I was able to find a cheap set of aftermarket 15x7” steel rims that have the correct 12.5” inner diameter. The only issue with them is they have chrome plating. So after reading up here and elsewhere on removing chrome plating, I’d likely have to take them to a plating shop to have it removed professionally. So still looking for a set of donor hoops.
Hope you don't mind me tagging on your thread. I'll start my own if it's a problem. I'm looking for 15" hoops with the 12 5/8" I.D. but with 4" or so width. Found these on Summit but there is no mention of the hoop I.D. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/vsw-55-5404 Anybody have these that could measure? Hate to cut up brand new wheels, even though the price isn't too bad. Maybe a temporary spare?
Here are some pics of the ford 15x5.5 5x5.5 lug pattern riveted steel wheels that I’m going to use the centers out and then mount into the 15x7 donor hoops.
I ended up going to a junkyard with a large set of calipers to find what I needed ( 40s/50s Chevy 16" center). You can also call Collins Wheel in Bellflower, they might know off hand or have something (they have a lot of used wheels) Collins Custom wheel and Hubcaps (562) 630-6546
If the inside diameter of the donor is to big would it not be possible to weld a thin strip of metal to the centres in the area of the rivets of the centres that you are going to use. Or what about having the centres built up with tig welding and the turned down to the right size O/D
Thanks for all the above feedback. I was given a set of the same ford steel wheels as the ones I posted a pic of above to use the centers out of but these ones are not riveted together, the centers are spot welded to the hoops. I tried drilling out the rivets in the first set and I ended up breaking a couple drill bits and spending a lot more time removing one single rivet than I’d like to admit. Before I try to remove a center from the spot welded variety, I’d appreciate any advise/suggestions. I did read a couple of threads where people highly recommended using a mill to do this. I don’t have a mill, plasma cutter or torch, only basic tools including a 3” pneumatic cutting wheel, a 5” electric cutting wheel and a light-moderate duty drill press. Here’s a pic of the spot welded that I’m dealing with.
The wheel that I mentioned before is found on a late 80's Dodge pickup. It measures 15 x 7 with a 5 1/2" b.c. There are 4 bumps to hold a 10 1/2" hubcap. I'm running repro '50 Merc caps on mine. The center hole is 3 1/2" diameter. Why don't you want to check it out?
For rivets my drill press is tall enough to get a (13") wheel between the table and a drill bit. I clamped a piece of channel to the table for the wheel to rest in (90 degrees to the wheel). I drilled with a carbide spade drill bit. The rivets were 5/16" and the drill 3/8". As soon as I could see the outline of the rivet, I drove them out with a punch. It took a good bit of what a 20 ton press has, to push out the centers. I have done few dozen rivets that way. Still on the first drill bit. I have more to do. We'll see. For the welds, maybe a die grinder and a carbide ball burr. My rims were ~ .109" thick. That wouldn't be too bad with a die grinder, those welds aren't real big. Patience and steady hand . Mike
Picture of my car. The wheels are the ones on the back. I would have taken new pictures but I still haven't figured out how to post them with my new laptop.
I take it ford rims are going to be scraped, so could you not grind away the spot welds on the rim to release the centre. I would cut the rim in sections as per the blue lines example so that you are only working on releasing one lot of spot welds at a time.
I've cut apart 100s of these exact wheels and you're going to want to stick with the riveted ones. The welded ones are actually pretty hard, the welds on them are way to the front and you have to cut the lip on the back really short. Make sure you center punch the rivets and use a large bit, like 7/16"+. You only need to go about halfway through and then you can just pop the other half out with a center punch.
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