Technical cutting 16" ford wire wheels to 15"

Congratulations on taking the initiative to salvage some wheels. I know how much work it is having widened a number of old ford wires, having cut the rims off front and rear on a home made "lathe"...don't ask. Great job, enjoy. Tim

 

Wow what a great thread

 

Brilliant!

 

No Guts, No Glory! Well done!

 

Nice Job, Im going to try this on some old wheels I have been saving.

 

nice job. I've done this before a few times too, cutting them with a flame cutter,truing them in a turret lathe and T.I.G welding them into 15" VW rims. It's a lot of work for sure.
I didn't do it so much to save a bad wheel, but to get a smaller 15" wheel tucked in a front fender of extremely low '28-'29 Model A's. It also looks nice with a 15" on the front and a 16" on the rear.
Nicely done, and thanks for taking the time to post it.

 

This is very well done. Thanks for sharing!


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I am always amazed by how much some guys get done without any fancy equipment. All it really takes is a little ingenuity and some guts to try it! True hot rodding at its best.

 

I am not taking anything away from your great build thread, it is nice to see how it is done.

The thing is, wheels like this have been done numerous times before and I have not ever heard of them falling apart on the road.

So for those skeptics out there, I hear you, but done right like Kevin Lee said they are pretty much the same as what Henry Ford made.
With the exception that we probably have better welding processes these days.

A good tip is to weld all the ends of the spokes inside the hub before cutting them just to ensure nothing comes loose.

Some Kelsey Hayes type wheels only rely on the head of the spoke to hold them in place without any locked fixed support, so when cut they will fall every where.

A buddy of mine put several of these wheels into a molases bath and when he pulled the rims out some of the spokes had already dropped out.
The wear was that bad on the hub that the end of the spokes dropped thru the holes.

To me that is scary...

Finally by using 17" wheels and bigger you can do the same process to achieve 16" wheels with newer bands.

 

Thanks for sharing this

Nice job

 

Nice work, I want to widen 16"wires. Can they be cut in a lathe then add a 2" strip. If so would they roll a 2"strip or cut a 2"band out of another rim. what is your ideas THANKS

 

If I were doing them (and I have built special offset/width wheels) I would cut (I have a 52" power shear) a 2" band and roll it up on a ring roller or sheet metal roll. You can buy light gauge steel in various widths ensuring a uniform band if you don't have access to a shear.

Frank

 

I have never tried it. My 2 rims are the only ones I have ever cut down. My setup worked well for me. I don't know if they could be done in a lathe. Don't know if you could get the rpm slow enough. Hopefully someone else answer you. So much knowledge on the hamb.

 

I have a set of 18" that were cut down to 16" and they look great. I was told by the guy that did them they were done during the war and lots of guys were doing them at that time. I have never ran them (yet) but if I live long enough I will build something to run them on, they are the small hub cap type. I love them.--TV

 

okay looks like i learned something about spoke wheels these days Cool i did not know that they was welded on stock wheels, jags and so on allways have a nut on the end of the spoke , loke on a motorcycle or so.

 

GREAT ARTICLE, Nice job!!!

A good friend of mine has been re-building the front wheel/rims for John Deere tractors for several years. He has sold them to people all over North America etc. Never have heard a complaint about them and he is still doing it.

Your pictures/procedures just about duplicate the methods he uses.

THANKS for taking the time to write up your methods for us.