How a poor college student works on wood wheels...

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: How a poor college student works on wood wheels...
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cameron Whitaker on Monday, November 12, 2012 - 12:57 pm:

A friend of mine bought me a set of new 30x3" tires for the front of my T in exchange for getting his '14 Roadster running. Naturally, I wanted to redo the front wheels, just as I had done when I got new tires for my rear wheels.

Anyway, I took the felloes out of the rims, numbered all the spokes, painted them, and put them all back together. All the spokes were nice and tight, the tenons were in great shape and tight in the felloes, which were in good shape as well. No shimming was required at all.

I took the rims and felloes (with spokes installed) to the museum I volunteer at. I heated up the rim with an oxyacetylene torch, pounded the felloes in with a rubber mallet, put them on my car and made sure they were true, and then riveted them together. Now my T has four wood wheels that will be good for years to come!

I didn't take many pictures, but here are the ones I did take: And don't worry. I painted them outside!


Wood out of the rim
Taking the wood out of the rim

Felloes drying
Here are the felloes drying. Notice that they are sitting on some old pizza boxes.

Spokes drying
The spokes have been hung from my shower curtain rod to dry.

Felloes and spokes put together
Now the felloes and spokes are dry. They have been assembled and are ready to be installed in the rim!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dave Hjortnaes, Men Falls, WI on Monday, November 12, 2012 - 01:25 pm:

I hope that rim fits really tight to those spokes. Don't want anything unexpected to happen.

They look very nice.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cameron Whitaker on Monday, November 12, 2012 - 01:37 pm:

They were so tight when the rim had cooled off that trying to true them was just about impossible!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By keith g barrier on Monday, November 12, 2012 - 08:09 pm:

Cameron, good work, It's almost for sure you are not married. Tried a few things like that in my younger days, wifey set me straight quick! KB


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Robert Poane on Monday, November 12, 2012 - 08:51 pm:

Felloes in a pizza box, spokes in the shower. Oh, does that bring back college day memories!

Actually, in order to be a member of the MTFCI or MTFCA we have to be sponsored. In college I cold called (in writing) a member I never met, asked him if he would sponsor me and I have been a member ever since. Got my first T about 8 years later after I paid off my student loan.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Charlie B actually in Toms River N.J. on Monday, November 12, 2012 - 09:53 pm:

Fairly standard method in installing the metal tire on wagon wheels I believe. Nice work Cameron. Did Ford do this too or did they have some kind of press?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Erik Johnson on Monday, November 12, 2012 - 11:27 pm:

Heated vs. non-heated rims during original assembly at the Ford factory.

There are two different pieces of Ford factory footage of wood felloe wheel assembly. They show two different methods of installing the wood spoke and felloe assembly into the rim. One shows the wheels being manually dropped into rims. The second piece of footage, which I believe is much later, shows a large press being utilized to push the wheel into the rim . These scenes show up all the time as stock footage in history documentaries on public television, especially the footage showing the press.

In this footage, the rims were most likely heated (refer to the footage staring at :24):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l15D3VQ8pSU

Note that the gentlemen on the right and left removes the rims from the track with tongs - they do not grab the rims with their gloved hands, an indication that the rims were probably hot. Notice how the man on the left easily slips the wood wheels into the rims, another indication that the rims are hot, and then lifts the wheels by the spokes, not the rim. Also note that one of the wheels that the man on the left places into the rim slips out as he lifts the wheel by the spokes so he has to re-insert it. Yet another indication that the rims were hot.

I have heated rims and inserted the felloe back in like the guys in the film. The rim does not have to be cherry red. Just hot enough so it expands enough to allow you to push the felloe in.

The second piece of footage which I believe appears to be 1926 or 1927, shows complete wheel assembly starting at :57.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRuCLKFDpiE

Note that in this film the wood wheel is pressed into the rim using a large press at 1:12. Using this method, the rim was probably not heated.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By kep NZ on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - 01:43 am:

You have a generous friend.


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