I have a set of rims that I believe are non-Ford based on where the valve stem is located (the wheel on the left in the picture). The Ford rims that I have are egg shaped and really bent up and the (what I think are) non-Ford rims will be nice with some work so I would like to use them. Has anyone seen rims like the one on the left and would it make sense to re-drill the rim to put the valve stem in the correct place to make them usable with my Ford wheels? Also, the lug with the cutout is original I think. Both rims are the same way. Thanks for your advice and help.
chevy
A common gotcha. They are probably Chevrolet rims, although I think there may have been a couple other lower production cars that also used them. They were a wood wheel option on Chevy also at about the same time as model T.
Yes, many people have and still do drill either the rim or the wheel felly to use them on a model T. The advantage to drilling the rim, is that it will fit any standard 21 inch T wheel. Fellies often got drilled because people would buy a rim and tire ready to run and would drill the felly rather than take the tire and rim apart in order to drill the rim.
Another option, maybe for later, is to straighten your T rims. They are softer steel than you might expect. It takes a little effort to make them really good, but is not that hard to do. If you have ever tried to straighten most any other "split" rim from other, heavier, cars of that era, the difference will shock you. I have worked on the other Chevrolet (Jaxon disc wheels), Buick, and even a Lincoln rim. THEY are tough.
Good luck!
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
Justin, on our Canadian sourced cars, the 21" split rims with lugs have the valve to the right of the nearest lug, like the black rim in your photo. That black one looks like it would fit as is.
The second one with the slotted lug has the valve to the left of the lug and would need to be re-drilled. I suspect it is other than a Chev rim. In my experience, Chev rims have the valve to the left of the lug, but it is closer to the lug. This means that the lug has to be slotted so it can be dropped down over the bolt as the valve is entered through the felloe. All the Chev rims I have had experience with have that slot vertical to the rim, not at the angle as in your sample.
Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.
Thanks for the replies, I appreciate all of the input. Allan, the rim on the right is a Ford rim but it is egg shaped. I think I'll give a shot at moving the holes in the rims. Because I found it interesting, I added a picture of a comparison of the wheel felloes to show the difference in the spoke end holes. The felloe on the bottom is the non-Ford and the one on the top is the Ford (with the larger holes).