I pulled apart one of the rear wheels on my Tudor today. The nuts on the hub bolts were all finger tight and hadn't been staked. The nuts were all square nuts. I pulled apart the other wheels a month or so back and they all had hex nuts that had either been staked or the bolt had been mushroomed to keep the nuts captive.
There were shims between some of the spokes and another shim wrapped around the hub.
I don't think the wheel has been touched since the 1960s.
I'm not sure how much longer the wheel would have held together. I've probably put 2,000 kms on the car since I bought it last year.
The taper looks like it has had a hard life. I plan to fit floating hubs and replace the axle shafts.
Spoke tenons
Andrew, ditch those spokes, they are beyond repair. safety first, there are vendors who can make you a new set fairly cheaply.
I will second that statement. Throw those spokes in the trash can. They were run loose way to many miles. Whoever was driving it is lucky the ends of the spokes did not break off.
I am a believer in placing shims between the spokes at the hub, but when the ends are in that shape, throw them in the trash.
In another recent discussion I was told my a longtime forum member that split and rotten spokes can be restored, so I think I'll send him the ones I replace. I want my wheels solid.
Hi Guys,
I've got new spokes ready to install. I plan to use the old spokes to make something with, I just haven't work out what yet.
Here is a shot of the hub taper. This is straight out of the cleaning tank. It's got a bit of wear so I'm going to replace it as well.
Has anyone tried the Model A to Model T wheel adapters from the suppliers? I've got a few spare Model A wheels I was thing about trying out. I'm collecting parts to build a speedster at some point and the Model A wheels would leave one less thing to hunt down.
Andrew
The adapters are probably OK, but at $142.50 each you might be better off with Model T wires. You can sometimes find them for under a hundred.
I took my old spokes to the Woodcraft shop near my house. They have a bunch of guys that turn them into pens to give to disabled veterans. Better use of old spokes than the trash bin.
I take the old spokes, and a "bad" hub, and a "bad" felloe, and put together a "bad" wheel. Then take a "bad" rear axle housing and weld a "bad" axle into it, using large washers at the inside and outside locations to weld too.. Place the axle in the position it would be in if it was good. Now mount your "bad wheel to it. Install a "bad" hubcap. Now you have a nice "end table" for the living room. I built a pair of them. You will need to cut a piece of plexi' glass with a hole in it for the hub, to lay on top of the spokes. I had a glass company cut a piece of glass for me, and also had the edges polished. I do not have a photo of mine. My son wanted them for his family room, so now I need to build another pair for myself.
Ok - I know this is unacceptable - so don't tromp on me too hard ....but, I have a question.
Assuming the wheel was still assembled, what if you cut off the protruding part of the spoke from the inside of the wheel and carefully drilled the proper size hole and then screwed in a ss threaded lag screw, say 2" long.
The only purpose of the protruding stub on the spoke is to keep the spoke from shifting from its proper position and surely the lag screw would do that. All this assuming that the rest of the spoke was in good shape.
I'm sure it wouldn't work ... but why?