I’m about to get a set of smooth side Halibrand wheels ( 16” ) My idea is to keep my 16” x 4” steel wheels in front ( no hub cap ) as I start get that racy feeling just use the magnesium wheel at rear ( and it does fit perfect to my Halibrand magnesium banjo housing ) This is a 3.5” chop 32 5W coupe no fenders in black. Its a all Henry car pre 1952 for ’LA street racing sceene’. Maybe some afford the rear wheels and Wing gauge and a Bell steering wheel ? I might get the Adurn head as planned a rest as they might not ’fit in here’ ( all according ) If so it will be Merc 49 heads on the 59AB block and a GMC blower and a 8BA cam cover and a Scintilla magnet ( dual 97’s ) As I plan chrome the heavy front axle but not much more but car will has Lincoln brakes so its on the edge vs the era... Anyway, what do you guys like that wheel set up ? This wheels is repaired and painted ( not shore whats behind ) so a idea, what about paint them in black ? I heard they came out ’gold coated’ from factory, or ? ) Nice is the magnesium patina grey look. But it might be hard get there ! ideas ?
The original gold coating would have been Alodine. It is a passivation coating that protects from corrosion, for a while, at-least.
That original coating will not hide anything. If they have been repaired, and that repair does look good, re-coating them will not make them look better. It will just change the color. The original coating is almost imperceptible in thickness. The paint on them might be hiding something.
Yes, the paint will hide allot, Read, Allot. This is peanuts money 3K. For US, not much maybe but for a Swede = Huge. Om std coatings, give me a call, but this is from the 40’s, so ? Right now before a maybe depression its near 10K for milk truck wheels ?
Those are BIG MONEY here, too! Anything vintage Halibrand, aluminum or magnesium, repaired, or not, is super expensive.
What give me the question now is, invest in anything, a Henry frame, or body, Ardun heads, Wings gauge and you get 1/4 back if a sell ? Must inflaction do our work ?
The only way to make any money with old cars is to charge other people to work on their cars. Even then, it will not be a whole lot of money. Building rods and customs is how you assemble a whole lot of expensive parts, into something that is worth less, as one vehicle, than the individual parts, separately.
Yep, the age old question...........how do you end up with a small fortune in your hot rod? You start with a large fortune!
Yes its up to each one, I’ll just hope not see anything ugly under paint. On the Alodine or use the Dow-7 treatment, how is that works in reality ? So that 'coatings' went away rather fast, or. Any ideas to just use the Halibrands at rear.
https://www.chemical-supermarket.com/product.php?printable=Y&productid=652 Neither is overly durable, and it does not last a long time. Each is said to have "no thickness", but only because the coating is so thin that it is inside the tolerance range of even the most precise measuring tools. It is difficult to measure something reliably that is 0.00001-0.00004 inches. Each is a chemical bath conversion coating, after an etch bath. It is a bunch of work, for a temporary result.
Now I first saw a set of wheels that had the std Dow 7 on pictures. I guess this wheels came on race cars and few hot rods in the era. I don’t like paint them in a ’look alike’ Dow 7. Its said be a good undercoat for paint. The wheels I look at was painted 30 years ago and no corrosion. Depending what I will found under I might polish them or paint it black as front is steel 16 x 4”. Use all 4 to me will be to much BVille.
If a hot rod used Halibrands back in the day, it was a high dollar car and more than likely a show car. They would have been polished. The candy red 32 sport coupe comes to mind: four polished smoothies, a set of full length exhaust, and everything polished or chromed.
Yes I guess few used them but for racing it must feel nice go lighter rears. Even then it must been used parts ? They was actually sold and some must have bought them. As I get the ideas here this early hot rods had very few of this parts produced. On early hot rods, I don’t know when this one was built but shore allot of speed parts.
Duffey’s roadster there is a collection put together from many different sources. He has been building that car almost as long as I have been alive. He knows his way around vintage hot rod and racing parts.
Ok so its not s old car build up or stranded from early 50’a ( when this parts was for sale ) and I read the add and he say that it was collected but not ’when’. I wonder if he gets the 150K. I can get a Kinmont here and then I’m at near 100K, and a bunch of old junk parts on floor ( its kind of odd ) If I get this set Halibrands I don’t know what to do but maybe polish them or paint the black but I will see whats behind and check out the coatings. The patina grey is nice, but might not fit this car.
Duffey lists his roadster, his 32 pickup project, and his fiberglass phaeton on Craigs list every year during auction season.
Magnesium is always outgassing. Any coating suck as paint that you use on it will eventually start to pop and bubble.
You can substitute, hot rod for women, kids, boat, plane or most anything enjoyable in life and have the same equation.
Polish them. This'll do two things. 1. It'll make the surface even 2. They Look Absolutely Bitchin' and will fade into a wonderful even gray when you get tired of rubbin' on 'em.
I bought the painted set ( no blurr from metal after 30 years ) No clue whats behind. 5” x 16” and 6” x 16”. I can’t say now if in 4 corners of just rear. -Are into polish them and see what happens. Need to get rid of paint first then I must plug and re-drill them ( I like 5 bolted ) -Also got home very cool dropped A-Ford old chrome axle. Now I has a dropped 34, a dropped 32 and this.
I see you bought some. If you want mag halibrands nothing else will do. But if you kinda want the look on a budget then - Lincoln with some trickery
why not get the correct hubs and 6 pin pressure plates instead of redrilling them? you can hold them on with a large hex nut if you're not a fan of the 3 wing knock off
a 6 pin wheel plugged and drilled for 5 lug and then converted back to 6 pin and held on by pressure plate and hex nut
Issue holes is both 5 lug and 6 pinned and a mess. Feel more ’dragrace’ 5 bolted. Will call company tomorrow use dry ice etc. Will start there. Paint is decent but some freight damage and I don’t like it fake Dow 7. Here is the roadster that was on 30 years ago. It was replaced with 50’s styles Halibrands. A Very cool car.
I checked BS on my Ford 40 5" wide rear steel wheels and it was 3". I has a 37 rearend and Lincoln 42 brakes and a 32 5w coupe. This wheels ( the 6" wide Halibrands ) has BS with the smooth side out = 2" and smootside in = 3". I might like the smooth side out but it mean BS will be less than the the Ford 40 wheels. I don't know how close wheel will be ( not at mock-up yet ) by use the Ford steel wheel. I like the wheels be as close as possible to body, but my guess few 'back then' did narrow a rearend. So it might look odd to has the smoth side out. I think body is at wide section ca 52.5" ( right over wheel openings where roof ends ) If the 37 trearend is flenge/flenge is 59.5" and then backing plate and the Lincoln drum is 3" at each side, so that is 65.5". Then add off the 3" BS at each side is a total of 59.5" ( or tire from body = 3.5" ) How does that be in reality ? If only 2" BS it would be 4.5" from tire to body. That feel wide. Ideas.
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