Iv noticed the price of steel rims/wheels has been climing the last couple months and that nice article in hotrod deluxe maybe sparked some more intrest. this is my first Tech thread so bare with me. heres a Tech on how to get nice vintage steel wheel/wheels for cheap! ever notice the car supports created out of welded together rims at the U-pull its or the vintage car s**** yards. well alot of those rims are **** but if you look you will find some decent steelies! I managed to pick up 3 rims for the price of 25 bucks Edit: bring a stencil with the bolt pattern you need to the yard before searching.
you will need some tools first angle grinder 2x6 safty gl***es ear protection malt liquor of your choice
so to get started you will need to carefully grind the tack welds that are supporting the rim on the bolt side. lightly grind all 4 tacks in this case. after grinding pick up your 2x6 board and smack the top rim off! make sure your *** is hanging out.
after you have seperated the two wheels from each other lightly grind the remaining weld off of the top of the rim. I then proceeded to polish the grinds with sand paper.
after that process you can media blast or sand the rims you have picked up for a killer deal. in this instance I scored 2 matching rims for 12 bucks a piece. instead of the usualy 75-100 bucks a pop or the gawd awfull prices of ebay. for real steel wheels. now with all this in mind every instance will be a bit diffrent but give those old forgotten welded rims a look over and you might get a great deal.
great tip, but I think you missed something... ... when is the bolt-circle-checking done so you're sure these junkyard-wheels actually fit on the car's drumstuds... is it before or after all this work?
this is before! thanks for pointing that out. i brought a stencil with my bolt pattern to the yard before searching.
this is a great idea, i have been checking out these stands at a yard i go to and they told me $5,00 a wheel if i replace it with another one, i have an old axle end all ready to go.
don't worry, if they're the wrong bolt pattern, just sell them on epay and buy more malt beverage with the proceeds
I save all the old steel wheels I get on cars that I part out, or wherever I can find them. I'm hoarding them in my shop's ba*****t, I have stacks of them. It's always cheaper to have a m***ive supply at the ready than to buy them. Plus, a lot of old hubcaps only fit a specific rim, so that's important too.
Good Tech Heres one I built awhile back Its from a t bird center and a scottsdale rim reversed 3 1/2 backspacing The hardest part was finding two tight fitting rims still need to build the other
not schlitz but schlitz bull Ice! I usually stay away from my power tools after one of those boys there.
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