Projects New wheels for the 57 Chief

After much deliberation I bit the bullet and went with a set of tried and trusted Cragar ss wheels to replace the chrome smoothies currently on the car with Cooper 225 70 15 tyres. I really wanted polished or chrome Torq thrust originals but couldn't find them in the UK. I put one side on yesterday after giving the rear brakes an overhaul as last weekend. I found the rear shoes cracking up during a routine check along with the rear brake adjuster fork hammered in tight to the shoes . Fortunately I found some new shoes in the UK and and things are now coming together as they should be. (Better pic's to come) once I stop drinking Sunday morning coffee's and drag my old age self to the garage to start/finish the other side

 

It's a lot easier to get that blue stuff off with the wheels off the car. The Cragar's look nice. I've got a set that I bought in the US and they've been on my Chrysler Valiant since then.

 

Thanks for the tip Swifty. This is the first set of new RWL tyres I've ever bought and was wondering how to go about cleaning the blue off. I nearly got the full set on today until I realised I was 5 right handed lug nuts short as the car has had a disc brake conversion and uses r/h nuts on both sides of the front wheels and left hand nuts on only the n/s/r wheel

 

I use Ajax Powder Cleanser, a hose and a stiff scrubbing brush or nail brush to clean whitewalls and have been using this method for 60 years. The Firestone W/W tires on my T-bucket are over 60 years old, it doesn't get driven much.
Note your wheels suit both Ford/Chev bolt pattern and didn't realise Ponti's of this vintage ran the left and right hand wheel nuts.

 

Spray 9 and stiff-ish bristle brush and a pressure washer make cleaning that blue off super easy without damaging the tire

 

Glad to get the final set of lug nuts and get all 4 wheels on. Very happy with the results, it was just the look I was after.
The blue came off easy enough with some highly diluted TFR and a scrubbing brush though next time I'll do them off the car as per the suggestions. One little tip I would like to pass on to anyone fitting the centre caps on these new Cragar SS. Place the securing washer over a slightly smaller diameter socket and give it a tap with a ballpein hammer to slightly dish it. The screws that come with the centre caps are only just long enough and you'll be busting your guts to get that thread started without the pre dishing.