Technical Repairing Pitted Wheel Rims

Preparing these 16" wires for tires next week, and I noticed one section has some pitting on the rim.

Plan is to blast them, hit them with a file to get rid of any high spots, and then body filler and sand them smooth and then paint. Is this a stupid idea? When I go to have the tires mounted, will that damage the body filler? I don't need them to look 100%... just nice enough. Should I even worry about fixing this at all?

I don't know if I'm overthinking this just because it's the rim and not somewhere else on the wheel where fixing the pitting would be easier. Thought about adding some weld and flap wheeling, too, but that seems easier to screw up.

 

This is exactly what I would do. The damage appears to be heavier/deeper than what I would consider pitting (from rust), and filler is not a good solution IMHO. Grind the are to good, solid metal, figure out some type of rotary thing-a-ma-jig to check the roundness as you progress, then grind (power tool) to get it to the rough shape, then hand file to the final finish.

 

If it’s thin, it’s junk. Welding up the thin spots will only warp it beyond repair. Maybe worth a try, but a lot of work for a common wheel.

 

Ya think'in the bead won't seal and the air will leak out !?
I'd try it 'as is' first.
6sally6

 

Ya got some work there.
My method was, run a stiff wire cup brush on it ( bead surface ).
Then continue with some coarse paper, any kind you have.
Clean it off, when tire is on rim, paint the wheel bead surface with rubber patch 'n plug glue.
Then paint the tire, rim surface with glue.
After overinflating the tire,,,your pick psi Let set overnite, telling the tire to seal the deal
The spokes and out side rim, should take blasting well.

 

If you blast the entire rim, not bead area, look over those spokes carefully, pits can cause cracks, alchemy may have a point on finding something better.

 

...how bout cleaning em up real good, then put some JB Weld on there and smoothing it out?

 

I would be more worried about being able to balance them if they're that pitted.
I always shy away from any heavily pitted wheels, better ones always seem to come around if you keep looking.

 

Sandblast it, and have a good welder, run some silicon bronze with a Tig, and grind it down with a mop disc.

 

I'd guess only one section of the wheel is pitted because it spent a considerable amount of time standing upright (minus a tire) in the mud.
Finding a better wheel is ideal.
If you enjoy doing the work and take pride in saving vintage parts, you could probably carefully weld and grind it. If you have access to a big enough lathe to chuck it up, you could rough grind the welds then turn it smooth.

• Might still have to use bead sealer
• Or run tubes

 

Can you even run a tire tubeless on a '35 wire wheel? I certainly haven't. I'd be less worried about the bead sealing and more about balancing and the sharp edge, or any areas that are thin enough to cause a crack. I'd sandblast it totally clean first, then make the determination. You could fill in some pitting with JB weld or brazing rod or something if it's not too bad, but I'd really want to see what it looks like after blasting. Some stuff looks terrible but then cleans up surprisingly nice, others look decent before but have moon-like craters once blasted. That'll determine what you can or can't get away with.

 

Now you are talking my specialty (crappy wheels). At one time I had over 500 vintage steel wheel spider condos along my shed that I had been rescuing since I was a teenager (I just sold them all off in the last few years I am 45), every time I found them for free I would roll them home and either sawzall off the petrified tire or if the tire was still sort of good I would use my $100 Coats 10/10 tire machine. I had a fun side hustle going on at the local swap meets and when the rat rod and traditional hot rod thing really took off I was making quite a few extra bucks. I was so bad if I saw a tire dump on the side of the road I would look for Wheels in it. Today those steel Wheels don't sell nearly as well so I depleted my stock but that's another subject for another day.

On a normal steel wheel I would clean the rim with a wire brush on a grinder to knock off any rust (wear ear plugs the wheel can really "sing" when you are wire wheeling them) but in the case of spoked wheels I would recommend sandblasting them because there is so many nooks and crannies although I have used the wire wheel on the grinder and then a Dremel to get them clean in the past it's just very time consuming and a harbor freight sandblasting cabinet is way easier which coincidentally you said you were going to do so your already on the right track. Myself from looking at the picture you posted I would say your wheel is totally safe and fine to run, you are not going to have any problems balancing it because there is such a minimal amount of metal loss even though it looks bad, I bet you the valve stem hole is missing more metal than the rest of the wheel combined. What you got to remember is you're not building a 200 mile an hour lakes/land speed car or some ugly ass Italian super car instead you're building a traditional hot rod that at best realistically might see 85 mph in normal driving with a few jaunts to a little over a hundred screwing around but most the time it will be way more sane speeds than what I just said doing 40 miles an hour to the Burger dive for the show and cruise type stuff.
What you are looking at for the most part is just cosmetic damage and although it definitely looks ugly it shouldn't be a problem.
Those wheels are 89 years old now and although 1935 ford 16" wires probably the most common out of all the wire wheels ever made they aren't exactly available at the dealership anymore and even at the average Swap meet here in California (where old shit is pretty easy to find because we don't have major rust issues) you don't exactly come across them all the time.

What everybody is failing to think about is these wheels are designed to be ran with inner tubes so even severe pitting they will hold air just fine. If you were doing a wheel that was designed to be tubeless the 1935 type wire wheels in this post were tubed wheels and there would be a bump where the tire mounts that is called a "bead set bump" that keeps the tire from rolling off the rim lip and going flat if it was met to be tubeless, you can see it or feel it even with the tire on, it is subtle but it's definitely a bump it is right where the tire meets the wheel if you are unfamiliar with will design, (you start seeing tubeless wheels in the late 1940s on some makes and by the late 50s it's pretty much the normal).
Anyways on your particular wheel obviously at one time it was parked in the dirt with a flat tire and it probably sat there a long time, without sandblasting it, it's hard to make a 100% guarantee that it is just fine but from what I've seen of your picture it's just cosmetic damage. If you are worried about the looks of the wheel once you get it sandblasted use a JB weld type putty epoxy (don't use Bondo it's pretty soft and just the vibrations may knock it out of the wheel lip) apply the JB weld putty to the pits let it dry thoroughly then sand it smooth and the will will be as good as new and ready for paint now that being said I don't know if powder coating will stick to epoxy I've never had the money to powder coat my stuff and I do everything old school just the way they were doing it 50 or 70 years ago mainly because I'm cheap but also because if it was good enough for my parents or grandparents to do it's probably good enough for me to do.

Anyways to make a long story short I would run that wheel totally fine it wouldn't think twice about it and a little bit of JB putty weld will fix it right up to look as good as new.

I am including two pictures of things that will help future readers of this thread.
The bead sealer is not to be used on inner tube tires there's no reason for it on them... If you have a pitted wheel that is a tubeless tire type wheel the bead sealer will fix the problem and get the tire to seal it works really well.
The JB putty weld is good for fixing small pits relatively.

Also one last thing to anyone reading this do not run a tubed wheel without a inner tube we probably have all done this in the past but the reality is it's pretty risky the tire could theoretically roll off the bead and fall down into the center of the wheel causing a blowout and obviously potentially you losing control of the vehicle. permanently.

 

I would use JB Weld as well. Just tell your tire guy not to touch that spot with his tire machine fitting clamps or whatever other method he uses.

 

Sandblast and weld were you need to weld, grind and hit with an epoxy primer and paint. Next thing you know you’re wheels are done and looking good with new tires on them.

 

I just went through this myself. Bought 5 old Corvette rims that looked worse than yours.

Soaked them first in a solution of citric acid / water in a tub large enough to cover each rim, waited
3 days, hosed them off thoroughly, cleaned them up with a wire brush and they came out great. I didn't take any
before and after photos, because I have had great success using citric acid before on rusty parts.

Typically., I like to use 1 - 1/2 cup of citric acid to 1 gal. of water. Mix it well. I buy citric acid at Walmart in the
canning section. I know that there are many other ideas for mixtures to use to remove rust, which
people will probably post here.

 

A bit off topic, but I use that bead sealer that the Atomic Reverend posted there on every tubeless tire I mount, regardless of the condition of the wheel and tire, and when I replace the valve stem, I run a bit of sealer around the valve stem hole before I pull the new stem through. That stuff works, my shit don't leak. Bead sealer also helps get the tire to jump onto the bead when you're filling it up, some wheels can be really tricky to get the tire to seat onto without it.

 

Used Lab Metal hi temp to fill the pits if you want to powder coat.

 

Good point about this being a tube type wheel and tire, so no worry about sealing at the bead.
I'd carefully file any sharp edges down, sand blast and paint.

I would use soft solder to fill in any deep pits I was concerned about.

 

Wow! I run ALL my early Ford and Mopar 15 and 16 inch wire and disc wheels tubeless and always have for many many years. Even "safety bead" wheels will roll the bead off the rim if run flat very far. It just slows that from happening. The tube doesn't some how magically keep the tire on an early wheel. Air pressure does. Now, on a circle track car, those wheels do have a taller safety bead because of severe side pressure at very low air pressures. We run as low as 6 or 7 pounds on the left of 15x10 slicks and 10-12 on the right. Not something one would do on the street. Never had a tire roll off the bead on anything except a 16.5 wheel because those have an angled seat and will slip off the bead seat sitting still if the tire goes flat. Not so with '31 to about '55 or so wheels.

Dave

 

I appreciate all of the input, I actually think I will probably not do any welding on them, and instead give the JB Weld a try once I blast them. Should be easier to work with.

This is just cosmetic damage - I always run tubes anyway so I wasn't worried about structural issues or issues with the bead seating. I honestly didn't know people were running these wheels without tubes.

 

get it smooth. I would really think about at least a pile of small tack welds to build some metal up on it and then grind it smooth. If the guy mounting the tires doesn't know exactly where that spot is and knocks the filler or JB weld off, that rough edge will act like a serrated knife blade and cut the shit out of a new tire trying to be mounted on it.

 

After blasting and coating with epoxy primer, mount the tires but don't seat the beads. It will then be easy to apply, sand the JB Weld and paint without any mounting damage. Might take longer but do-able.

 

If mounting a tire knocks off whatever snake oil you smeared on it, then it wasn’t good enough.

I personally don’t wouldn’t worry about sealing a fresh tire against the well-cleaned rust pits. I’d be worried about the strength of the half-thick portion of rim.

 

Not likely worth the cost but there are spray welding machines used in conjunction with the wheel mounted on a lathe capable of restoring damage such as this.

 

You didn’t actually supply a photo of where the tyre sits and seals on the rim, that is possibly more important.
Any filler, including JB weld, which is quite soft, will most likely come off as the tyre machine does it thing and mounts the tyre.
Personally, I would look for a better rim.

 

Find a company that does wheel banding. They have the kit to run a bead of weld round the rim and then refinish it on a lathe.

 

Heres how it gets done in Uruguay. These were on a import project. Tires were new.

 

Pie crust tyres, awesome.
I can’t help wondering if they were imported into a country that stipulates vehicle/ project vehicle must be on new tyres, as this is something that I came across recently ?
No rules about the rims maybe ?

 

On the OP wheels.......
I'd knock 'em down about halfway with a power sander including rolling off a touch of any sharp edge on the outside corner. Then go ahead and mount the tires and see how they look at 40mph in the moonlight.
Doing this costs you nothing and there's nothing to prevent you from welding later on if you think you have to resort to that.

Are there any pits at all in the bead area? Are you prepared to use tubes?
..

 

Negative, all of the "mission critical" areas of the tire seem to be totally fine, and I was planning to run tubes. The wheel isn't in as bad shape as the pictures make it seem.

I'll probably knock the pitted stuff down with a flap wheel on a dremel, apply some JB Weld, sand it smooth, and I think that should be fine from at least 10'. If it really sucks, I'll just make sure that wheel stays on the passenger side until I can dig out a better one. I will post results here this week or next.