Thanks to Sam Nelson for making this happen- axles are built up with weld and ground down to size on the big lathe. Splines to come!
Got my new 3” taller- softer, spring. Looks so much cooler! Started to make the rear alignment jig, gutted a 3d member. Sam Nelson is gonna machine up donuts that fit the precision ground 1 1/4” - shaft and fit in the bearing carrier. He will make pucks that fit in the bearing caps so I can align them when welding them back on! I have the axles back- resplined-! I’ll post a pic later this week- Pulled a 3.42 ring and pinion set- Anyone have a 31 spline posi youre kicking around?
The problem with speed is its only of real advantage to you if you’re the only one that has it... we’re all so busy running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get shit done as fast as possible we only have time to see the front and not the rear... Well I hope you like looking at pics of my rear... The spring shop I use is killer- because the spring is softer i need to have them re-arch it about a 1 5/8” to pull it in- they did it and the spring is awesome. It’s so cool to be working with people that take pride in their work. Same with Sam who resplined my axles- he was so worried they wouldn’t fit but if you had looked at the job up close it was obvious he painstakingly matched each radius and cut exactly. It’s hard to plan out every detail in a project like this and these modifications had to be made... like a bit of dialing it in here and there. I’m glad I’m not rushing though this- I’m forced to go at this at a slower pace- it’s a good thing. Most people don’t have time to build finished hot rods... maybe this is why rat rods are so popular? We are always in a hurry to get things finished and so the things that we finish weren’t worth finishing because they were done so fast... So.. take your foot off the gas and let it idle, enjoy the build. Enjoying my day in the shop- Tuck
I think it’s way easier to go slow on a build with 1: a different old car to drive around in the mean time. 2: a toddler. Haha looks good man
Could not have set the record straight any better Tuck... Will be neat to see how the diff will look with the new spring, finned brake drum covers and possibly your new Cragars mounted on the thin whitewall tires that you plan on using.
I’m gonna park those chrome wheels for some other day- for now I am gonna change my front www tires to 1” whitewall /Firestone’s. They’re about 3/4” too much www for me- but a 1” will look good with those back slicks..
You know, I was searching on the net for 1" whitewall cheater slicks and could not find any that were available. I might lean toward them IF I can find any. Front tires, no problem, the slicks, another issue at best. Let me know what you come up with Tuck.
I decided to make a set of chrome reverse that matched the offset of the mags- so they had have a 2 1/2” offset and be 6” wide. I just think it needs to happen and I might as well do it now- this way they’ll match the cycle fenders perfectly and the deep dish on the reverse will look killer. Seems like it would be rude not too? I started with 49-56 ford centers because they look the best! Big plump cap prongs and the centers look cool- Finding the right hoop was tricky- but it ended up being a 56/7 Cadillac wheel that is the perfect hoop donar. The 49-56 hoops are 5” wide Merc and f-1 hoops seem to be 5 1/2” wide. The big car GM wheels had a deep offset which worked in my favor when flipped and best of all they’re 6” wide!! I need 2 or maybe 3 more Cadillac wheels- I posted a want add... now the hunt begins. I have one more but I’m worried about how crusty it is.
Buddy reversed some wheels so they would clear my quarters, used the "riveted" f-100 rims on '52 car centers... worked well... Gave away the leftovers... now I wish I had the skinny '52 outers on the f 100 centers... duh !
I take it the young lady is your project supervisor? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Another great choice on your wheels Tuck - I've been planning to run chrome reverse as well, but it seems the only back spacing available is the 4 - 4.25" range. Will not work with my Buick finned drum covers. Like you told me before, 2-1/2 - 3-1/2 will allow the drum covers from hitting the wheel lip. Worst case scenario, I'll grind down the fins a bit where it wouldn't be noticed. Otherwise, I'd have to have a new set from the usual wheel suppliers to have a custom offset. We'll have to see...
@31chevymike just make them it’s really not that crazy a thing to do. I plan to true these up on my brake lathe but I think you could true them up on a cheap harbor freight wheel balancer as well- and if you don’t feel comfortable welding them farm that out. I learned from @Moriarity the best way is to chrome them in two pieces then weld them up after chrome. I’ve cut apart wheels like this before just never went though with the chrome part. This will be my first time making legit chrome reverse- I think I might have found enough Cadillac hoops to do it. What bolt pattern do you have on your coupe? I hear you on the slicks (from your post above) I can’t find any either with a thin ww... part of me wants to seriously look into recreating Inglewood style slicks that are 31” tall with a proper pie crust. Design molds and all... maybe I start a Go-Fund-Me or Kickstarter since teacher salary isn’t gonna fund a tire mold-!! There has been a serious void in the market for some time-
@31chevymike I’m gonna detail all the steps in doing this and even my journey to the chrome shop/cost etc. I plan to sand and polish/prep , might help take the stress out of doing it.
Chrome reverse progress: So I went to the yard today and they had a 54/5 packard that had 15x6 hoops with similar makeup as the Cadillac I got 3 today going back for the 4th later what’s cool is these actually have an extra little lip where the Cadillac has more of a smooth transition where the seat mounts. 2 are packard the 3d is actually late fifties imperial different bolt circle same exact hoop design. He had one 49-56 ford wheel just laying there so I grabbed it because it didn’t have a tire mounted to it and it’ll be a good center donar. So no longer using Cadillac hoops- they will be 55 Packard for the win. So far $40 for the junk yard score.
So- The Packard wheels were so close... but literally 1/8" off... Crap. So I'm back to the Cadillac. I had one mint one that was welded so I just plasma cut it apart and plasma cut out the spot welds. I'll tig weld this hole shut and clean them up you won't even know they were there... If you look at the two rings above... you can see that lip that I was so excited about. So bummed those Packard wheels are not going to work. :-( That lip could hold a cap... I need to take another trip to a different yard and see if there is anything I can come up with. I'm going to concentrate on cleaning up the two ford centers I have and cutting out another two. Maybe this weekend I can come up with some wheels that'll work. As long as they're hoops I'm after I can plasma cut them up it was way easier to separate.
The extra lip is the safety bead. Maybe Packard was ahead of the game on implementing those. Can you give us the ID's of these rims? I have some centers of various wheels I'd like to research new rims for: 40 Ford 13-5/8" 49 Chevy 12-1/8" 50 Merc 12-1/2" odd Ford truck 14-7/8"
Don't forget to drill a new valve stem hole on the new outside of the rim, unless you like airing them up from the backside.
@alchemy Heres what I have so far. I have some more to add. 49-54 or so Cadillac 6" wide hoop, 12 1/4" ID. *5 on 5" b/c 55 Packard 6" wide hoop 12 3/8" ID. *5 on 4 1/2" b/c 59 Imperial 6" wide hoop, 12 3/8" ID. *5 on 5 1/2" b/c 56 Cadillac 6" wide hoop, 12 1/2" ID. * 5 on 5" b/c 49-56 Ford 5" wide hoop, inner 12 1/2" ID. *5 on 4 1/2" b/c 15" F-1 Wheel 5 1/2"wide hoop, 12 1/2" ID. *5 on 5 1/2" b/c @loudbang you know it. I thought about leaving them if they clear the drum because it would be stealthy and clean no? and because I have no fenders?
Two mocked up two to go- I still need to tig weld the holes shut and polish the shit out of them but here we go. I also pulled two more tires today and figured out (I think) that early 60's Cadillac wheels might have the same hoop. I have two NICE KH Cadillac wheels that seem to measure out the same as the 57's... so. I think I'm golden just all of the work of pulling rubber and tearing them apart.
The Jalopy Journal
