Painting Wheels with Wooden Spokes

[Bill Harmatuk]

There are no dumb questions.

Do I have to un bolt the brake hubs and bearing carriers to paint these wheels?? (Yes).

I know I am not the first to do this and would like some honest advice.

 

What do I need to look out for and or be careful with??

I am NOT going to disturb the fellows / spokes.

All 4 wheels are in excellent condition except for paint.

The spokes / fellows, will stay natural.

 

[vintchry]

 Bill, Why do you want to paint your wheels, the CJ had painted and natural spokes avail in 1930. If you leave natural you may wish to consider a stripe on the spoke, well actually if you paint them you will definitely want to stripe them. Many examples are available on the web. Since I got my Windows 10 I cannot figure out how to send or actually retrieve photos that used to  be in albums, but that is another discussion. Email me and I will send you photos of either set up. But to answer your question, yes you need to remove the drums and loosen the hubs, but not remove them, lots and lots and lots of sanding, priming, cutting around the spokes at the rim with a razor or exacto knife with each priming, put on a base color, tap the hub back in place and finish painting. Then you paint your drums and install, tighten and peen the drum and hub bolts and then stripe. See how easy it is?!!!!! Rob hattiesgarage@comcast.net

 

[Bill Harmatuk]

Thats what I needed.

The CJ came with natural wood spokes. Not Painted. Im gonna leave them natural. They are only natural once. It would be a sin to paint. Never saw a pinstripe either on the spokes.

I am prepared for the tedious job.

Great idea about removing  the brake drum and loosen the bearing carrier / hub. Ill mark the position of the hub to wheel before I remove.

 

I saw a picture of a stand to mount the wheel, on a spindle, for sanding, prep.and painting. I'll find a comfortable chair to sit in.

Thanks so much for answering. Looks like you've been there. Done that.

Education is cheap. Screw ups are expensive.

 

Thanks again.

Bill H

 

 

[C Carl]

Hi , Bill , I have just had this set of wheels made for my 1927 Cadillac. Tom Dessert in Battle Ground Wa. (just North of Portland), is the wheelwright who made them. He did not want the wheels painted before assembly. He does not do the painting. He says that the fit is so critical that the interference of the paint can be problematical. The paint does not have the structural integrity of the wood. I now have 2000 miles on them. Some fast driving , some hard downhill driving , with hard braking. The greatest loads on wheels are during braking. Let the sleepin' dogs lie , take the easy way out , mask and paint. The pinstripes you see duplicate the original (painted , not Urethaned spokes) wheels , which I took off to protect and preserve them. Well , that is what Tom said , so I did it that way.  - Carl

[C Carl]

I may have  just spoke too soon. I recollect that this factor was only critical at the felloes , not at the hub. (Makes structural sense). Consider this to be correct , but I will check with the guys who did the work to absolutely verify. Yeah , now I think I remember the sequence of the painting and final assembly. Do you trust my aging , fading memory ?  - Carl

[C Carl]

Yes , I checked. I was wrong in the first instance. My correction is correct. Felloes painted with spokes in place , hubs painted before being pressed in. New bolts painted last. You will probably find it necessary to get new bolts after dismantling. In my case I went to the extreme of having new bolts manufactured to duplicate the original dome. This was not cheap ! You might want to factor this potential expense in before deciding whether to dismantle. From your pics your stout wheels look to be in VGC. What car are they for ?  - Carl

[Bill Harmatuk]

Thanks so much, Carl.

My wheels are from a 1930 Chrysler CJ-6, 4 door sedan. It was taken apart by me back in 1977 and I am just now putting back together. A prime example of "Easy to take apart". The car was sanded to bare metal for a parade back in the 60's....( NOT ME ) but someone painted over bare metal without primer. When I got it, it was a basket case. Flakes of paint coming off. Partially dismantled but all there. I've had the car for 35 years.

I can't begin to tell you the parts I have collected and have already had restored and not to mention new items. Just now putting it back together.

 

I think as of now I am going to take the brake drum off only. I don't want to monkey with factory tolerances as to the hub. If I can loosen the hubs, I will,  but just enough to be able to sand and paint the outer edge of the hub. Not the underside of the hub. 

I hope I can remove the bolts easily for bead blasting. I am prepared for the masking and exacto knife.

My main concern was the brake hub. Absolutely no way to get to it with out removing. 

 

Thanks for the help and wisdom.

Bill H