29 Dodge wood wheel question

[Ltaylor]

This is my first time doing anything with an old car, so naturally I have questions. How far can I go while taking the wheels apart before it all falls apart, can I take the drum off ? is there a ring holding the spokes together behind the front plate?. I need to get to the back part of the spokes to scrape, sand and paint

[Guest clare30]

STOP!

Do not take the wheels apart to paint. Let's see some pic's

[Guest Silverghost]

Please search for My/Our replys to a similar wood wheel question asked early this week !

Use the search function on the top of this site search for "wooden wheel reconditioning"

Edited November 21, 2010 by Silverghost (see edit history)

[nearchoclatetown]

Ltaylor, if this is your first project you need to buy a manual and become familiar with your car BEFORE taking anything apart. The Book of Information is what DB considered to be an owner's manual. It tells you most everything you need to know. Find one that is printed JUST before your particular car was built as DB made changes throughout the year, not once a year like most makes. They also changed the manuals several times throughout the year. If you post your serial number we can establish when it was built. No need for the whole number, leave off the last few digits for your security. There were a few differant models in '29, which do you have?

[Bob Zetnick]

Hmmmmmmmm, I took my '29 wood wheels apart and got them back together, but it was for a clear finish, not paint....otherwise, how do you get the crud out and refinish between the wood spokes and brake drum?

[oldcar]

I agree with Bob to completely clean up both the brake drum and the spokes you need to at least remove the drum but take lots of photographs before and as you dismantle! Be sure to mark the drum, the front ring and the spokes to make sure that they all go back in EXACTLY the same position or you could end up with an out of round wheel/ out of centre brake drum. It is an idea to number the spokes if you are tempted to remove them.

Spokes are Hickory and make excellent hammer handles if you have any left over.

Edited November 21, 2010 by oldcar (see edit history)

[nearchoclatetown]

This is my first time doing anything with an old car, so naturally I have questions.

Maybe I misunderstood this statement. Taking wheels apart is not a good FIRST job on an old car.

[keiser31]

I believe that these were stripped and painted without being taken apart. These are from a friend's 1930 Dodge Brothers coupe. As you can see, they were completely painted white.

Edited November 21, 2010 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[Guest clare30]

The wheels were originally assembled and then painted. I have removed the drums from our DA tourer's wheels due to wear. The bolts that hold the hub and drum together are peened over in the original assembly process. Removing the drum damages the bolt threads. We have another DA which had good drums these wheels had seen plenty of road grime over the years instead of pulling the wheels apart to clean them we had them glass bead blasted. No damage to the wood spokes, the wheels came out like brand new. Clear boat varnish on the spokes 2 pac on the metal and care with the brush. We are going to use the same method on our current project, whowever for authenticity the wheel and drum will be painted the same colour.

Dont rush in look at the options.

Regards Clare30

[Ltaylor]

nearchoclatetown, where can this book be purchased

[nearchoclatetown]

Not sure which model you have, DA, Victory, etc. but they come up on Ebay. They are usually about $25-35. I'm pretty sure AACA library has a DA manual. If you email Chris at the library he will copy it and send it to you for less then that. It will be a new copy on paper that can be carried into the garage without fear.. I have several copies of other years for that purpose. IF Chris doesn't have one for a DA I do. I will let him copy it for you. I don't have a Victory maual, and am not sure if they do. While I'm thinking, John B. the Dodge Brothers newsletter editor has a CD with tons of six cylinder information that would be helpful to you. His email is in the front of a DB newsletter, HINT, HINT.

[Guest 1930]

I think autolit has a copy also for sale or they did, there are three different versions of pretty much the same owners manual depending on your cars prod sequence if you are reffering to a DA, reproductions are also avail thru Myers and Romars wether you have a standard six or DA, not sure about Victory.

[HBergh]

LTaylor: I just ran across a discussion of restoring wood wheels on a Senior 6 in the August/September 1993 issue of the DB News that may give you more help.

HB

[JB-ed]

Those bolts holding the brake drums to the hub are what we call carriage bolts. Problem is, they are high-strength steel, not the carriage bolts you find in hardware stores today. You can not safely use hardware store, carbon-steel, low-strength carriage bolts for holding the brake drums to the hubs. Therefore, if you try to remove the brake drums from the wheels, you will most likely need to "unpeen" the end of the original bolt to remove the nut. If you do not, you are likely to damage the bolt and can not reuse it. Unless you or someone else reading this knows where to find high-strength (Grade 5 or 8) carriage bolts, you will need to reuse the originals and peen them over again when you reassemble the drum to the wheel. You may need to remove the drum to have it turned down if it is worn; better to do the entire assembly, wheel and drum, if you have a lathe with a large enough swing. If you do not need to remove the brake drum, just soak the entire wheel in a solvent or kerosene and clean the corners between spokes and drum with a tooth brush or other. Then paint the whole thing, spokes and drum and felloe in one step. You may need to use wood filler or primer-surfcer on the spokes if they are rough. Do NOT dare to remove the hub or felloe and take apart the wheel spokes. It will be horrendous to try to fit all this together again. If the spokes are very dry, soak the entire wheel (after you strip off the old paint) in linseed oil for a week before painting. If some of the spokes are not usable, seek out an Amish wheelwright who has the tools and ability to replace spokes and do up your wheels for you.

[Ltaylor]

With all this info., This job should be a lot easier.thanks to all of you.

ltaylor

[nearchoclatetown]

That appears to be a nice looking DA. Your serial number should start with the letters DA. The cowl light bracket that is missing can be found on Ebay. They were made in two differant ways, one a potmetal casting and the other a brass fabrication. If you look closely at the other one you should be able to determine which kind you need, unless you already have it. You will find there are no two DAs that were built the same. There are early and late types of almost every part on your car. Some parts there are three or four versions.