Bob Zetnick Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 After about 3 years I have a weekend off to work on my '29 DA. I am pulling the wheels off in order to restore the other 3 the way I did the first one. After pulling the front wheel I have forgotten how to pull the metal seal ( back of hub) that holds in the rear wheel bearing without damaging it. Any help is much appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Zetnick Posted September 22, 2012 Author Share Posted September 22, 2012 Got it! I had forgotten I had a metal pipe larger in diameter than the rear bearing. I put the pipe through the hub from the front and began a light tapping. The pipe gave even pressure to the rear seal / bearing and eventually it popped out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1930 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Have fun Bob, take lots of pictures and keep us posted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Zetnick Posted September 22, 2012 Author Share Posted September 22, 2012 Thanks, I forgot how much fun this is! ...and I get to do it again tomorrow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Zetnick Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 Jason, Just now got back to the car again...between work and an old house it's just hard to keep the old girl on the front burner....anyway, you said post some photos... I assume of the wood spoke wheel restoration; so here's a few photos...might have to do 2 posts. If you were painting your spokes you wouldn't have to go through this, but w/ natural finished spokes I wanted the painted finish of the felloes to go into the spoke holes and the spokes themselves to have a clear finish even at the bottoms...I didn't want paint peeling at the connection point because the finish didn't wrap around the edges...hope that makes sense. I read a recent post though that you can't really do this w/ the '33 Dodges as with the faster speeds the spokes were pressed on w/ a 90 ton press...those wood spokes were probably always painted though (?)Photo 1 - Wheel as I had done it in 1973 in need of restoration. I will need to get new tires too as they are from '78 and cracked.Photo 2 - After taking off all bolts and brake drum I use a rubber mallet to remove spokes. I use a Sharpie or a white-out pen to number spokes towards the hub on the spoke sides ( this area doesn't get sanded and will not be seen once pressed together.Photo 3 - This shows a bit of the original green paint which seeped between the spokes and was on the car when I bought it in '71. I thought the green wheels w/ the blue paint was weird, but it's cool that there is a little left...I won't sand the side of the spokes at the hub, so this color stays. This spoke has been sanded by the way.Photo 4 - I degrease the parts and use a wire wheel to get off any paint & rust. Any paint that stays on I use a stripper....this photos shows the felloe.Photo 5 - This is tricky....or at least for me....I use a belt sander for the spokes, BUT use it very gently and sparingly. I DO NOT sand where the spokes meet together at the hub (where spokes are numbered), the bottom (felloe) edge or the top ( hub) edge of spoke.....I gently do one pass of spoke faces with the grain until finish is off...gently put the curved edges (where spoke flares near hub) against the front curvature of the sandpaper.....any other weathering finish can be sanded w/ sandpaper ( I think I used 220 grit)I guess I'll post the rest on another post...I think I can load only 5 photos at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrytravler Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 What kind of wood that the spokes are made out of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Zetnick Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 Photo 6 - I know everyone powdercoats, but I don't have the equipment....anyway, I use a Rustoleum Primer and then a rattlecan enamel spray....just what I got and am familiar with. Here are some parts in primer. On the spokes themselves I use many coats of clear gloss spray urethane, sanding between coats.Photo 7 - Shows what I use to press the spokes in place from some info I got from fellow DBer, Jan Arnett, about 3 years ago. I have 2 12" x 12" x 1/4" steel plates that I drilled a 3/8" hole through, I have a long bolt w/ washers and a nut on one end and then a plastic / paper cup.Photo 8 - I lay the felloe face side down. I put one plate in the center w/ the bold going through the plate's hole.....another nut would have been nice to hold it in place, but I had tape...oh well, it worked anyway.Photo 9 - I put the hub face side down over the bolt where the bolt goes through the hub. I took the plastic cup and made a hole in the bottom and put it on the threaded bolt lip side down and fit it in the hub. Then I take the numbered spokes and arrange them like a teepee around the cup. Lastly I put on the 2nd plate over the threaded bolt, followed by washer and nut.Photo 10 - I take my open end wrench and begin tightening the nut.....this starts to crush the cup and force the spokes onto the hub.....do this slowly.....you may have to take plate off again to rework spokes if they get too out of whack...but usually as the spokes start to fit into place you just have to adjust the hub to get it in center a little more and to rotate spokes slightly in felloe holes so that the upper , chamfered part of spokes start to fit together more..also, make sure rim of cup stays within hub diameter as it gets crushes as any piece of plastic between spoke and hub will keep spokes from lowering down to hub....tighten nut until cup is completely crushedPhoto 11 - Spokes should be around hub relatively evenly, but depth of hub keeps spokes from going down completely. This is the time to rotate the hub so that the holes in spokes and in hub line up. I then use a rubber mallet on the back side to set spokes tightly down around hub.Hope this helps anyone taking apart their wood wheels....I took them apart in '73 to redo them and the wheels worked great from '76 to '85 when I drove the car a lot before being parked.....one last thing I didn't note in my post before this was that I also did not sand the full face or back of the spokes either.....you can see the black in the finished photo....anyway, I wanted the hub and brake drum to fit as it did before sanding...there is a ridge where the front of the hub fits into the spokes and I didn't want to sand that down either. Hope that makes sense.Still have the rest of the wheel to restore, but I think the spoke removal / replacement is what Jason wanted to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Zetnick Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 Countytraveler, I've been told they are hickory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrytravler Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Thank you. Nice job. I have about 10 sets of these wood wheels that i'm going to restore in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1930 Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Great Job Bob, out of curiosity did you contact Jan that long ago to get that advice on how to get them back together? Wheels look great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Zetnick Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 Thanks guys...Jason, when I had problems getting the spokes back together for the first wheel about 3 years ago I posted my problem and Jan was the one who helped with the solution...he did not contact me directly if that's what you mean....I think he said you could use pressure w/ a jack too if I remember correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1930 Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Thanks Bob, I should have been more direct, I was curious to know if you had contacted Jan that many years ago ( 78 ) You have answered my question Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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