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Re: wire wheel conversion

To: derf <derf247@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: wire wheel conversion
From: "John D. Caffrey" <jdc6@Lehigh.EDU>
Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2006 11:10:06 -0500 (EST)
The Rotus rear axle turned out excellent. Of course I wouldn't quit 
until it was as good as possible. Time means nothing while I am 
creating my masterpiece, and I didn't have any other options for while 
building my Rotus. I do remember having to straighten the axle housing 
on my 62 Sprite race car, and we didn't do any welding on it except for 
shortening the bump towers, so maybe the factory wasn't so precise in 
their axle assembly. Still I wouldn't go through this if there were 
other options that make it a bolt-on job.
John


derf wrote:


>True, true.  But, it isn't a Swiss watch.  At the factory they had a 
jig and
>a guy with a welder.  Clamp everything in place, weld, and voila.  If 
you
>are building a top fuel dragster or a Bonneville Salt car you need 
ultimate
>precision.  But, plus or minus 1/16" for a Spridget wouldn't be all that
>bad.
>
>Straightening is good.  But, unless you reinforce it alot, it will 
distort
>again when you put the torque to the pavement, or when you hit a pot 
hole.
>
>If I had a Bugeye and wanted wire wheels (or alloy knockoffs), I 
wouldn't
>hesitate to modify a WW rear end.  I would probably clamp everything to 
my
>metal table top (relatively flat) and tack things in place.  To keep the
>distortion low, I would weld in increments so as not to heat up the 
whole
>weld area at once.
>
>It sounds like you have done this before so I will defer to your wisdom.
>How did your's end up?




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