[Healeys] New Post on my Blog...tire truing

Wed Sep 30 15:08:04 MDT 2015

At the cost of the labor and spokes how can it be worth rebuilding wheels unless you want them to be original.

New spokes painted are $6.00 a spoke and they have to cut all the spokes to save time. That’s $288.00 in spokes and a new 48 spoke pained wheel is $260.00.

New Chrome spokes are $12.00 a spoke. That’s $576.00 in new chrome spokes and $368.00 for a new wheel. 

Not hard math to do. INstall new wheels.

David Nock
healeydoc at sbcglobal.net
209 948 8767
www.britishcarspecialists.com

From: Hap Polk 
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 1:28 PM
To: 'Bob Spidell' 
Cc: 'healeys' 
Subject: Re: [Healeys] New Post on my Blog...tire truing

Opps: Spokes for Healey original style 48 spoke wheels. 

From: Healeys [mailto:healeys-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Hap Polk
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 1:07 PM
To: 'Bob Spidell' <bspidell at comcast.net>
Cc: 'healeys' <healeys at autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: [Healeys] New Post on my Blog...tire truing

Agree. Spokes are normally cut and tossed. I was suggesting MWS may be a source for Healey original style 48 spoke wheels.

From: Bob Spidell [mailto:bspidell at comcast.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2015 9:17 AM
To: Hap Polk <happolk at cox.net>
Cc: Michael Salter <michaelsalter at gmail.com>; healeys <healeys at autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: [Healeys] New Post on my Blog...tire truing

The wire wheel specialists I've known don't bother with the spokes when rebuilding a wheel--e.g. when replacing a worn center hub--they just cut the old spokes out with a bolt cutter.  It's a labor intensive job, and the spokes are a relatively small part of the cost.

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True enough. Trying to true a wheel that is even mildly flattened or more often potato chipped seldom succeeds, leaves an unstable wheel because some spokes are loose and that is unsafe because some spokes are overstressed. I think MWS will shorten pre-existing high quality butted spokes as needed. So, if the rim is reasonably circular, perhaps the long-term solution is to relace the wheel with new spokes.

The problem with trying to true the old 48 spoke wheels is that the nipples seize on the spokes after 60 odd years and it is virtually impossible to free up the threads to save the spokes which are just not available for these really early wheels .... also the actual rim itself is often a little distorted and straightening that is very difficult and cannot be achieved by simply adjusting the spokes. 

I had heard of people deflating the tire and rotating it 90 degrees on the rim then checking again so I gave that a try... There was no measurable change although I tried it in all 4 quadrants on the worst wheel ... I suspect that modern tires are made pretty accurately. 

Regarding the "scalloping" I actually made 4 cuts on each tire and managed to position the blade to cut the tread fairly much like the original profile.. After a 10 mile run the tires look just like they did when  before the treatment.

Michael S

BN1 #174

On Wed, Sep 30, 2015 at 10:18 AM, Bob Spidell <bspidell at comcast.net> wrote:

  Ingenious, and very not PC, but, wouldn't it have been easier to true the wheels?  

  You probably want to run a little under-inflated as well, to compensate for the width-wise scalloping of the tread.

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