Previous owner handywork stories

I take the duster to discount tire today to get new 14" tires. I just snagged this clean and unmolested 73 Duster last month. It has American racing 10 hole sbp wheels installed 10+ years ago. The fender is damaged from a wheel coming off 10+ years ago. The PO's story or thought was somebody tried to steal the wheels, as both fronts were loose. Well, Discount came out in the lobby and said we can't put the wheels back on the car sir. I went out and looked. My car is a drum brake car. The PO had spent who knows how many hours grinding the wheel to fit down in the recessed area where the lug/register is. A wheel spacer would have probably been the answer. He had some thick flat washers on it plus grinding the wheel. Now it makes sense. Nobody was trying to steal the wheels, they simply came loose because they weren't sitting flush against the drum. Now Discount won't install the wheel back on. They have me searching for sbp wheels to fit right. Then the guy tells me that I can't upgrade to disc brakes on the car because they didn't come factory until the 80's. Normally I have good experience with them.