Pitted Wheels

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Frnknsteen

Frnknsteen

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Hi Guys,

Need a bit of help here. I am thinking of doing conversion to big bolt pattern on my '67 Barracuda (discs up front, drums in back) from Doctor Diff, but can't afford new wheels and tires at the moment with my Charger project going on. $1400-$1800 for the conversion is enough at the moment without having to buy all new wheels and tires too.

I have been holding off because I really don't need to change, but there just isn't many options for wheels for the small bolt pattern, and drum brake parts are getting harder to find for my car. For instance,... I can't find anyone who offers the SBP 10" drums for the back anymore. And nobody seems to make front hubs.

That being said,.... I have a set of 14" Magnum 500 wheels from my Charger that I thought I could use for while. I know,.... Magnum 500's on an Plymouth A Body?? Who does that? My reasoning though is that way they have the larger bolt pattern, but are still 14" so I could just move my tires from my current 14" SBP ralleye wheels. I need to check the rim widths and backspacing to make sure it will even work, but if it will,....

My issue is that when I had those on the Charger before we started the rebuild, we had a hard time getting them to hold air. In fact, on 2 of them, we couldn't get them to hold air and always leaked around the bead. After removing the tires from the wheels before putting them on the shelf, I saw that the beads are pretty pitted. I need to blast them (at least the beads) and clean them up to be painted.

They don't need to look perfect. Just need them to hold air and not look like crap while I set aside money for a set of Torque Thrusts or something. I don't plan to put those 14" road wheels back on the Charger either, so this is just a temporary thing to keep my Cuda on the road after switching to the larger bolt pattern (Until I can get new wheels)

What can I use to fill the rust pits so they will hold air better?
 
Little separate pits like ..... cant leak air unless they are linked together, more like a pipe. When I worked in a tire store we would run the wheel on the balancer to clean up the beads with wire brush and coat them with bead sealer.
My recent issues have been valve stems. I now run metal valve stems like modern vehicles have.
 
Frnknsteen said:
Hi Guys,

Need a bit of help here. I am thinking of doing conversion to big bolt pattern on my '67 Barracuda (discs up front, drums in back) from Doctor Diff, but can't afford new wheels and tires at the moment with my Charger project going on. $1400-$1800 for the conversion is enough at the moment without having to buy all new wheels and tires too.

I have been holding off because I really don't need to change, but there just isn't many options for wheels for the small bolt pattern, and drum brake parts are getting harder to find for my car. For instance,... I can't find anyone who offers the SBP 10" drums for the back anymore. And nobody seems to make front hubs.

That being said,.... I have a set of 14" Magnum 500 wheels from my Charger that I thought I could use for while. I know,.... Magnum 500's on an Plymouth A Body?? Who does that? My reasoning though is that way they have the larger bolt pattern, but are still 14" so I could just move my tires from my current 14" SBP ralleye wheels. I need to check the rim widths and backspacing to make sure it will even work, but if it will,....

My issue is that when I had those on the Charger before we started the rebuild, we had a hard time getting them to hold air. In fact, on 2 of them, we couldn't get them to hold air and always leaked around the bead. After removing the tires from the wheels before putting them on the shelf, I saw that the beads are pretty pitted. I need to blast them (at least the beads) and clean them up to be painted.

They don't need to look perfect. Just need them to hold air and not look like crap while I set aside money for a set of Torque Thrusts or something. I don't plan to put those 14" road wheels back on the Charger either, so this is just a temporary thing to keep my Cuda on the road after switching to the larger bolt pattern (Until I can get new wheels)

What can I use to fill the rust pits so they will hold air better?
Click to expand...
another option.
5X114.3 TO 5X100 WHEEL ADAPTERS 1 INCH THICK 25MM 12X1.5 STUDS
 
Could have been leaky valve stems I guess. I assumed it was the pitted rims. I know they did clean them up with a wire wheel and put black sealer on them. Still leaked. Maybe it WAS the valve stems leaking. Newer metal style would work better. Thanks for the suggestion.

Not a big fan of the wheel adapters. I've heard of people having issues, and they affect wheel spacing. I don't think I have room to move the wheels out an inch.
 
A friend had an aluminum five slot wheel that was really pitted about 1/3 of the way around on the bead. It leaked air slowly. The other three wheels were really nice and they look good on his car. We bead blasted the corroded area and mixed up some PC7 epoxy and spread it thinly over the pitted area with a wet finger. After it cured we sanded it down flush and sprayed the area with some clear spray paint. Mounted the tire and it's currently running fine .
 
grimreaper said:
A friend had an aluminum five slot wheel that was really pitted about 1/3 of the way around on the bead. It leaked air slowly. The other three wheels were really nice and they look good on his car. We bead blasted the corroded area and mixed up some PC7 epoxy and spread it thinly over the pitted area with a wet finger. After it cured we sanded it down flush and sprayed the area with some clear spray paint. Mounted the tire and it's currently running fine .
Click to expand...

Thanks! That sounds like what I'm looking to do. I will try that! (along with new valve stems)
 
Not all bead sealers are the same. The stuff i use is quite thick and dries to a solid rubber. Nasty to clean off. Wire wheel and drill does it.
Cleaning and epoxy/jb weld and you should be good to go. With new valve stems.

I will be using magnum 500’s on my barracuda.
 
You know you can still get inner tubes. Order online or most any parts store can get them in a day. Cheaper than new wheels.
 
Our local shops will not put inner tubes in road cars. It was all I could do to get them to put them in the old rusty cop wheels I have on my Charger while it is being rebuilt. I had to swear to them it was only to keep the tires up while it is being worked on, then will be replace with the final wheels and tires.
 
Put on the brakes.... last i knew.. you could still get SBP drums from Rock Auto ... and everything else you need in the rear ... In order to match rear sbp .. i do believe Kelsey Hayes modification using parts from another A body... but those parts are getting rare and to expensive to rebuild ... I would go big bolt pattern discs in front ( many options )... I used Wildwood .. but alot cheaper ways out there ... Rear BBP upgrade .. replace axles and use VOLARE/ASPEN rear parts .... just use doct diff wheel cyls and master ...
 
Oh, I plan to do the big bolt pattern conversion, if for no other reason than to get away from dwindling small bolt pattern options for wheels and brake components. Doctor Diff actually has pretty reasonable pricing for the conversion. $825 for discs up front and that includes new proportioning valve, lower balljoints and upper balljoint adapters. Out back is $295 for axles and $350 for drums or $750 for discs.

Yes,... Rock Auto still seems to carry one offering for drums in the Centric brand, but none of the other major brands offer anything.... Not through them anyway.

My main idea is why stick with the SBP when options are going away. Better to go BBP and have all the wheel and tire options available for all the other body styles. I was just looking to get wheels I already have useable until I can buy new wheels and tires I want. At that point, barring putting anything too big on the Charger to also fit the Cuda, I could change wheels and tires out between the two with them having the same bolt pattern.
 
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