Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

If money is the issue, perhaps you may consider doing the whole thing yourself. You will need tire assembly lube, three tire irons, a valve stem holder (snake), and baby powder. You might be able to borrow that stuff.

It takes practice and you really need to see a demonstration.

The way I get show car wheels together without scratching the paint is doing it by hand. I suppose one of the reasons so many experts chrome wire wheels is because they have been told that is the only way to avoid scratched paint. Well I don't like chrome wire wheels. Of course everybody always bitched about how long it took. Okay, there's always Firestone.

After you get your wheels apart, cleaned, sanded, and painted; if the pits are not too deep they may still work for tubeless given the use of bead sealer from NAPA or whatever.

I've put tubeless on some pretty pitted rims and they have worked. If the curved lip of the rim is still good they may still hold air. But if you learn how to do the work yourself then you can set them aside and check the pressure after a week. Soap and water detects leakage.

Thanks for the info Tim!

I will pull the tires off the rim and clean them up. If I have any problems re-installing, my father knows someone with all the equipment needed to get them back on properly.

-Garrett

Quote from post #1 above:
"..... 40yr old valve stems, .... and was told the lips of my rims were pitted!"

#1. u never indicated what kind of tires u had mounted.
#2. How do know if the rims are REALLY pitted????

I've mounted numerous tires over the years on pitted rims with minimal problems holding air. I don't recommend it but minor pitting is not an issue.

Get a hand operated bead breaker, two tyre spoons and a 2 pound hammer and some cheap grease (yes i use grease NOT soapy water). That is the ONLY equipment u need to mount and dismout your own tires. And a air compressor of course.

MODERN radials will damned near fall off and fall onto rims with very littel effort. The old nylons from and bias belted tires prior to the 1980's could be a real bear.

A good used commercial bubble balancer can be found for about $50 or less. The bubble balancer is what is used by the pro's when ALL ELSE FAILS. Do not let anyone tell u a bubble balancer is undesireable. The bubble is actulay the absolute best bar NONE.

DO YOUR OWN WORK!!!! It's not rocket science. IT is alot faster too in most cases.

Wow! You guys bring back many memories of changing tires with irons and a bead breaker. Thanks - I think.

(o[]o)

Quote:


That is true!!! The one time I place work I need done in hands other than mine, and they completely mess up!

The tires are modern radials, link below:
firestonecompleteautocare.com/tirecatalog/Primewell/PS830850?article=95991


The pitting on the rim didn't seem all too bad, not very deep and only in a few spots.


-Garrett

"The pitting on the rim didn't seem all too bad, not very deep and only in a few spots"

They should seal up just fine. Just make sure there is no flakey rust. I've some pretty ruff wheels around here for off road use on Jeeps. Some i've had to file the rim with a file and even grind with a small abraisive disk and they held air just fine for many years and miles.

Look close at the bead of the tire. Make sure the girl scouts at the tire store didn't tear the bead while they were trying to R&R them.

Quote:

That is something my brother considered. I wouldn't put it past the "girl scouts" to do something idiotic like that. I really want to tear them a new one when I call their central offices. I don't care how little you think you are getting paid, you don't EVER let someone out on the road when you know you didn't do your job correctly.

Thank you,

-Garrett

When I got my car it was sitting on 4 rotted ply-bias tires that wouldnt hold air. So I took the rims to Wally World and bought four of the cheapest tires they had. When I picked them back up the guy told me a couple of the old tires had tubes in them.

So I took them home put them on the car, perfect, I now had a roller. But within a few days 3 of the 4 started to lose air.

Basically the bead area was chock full of scale rust, so the seal was poor. So I had the rims media blasted, then I primed and painted them inside and out. They have held air for years now without any problem.

Packard didnt paint the "inside" of the rim, so they rust inside first. Good primer and paint all over will give you another 50 years or so.

Thanks for the info Kev!

One of my four had a tube, and that has been the one that has held air the longest, go figure. The two that are holding strong for now, appear to have been re-painted. I'm actually excited about smoothing these wheels out and painting them up. Stay tuned...

-Garrett

Several years ago, I bought a nice set of wide oval whitewalls for my 39 120, along with the tubes. Had them installed locally and they looked great. Until I drove the car about 4 miles and got two flats. The wheel rims were just rusty enough inside so that when the car was moving, the tubes would get a little bit of movement and chaff a small hole in them. After several bouts of new tubes and more flats, I sanded the inside of each rim, floated them with some bondo and sanded them smooth. Then a nice coat of rattle can primer and two coats of paint. Problem solved. Not hard work, but a bit of a nusiance. Most kids at the tire stores today don't know anything about tubes....Good luck