Article: Narrow 1/8th Scale Aluminium Rims

[whodaky]

I mentioned during a couple of posts this week, that I was messing with some Jag wires!
I was after an early Ford wire wheel look. A jag wire has a lot more spokes than an early Ford wire, but I figured with the right sized hub cap I could get the look I was after.

For these wheels I have used the material from the areosol air freshener can to widen the rim (note all widening is done on the front side of the Jag wire), added an aluminium drink can section for the outer rim and then came up with a hub cap.

What is the hub cap you may ask. Well I was in the hardware shop today looking for some thing and came across these axle caps. I saw and thought,mmmmmmmmmm; they maybe just what I am looking for. I had to cut them down a bit and open up the star shaped hole on the back to get them to fit over where the Jag knock off caps go on the wires. But I am really pleased with how they look and their diameter was perfct in my mind! Also straight out of the packets I think they would work as air cleaners on a 1/6th Stromberg carb. They are stainless steel and came in a pack of 4 for around $5. The brand was Zenith!

Below is a couple of images of the fronts.

Please note on these rims I have only mocked them up at this stage to give you guys an idea. More trimming and final fitting will take place on finished wheels! Also the wheels will probably be painted.
Geoff aka whodaky

[whodaky]

Now to a couple of narrow front mag versions, using the ubiquitous Big Deuce 5 spoke as the centre. I like many of you am not a fan of the Big deuce 5 spoke as it comes in the kit ( but I do love the 5 spokes in the latest issue Big T). But the Big deuce 5 spoke centre starts to look good when mounted into some of the rims I am messing with.
Here is the centre in one of the rims I showed at the very start of this thread!

Here it is done with a narrower offset using an 'adaptor'.


The rim is made from the top of a coke can and the adaptor is made from the bottom of another can, not a coke can, one that was slightly different. The lower right image shows the bottom of the can as cut and what it is like when made into the adaptor. The hole is cut for back of the mag wheel centre to fit into and the outer edge where the bottom was cut out of the can is rolled over. See the red arrows.
The adaptor fits into the front of the rim and then the mag centre fits into the adaptor, effectively spacing the centre outward and giving the wheel less offset. The way I have done this rim gives a totally different look to the wheel as well. These images don't show the inside rim at all.
Here is another variation of the second style.


In this instance the top right and lower left wheels the centres are mounted to the rear of the adaptor, to achieve a different look again.
Also please note that these wheels are only mocked up and the centres I noticed are slight off, I only have them blu tacked together to take these images.
Geoff aka whodaky

[whodaky]

Ok, had to go out and stock up on some model car supplies.
First stop the supermarket of course. Got me a can of deodorant that's just the right diameter for my wheel works. Actually took a half wheel rim with me to make sure I got the right size. A few different diameters of containers available.

Then it was off to the hardware shop for some annealed aluminium flashing. Thanks for the tip xken, I think there are a lot of possibilities with that stuff. I think 30 metres will last forever!
Geoff aka whodaky

[whodaky]

Just been filing a bit more on the wide rim to remove the step. I know I said I was going to leave it for a couple of days to really make sure the JB weld is well and truly set. But it has been on the back of the rim for a full 24 hours and feels really hard. So I got to filing and got rid of the step totally and completely. As I intimated in my post above, when I did the flare on the ends of the centre part of the rim I just flared them and didn't square the ends as such after flaring, as I didn't think it necessary. Because of this the 'hairline' join where I have filed down to, varies in width a slightly. The joint stands out a bit in brushed form, but when I smooth the rim more and polished it the joint is hardly noticeable, because of all the reflections that are happening. However because it is night here I haven't seen it in natural daylight yet. But the results are very encouraging and well worth the effort.
The rim definitely takes on a different character than when it had the step in it.
But I like them both!
Geoff aka whodaky

[whodaky]

Took some shots of the one piece rims this morning. These shots are taken in macro.


Outside with my naked eyes and the rim being polished you can just make out the dark colored line of the JB weld in the join. But that is holding the rim right up close , from a distance it is barely noticeable.
Geoff aka whodaky

[slingshot]

That’s really great that the scene seam just about disappears! I did some measuring for my Chaparral wheels and they are smaller than the top of a pop can so I will have to try cutting the rim to make it smaller. It will be awhile before I get that far on my model though.

[whodaky]

Slingshot;
When I went looking in the supermarket for a suiable sized aluminium container to get the middle section for the wheels that I am working with. I noticed there were a various sizes in aluminium aerosol packs in both air fresheners and deodorants. You never know their may be a size suitable for your application. As well as looking for the appropriate diameter containers look at the tops and bottms of the cans, to see what may work for rim outers!
Geoff aka whodaky

[slingshot]

Thanks, I'll have to look at the store next time I go and take along a printout of the wheel. Here's my drawing of the front end with the wheel although I need to redraw the radiator outlet as I found some photos showing it's wrong.

[whodaky]

I hope I am not flogging a dead horse by continuing to add to this thread! But I have still been messing with various combinations of rims, as well as making and fine tuning my jig for the no hole Halibrands! The no hole Halibrands will be the perfect wheel for the 1/8th Offenhauser!
OK to the wheels, digging out some old Jag wires that I plan to strip of their chrome. Whilst rummaging through boxes of 1/8th wheel stuff I came across the knock offs that come in the Big Deuce kit. Bingo another addition to my no hole Halibrands. The bonus being I have a bunch of these and I think the dual bar knock off as opposed to the tri bar knock off ( Lindeberg ) that I showed earlier is suited to an earlier era race car. However both have their place.
First image is in the Big T Michelin radial.

Next is the Big Jag Firestone, both sides.

Next a BF Goodrich from the Lindeberg T bucket. These are a taller tyre than the Big Jag Firestone and will work on the rear of the Big Deuce, size wise; for an early look.

Lastly, almost the ultimate ( in my mind at least ) front hot rod wheel. The narrow American 5 spoke. I have nearly got the character I am striving for with this front wheel. I generally don't like centre caps in mag wheels. But with this model wheel the centre cap has really enhanced how narrow this wheel is and has given contrast to the grey painted centre, as will the wheels nuts,when they are eventually painted silver.. That centre is a Big Deuce 5 spoke centre cut from it's rim and has had a bit of reprofiling done to the spokes. This wheel is really working for me.

Again all the wheels in this post are only mocked up, so the fit into the tyres etc may not be quite right at the moment!
Here is a shot of the front wheel on my real 5 window, this is what I am after as far as the look of the front 5 spoke. There is also a couple of magnesium 5 spokes here that I am using as a guide!

[Deuces-wild]

Looks good Geoff.... I love those mags.

[hot ford coupe]

Wow, that really looks great. I love it.

[whodaky]

Every time I sit at the workbench surrounded by a whole heap of cut up aluminium cans and rims I have made, I can see another variation.
Did another style of rim for the grey painted 5 spoke centre, this gave me even less offset and what I think is a better look to the outer edge of the rim. This is my favorite of this style to date.

So dragged out the 'wheel works' mule again to see how she looks with these wheels on the front.

Was also wondering about the Lindberg steelies and how they would work with my rims. Well cutting them down a bit and they slide perfectly into the inner rim in my wide rims. Still a bit of messing about to do to come up with a rim combination to work with a narrow front rim for the Lindeberg centre. But it is another avenue to explore.

I am not really a big fan of the Lindberg steelie, but I have been modifying one of the centres to give it more of an early Ford steelie look about it. Sorry no images of that yet.
Also had a bit of a play with the no hole Halibrands. I cut out the centre that I pressed into one of the rims and added the wheel mounting flange/wheel nut/spindle assembly cut from a Lindeberg brake drum in it's place. This works, although adding indivdual nuts to my pressed in centre would work also!

I was in a charity shop this morning and purchased a couple of toys that have tyres that will work in 1/8th. No images yet so I will tell you about them later!
Geoff aka whoday
PS If I ever get around to actually building another 1/8th model, I am going to have no shortage of wheels and tyres to choose from. Which is definitely a good thing!

[xken]

Those are wheely nice!!!! Ken

[whodaky]

Thanks, Ken. I am really liking some of the different combinations I am coming up with.
Geoff aka whodaky

[Johnw]

Those rims turned out great, Geoff! They're made from aluminum cans too!? Thats awsome!