Change wheels.

[Jalopy Tin]

I was going to change wheels from wooden to wire wheels today. To 21" Model A ones with adaptors. When i disassemble the wooden wheel i find that the gap between spokes and hub is filled with...lead..?? or metal filler. All hubs are stuck..
An easy job now turned into a problem. Is that the way they did it back then or is this a modern cure? The car had a complete restore in the 70's. Is there a solution to loosen the hubs without destroying the wheel/spokes? All four wheels sadly has this.

 

[Layden B]

These wheels seem to have been on other make of hubs that had a larger diameter, at some time. The lead was used to fill what would have been a void between the end of the spokes and the hub. Notice that there is also another bolt pattern. Since we cannot see the rest of the wheel it is possible that the wheels are not Model T or were put on some other car during their life and then returned to a Model T during the restoration of your car. As cheap and readily available as wood wheel hubs are, I would suggest finding another set of hubs to use with your adapters and leave these alone.

 

[Jalopy Tin]

Well i see.. now i understand why my car runs like a camel.. the tires are Firestone 4.50-5.00x19 and the rims says Hayes. Thanks for Your reply, Layden B. This is my wheels.

 

[Jack Innes]

Extra hubs may be hard to find in Sweden & your wheels are for something non-Ford around 1930/31 so they would need to come off the T hubs to be of any use. Perhaps you could drill a series of small holes all the way around through the filler & try to press them apart. A heat gun might loosen it as well if it is a body filler type of material.

 

[Layden B]

Hayes number 350 have 4 attached lugs, are 19" split rims, and came as original equipment on some Overland model 96 and 96A cars from 1926 thru 1929, during this time there was a name change on the cars to Whippet.
The increase in diameter will be quite noticeable!