wire wheels

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Hi I am a new member of the P-A Society and am looking for 5 wire wheels for my 1935 1245 cov. coupe that I recently purchased any help would be greatly appreciated would consiter buy a complete car.

Thank You

Jim Staley

cell 914 772 7041

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Hello Jim. Welcome to the PAS, and congratulations on the purchase of your ’35 1245 Convertible Coupe.

Just a ‘heads-up regarding wire wheels for your 1245. The V12 cars had a rolled-rim wheel. The 8 cylinder cars had a conventional rim on the drop center wheels.

The rolled rim on the V12 wheels creates a tube on the outer diameter of the rim, and it had a single drain hole. Water got trapped inside the rolled rim and corroded the inside of the tube. There is no way to inspect the inside of the tube for rust. What this means is that any wheels you find should be expected to be corroded inside, unless you can find some wheels that can be confirmed to have been stored out of the weather, or on a car that resided in the dry southwest.

I do not know if anyone is reproducing the rolled rim wheel at this time. I know Coker Tire does reproduce some wheel rims, but I do not know if they make the correct wheel for your car.

I think that Kelsey Hayes made the wire wheels for your car. You could check with Kelsey Hayes to see if they can make the rolled rims. I’m pretty sure that Kelsey Hayes will re-spoke the wire wheels on Pierce cars. but I do not know if they can make hubs or rims.

Hope this information helps.

Greg Long

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The 1935 8’s and 12’s both had the rolled bead wheels. The width between the beads on the wheels for the 8’s is 4.00 inches and for the 12’s 4.19 inches. Greg’s caution on assuring that the drain hole is open on the edge of the bead is a very important safety matter. It is important that this little hole be kept open when refinishing these wheels. If water trapped in the bead causes rusting, this will more likely appear first on the inner side of the bead.

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Thanks Paul, I did not know that the rolled rim was on both 8’s and 12’s.

Greg Long

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Hi Gregory and H.Paul, Thanks for the information. My car has two side mounts but had no tires or rims with it when I purchased it. I was able to get one rim on Ebay and it is 4.19 wide. The other four rims on the car are wire but with no bead, not sure what there are for but maybe they might be good of some one else.

Again thanks for the information.

Jim Staley

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Hi Jim, because the internal corrosion in the rolled rim wheels, many V12 cars have the 8 cylinder wheels on them.

If your intent is to have your car 100% correct and be judged at prestigious events, then finding good, safe rolled-rim wheels is a project to pursue.

But, if your car is going to be driven a lot, and driven with modern traffic, and losing a few points for the non-rolled-rim wheels is not a big issue for you, I’d continue to use the 8cylinder wheels. The 8cylinder wheels can be inspected on all surfaces for corrosion or cracks. You do not want to have a blowout at freeway speeds.

You can see in the image an 8cyl conventional type rim, in the back is a V12 rim with the rolled rim. As you can see, the rolled rim encloses a lot of steel that cannot be painted, sealed or inspected.

Greg Long

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Here is another image of the two type of wheel rims

Greg Long

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Greg Thanks for the photos the rolled rim does present some

interesting issues

Jim

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