Wheel Rims

Since I'm waiting for my clutch puller to arrive in order to finish the engine dismantling I decided to focus on the wheels today. They looked pretty bad and I was not expecting much but I had nothing to lose in trying. I grabbed some gloves and steel wool and headed the back yard.


This is what I started with. There was a lot of discoloration, pitting, and rust.

It's hard to believe what was under all that crud and how relatively easy it was to bring the chrome out from under it all.


After about an hour of rubbing I had a pretty good looking rim.

Yes, that's a missing spoke. No I didn't polish the spokes yet. I didn't even touch them as I plan to take them out to polish them and the spoke nipples. Here is another shot showing the before and after contrast.





I did barely manage to get the front tire off of the rim. It wasn't easy as the tire was very hard and didn't want to come off. I finally had to cut the tire and cords. I'm going to have to do the same to the rear but that's for another day.









Next up:
1) Getting a valve spring compressor and removing the valves
2) Removing the clutch
3) Splitting the cases to finish the dismantling
4) Cleaning of all the parts so I can figure out what needs to be replaced

From there: engine work, painting, polishing, wiring, purchasing parts, assembly, and riding! I can't wait.