2 Wheels or 4.
In the beginning early motorcars used wire wheels from approximately late 1800’s and through to about 1970's for sports car use and looks. There was a variety of patterns used by the makers with the Rudge Whitworth style being the most common.
Most of the vintage car wheels I rebuild start off from blank rims which I dimple and drill. Then I make up all the spokes, usually 360 for five wheels followed by the assemblies. Finishing is paint or powdercoat and occasionally in chrome or other special finishes. There is a lot of work that goes into these wheels to make them “just right”. The final result is always a pleasure to look at, and certainly helps “make the car”.
Vintage car wheels.
Rudge Whitworth pattern, 70 spokes (28,28,14) using butted spokes 6/7ga with .300”dia nipples. 21” dia rim. Rudge 52 wheel centre. Basically this is a typical vintage sports car wheel from the 1920’s. The hub offsets can vary from car to car. Bentley, Rolls Royce, Sunbeam and many more used these wheels which are very pleasing to look at.
Look at the slide show on the right.
Borrani - made in Milan Italy
72 spokes (24,24,24) using butted spokes 6/8ga and 5/7ga with .275” and .300” dia nipples depending on the type of wheel. The pictures show a set of Ferrari wheels. Ferrari and Maserati use Borrani wheels on most of their pre 1970 cars. Beautifully designed. You will find these with part numbers and date stamps. The spoke lengths and head angles have to be fairly precise to make Borrani’s easier to assemble. The rims are alloy and polished. The hubs are pressed steel and chrome plated. Spokes originally were chromed but I usually restore these with polished stainless steel spokes.
Look at the slide show on the right.
