Looking for tips or tricks for making deep dish rims.

[Dragonhawk1066]

Hey guys, I'm looking for any tips or tricks that any of you might have for making deep dish rims. As an example, I would like to make a deeper dish out of the rally wheels in the Revell '69 Camaro Z28 kit, rather than spending the $15-$20 for aftermarket. The aftermarket rims are well worth it, but being on a strict budget severely limits my spending options. I would also like to keep the rim size at the approximate 15" scale size so I don't need to buy 18"-20" scale size tires also. Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks.

 

The Revell Chevy Rally's

 

Real Chevy Rally's  from original size to approx. 15x10

[StevenGuthmiller]

There are lots of kits that contain extra "custom" wheel rims.

It's a relatively easy task to grind or sand the original rim down a bit and add the deeper rim.

 

I recently added a new rim to a set of Torque Thrusts on a build.

 

 

Steve

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

You can also use telescoping aluminum tube to make wheel "sleeves" similar to what is available commercially. Though without a lathe it's time consuming to cut and polish rings, it is entirely possible with a razor saw, a miter box, small files, and sandpaper of appropriate grit.

A few sticks of tubing will make rather a lot of sleeves with very minimal cost, and when polished, they look exactly like polished aluminum...because they are.

 

 

[Dragonhawk1066]

On ‎9‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 9:58 AM, StevenGuthmiller said:

There are lots of kits that contain extra "custom" wheel rims.

It's a relatively easy task to grind or sand the original rim down a bit and add the deeper rim.

 

I recently added a new rim to a set of Torque Thrusts on a build.

Thanks for the info, Steven. Those Torque Thrusts look fantastic, but I currently don't have any kits that include any extra wheel sleeves.

[Dragonhawk1066]

On ‎9‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 11:40 AM, Ace-Garageguy said:

You can also use telescoping aluminum tube to make wheel "sleeves" similar to what is available commercially. Though without a lathe it's time consuming to cut and polish rings, it is entirely possible with a razor saw, a miter box, small files, and sandpaper of appropriate grit.

Thanks for the info, Bill. I don't have access to a lathe or a mitre box so that pretty much exceeds my skill set, although I know there are many that can do this. I'm sure this process turns out some fantastic looking rims though.

[stitchdup]

1 hour ago, Dragonhawk1066 said:

Thanks for the info, Bill. I don't have access to a lathe or a mitre box so that pretty much exceeds my skill set, although I know there are many that can do this. I'm sure this process turns out some fantastic looking rims though.

a mitre box is pretty easy to make mate, you just need a saw, some square wood and a set square

[StevenGuthmiller]

8 hours ago, Dragonhawk1066 said:

Thanks for the info, Steven. Those Torque Thrusts look fantastic, but I currently don't have any kits that include any extra wheel sleeves.

You can always cut your own.

Find a kit with some deep dish rims that you will likely never use and saw the rim off with a razor saw.

 

That was how I was originally going to do the Torque Thrusts until I found a rim I liked better.

I wasn't necessarily going for a deeper wheel, but you get the picture.

 

 

Steve

 

 

[Dragonhawk1066]

On ‎10‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 12:07 PM, StevenGuthmiller said:

You can always cut your own.

Find a kit with some deep dish rims that you will likely never use and saw the rim off with a razor saw.

Thanks, I actually did this and managed to, as far as I can tell, cut both the rally and deeper rim straight. Unfortunately, it came out much deeper than needed. I have a different set that looks like would be perfect, but it won't be as easy as the first rim because there is no line or groove on the outside of the rim to distinguish where to cut. Not being a handyman and not very good with tools nor having very many, I can't quite figure out how to measure and cut the rim straight and evenly.

[stitchdup]

1 hour ago, Dragonhawk1066 said:

Thanks, I actually did this and managed to, as far as I can tell, cut both the rally and deeper rim straight. Unfortunately, it came out much deeper than needed. I have a different set that looks like would be perfect, but it won't be as easy as the first rim because there is no line or groove on the outside of the rim to distinguish where to cut. Not being a handyman and not very good with tools nor having very many, I can't quite figure out how to measure and cut the rim straight and evenly.

to get a straight edge there's a simple method I use. You will need a razor saw, enough masking tape to cover the face of the rim you are cutting and a few bits of something solid that is the same size you wish to remove from the wheel and the length of the saw blade. On a smoooth flat surface (I use an old photo frame) lay 2 strips of the wood parralell to each other. Place the blade of the saw on top of this and tape down firmly and lengthways. Take care to be sure at this point that the height is the same as what you wish to remove, and not on the spine of the saw. Next tape the face of the rim up to protect the chrome (I do this even if it will be painted to save the fine detail) Now put the rim face down and and start sliding it along the edge of the saw, rotating often and you will get a straight and level cut. The reason for laying the rim face down is its a level surface, while the back of some rims may look level to the eye, generally they have mounts which get inthe way. Hope this helps

EDIT: make sure to only put light pressure on the rim when cutting as you are removing all the strength from the rim and too much pressure could deform/break it

Edited October 8, 2019 by stitchdup

[StevenGuthmiller]

5 hours ago, Dragonhawk1066 said:

Thanks, I actually did this and managed to, as far as I can tell, cut both the rally and deeper rim straight. Unfortunately, it came out much deeper than needed. I have a different set that looks like would be perfect, but it won't be as easy as the first rim because there is no line or groove on the outside of the rim to distinguish where to cut. Not being a handyman and not very good with tools nor having very many, I can't quite figure out how to measure and cut the rim straight and evenly.

There's no need for any elaborate methods for getting the rims cut straight and uniform.

All that is required is an Exacto knife, a razor saw, a ruler and some 100 grit sand paper.

 

Cut your rim relatively straight with the razor saw and then get busy sanding!

 

I just set the cut side of the rim down on the sand paper laid on a flat surface and sand away, checking the measurement periodically and just looking at it by eye until they all look the same.

As you can tell in the above photo, the rims that I ultimately used were two different depths.

I just trimmed all of them down close to the depth that I desired with an Exacto knife and then just sanded the rest of the way.

 

The Torque Thrust part of the wheel just had the outer part of the rim trimmed off with an Exacto knife and then sanded flat to the next "step" of the rim.

 

 

Steve

Edited October 8, 2019 by StevenGuthmiller

[Dragonhawk1066]

6 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

There's no need for any elaborate methods for getting the rims cut straight and uniform.

All that is required is an Exacto knife, a razor saw, a ruler and some 100 grit sand paper.

 

Cut your rim relatively straight with the razor saw and then get busy sanding!

 

I just set the cut side of the rim down on the sand paper laid on a flat surface and sand away, checking the measurement periodically and just looking at it by eye until they all look the same.

As you can tell in the above photo, the rims that I ultimately used were two different depths.

I just trimmed all of them down close to the depth that I desired with an Exacto knife and then just sanded the rest of the way.

 

The Torque Thrust part of the wheel just had the outer part of the rim trimmed off with an Exacto knife and then sanded flat to the next "step" of the rim.

 

 

Steve

Sounds like a simple enough method. I'll get to working on the rims again real soon. Thank you,  I appreciate all of our help ??.

[Dragonhawk1066]

10 hours ago, stitchdup said:

to get a straight edge there's a simple method I use. You will need a razor saw, enough masking tape to cover the face of the rim you are cutting and a few bits of something solid that is the same size you wish to remove from the wheel and the length of the saw blade. On a smoooth flat surface (I use an old photo frame) lay 2 strips of the wood parralell to each other. Place the blade of the saw on top of this and tape down firmly and lengthways. Take care to be sure at this point that the height is the same as what you wish to remove, and not on the spine of the saw. Next tape the face of the rim up to protect the chrome (I do this even if it will be painted to save the fine detail) Now put the rim face down and and start sliding it along the edge of the saw, rotating often and you will get a straight and level cut. The reason for laying the rim face down is its a level surface, while the back of some rims may look level to the eye, generally they have mounts which get inthe way. Hope this helps

EDIT: make sure to only put light pressure on the rim when cutting as you are removing all the strength from the rim and too much pressure could deform/break it

Sounds like something I might be able to do, lol. Thank you for the help, I appreciate it ??.

[alan barton]

Over the years I always gathered any cheap or free NASCAR kits I could find as I build dirt track cars and the NASCAR frames, running gear and rollcages are great for that purpose.  Turns out some of the nicest deep dish chrome rims you will ever find are in those kits, so like everyone else has said, just measure twice, cut once and be prepared to sand to get a flat surface.

An added bonus is that if you use Monogram 1/24th scale NASCAR rims, they match up nicer to the 1/25th scale centres you might want to use.  From what I hear there is a glut of NASCAR kits around these days so they could fit your budget.

Cheers

Alan

[Deuces]

It helps if sand on a super flat surface in a figure 8 motion.... ?

[StevenGuthmiller]

6 hours ago, Deuces said:

It helps if sand on a super flat surface in a figure 8 motion.... ?

Correct.

I don't necessarily use a figure 8 motion, but at least circular.

 

 

Steve

[Dragonhawk1066]

15 hours ago, alan barton said:

Over the years I always gathered any cheap or free NASCAR kits I could find as I build dirt track cars and the NASCAR frames, running gear and rollcages are great for that purpose.  Turns out some of the nicest deep dish chrome rims you will ever find are in those kits, so like everyone else has said, just measure twice, cut once and be prepared to sand to get a flat surface.

An added bonus is that if you use Monogram 1/24th scale NASCAR rims, they match up nicer to the 1/25th scale centres you might want to use.  From what I hear there is a glut of NASCAR kits around these days so they could fit your budget.

Cheers

Alan

Thanks, good to know! I actually buy the NASCAR kits because I like to build NASCAR, but having extra ones around might not hurt.

[Dragonhawk1066]

10 hours ago, Deuces said:

It helps if sand on a super flat surface in a figure 8 motion.... ?

 

4 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Correct.

I don't necessarily use a figure 8 motion, but at least circular.

Thanks guys, I'm practicing on cutting and sanding them to get them even in the next couple of weeks.

[Casey]

On 10/16/2019 at 4:32 AM, Deuces said:

It helps if sand on a flat surface

400 grit 3M Wet-or-Dry sandpaper (don't use the flexible clear-backed wet sanding paper) on a piece of glass, granite, etc. will work great.

You may also want to look into the wheels from the AMT '69 Chevelle SS kit, as they are a bit deeper than standard Chevy Rally wheels, and have a separate center cap, which, IMHO, makes them easier to work with when modifying things. Not the best pic, but...:

Edited October 17, 2019 by Casey

[Dragonhawk1066]

33 minutes ago, Casey said:

You may also want to look into the wheels from the AMT '69 Chevelle SS kit, as they are a bit deeper than standard Chevy Rally wheels, and have a separate center cap, which, IMHO, makes them easier to work with when modifying things. Not the best pic, but...:

Oh, I like the looks of both of those sets of rims! I read some not so great things about that kit, but it seems I will have to look into it at least for parts. Thanks for the info!