Removing hard rubber promo tires from rims? ..DONE!

[Foxer]

I have a 1/20 Promo of a 51 Plymouth, which I believe to be a Product Miniature Corp. promo. The wheels are a hard rubber and the rims are believed to be styrene. I have soaked them in hot tap water and they did soften but still are difficult to stretch far and I'm concerned about damaging these 60 year old tires. I want to soak them in boiling water but afraid that might be too hot.

I know this has been discussed here before and googling it didn't come up with anything.

Does anyone have any experience in this that could relate your experience?

these are the tires ...

Edited February 20, 2016 by Foxer

[yh70]

try soaking them longer ,or use a hair dryer..

[Tommy Isbister]

If your going to repaint or restore I would suggest masking the tires then hand sand the chassis to prep it for paint. Removing those tires is a recipe for disaster.

[Foxer]

If your going to repaint or restore I would suggest masking the tires then hand sand the chassis to prep it for paint. Removing those tires is a recipe for disaster.

This won't be a restoration and I have to replace the wheels with some that will reuse the tires since I don't have much for 1/20 tires in the original size. I also may have to reuse the original wheels but with grinding modifications so I can apply the new rims on top. I will keep your suggestion in mind and see if that's an option when I get the new rims.

[Ace-Garageguy]

That's a tough one. Have to be careful about temperature, or you'll permanently distort the rims (though that older styrene is probably a lot more thermally-stable than the garbage kits are made of now). Boiling, around 212 F, is the average temp where styrene deforms forever.

Hard to save both the tires AND the wheels in a case like this (where the tires are no longer pliable enough to roll off) but there's always the possibility of carefully grinding off the back-side of the rims adjacent to the tire.

Save the tire, save the part of the rim that shows.

That's all I got.

Edited February 3, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Foxer]

This sounds good ... I was worried about the temp of boiling. I'll try boiling some and letting it cool a bit where I can almost reach in. If that doesn't work it's gonna be grinding. I'l thinking I will have to grind the front face of the rims anyway so the originals only acy as wheel backs anyway.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone! 

[StevenGuthmiller]

One trick I have had good luck with is simply laying the wheel face down on some sort of "block" system that just contacts the tire & not the wheel & holds it about an inch from a hard surface like a concrete floor.

Then I just give the back of the wheels "light taps" with a hammer checking constantly to see if the wheel is working it's way out.

Eventually, it should pop out.

I've done this many times & have not broken a wheel yet.

But, I will add a disclaimer!

Use this technique at your own risk!

 

Steve

[Ace-Garageguy]

Great idea, Steve. What would work even better (if you have a reloading press) would be to make up a mandrel that would support the tire, and another one to support the wheel. You could then put slow and controlled pressure on the thing, watching all the time.

If you have w workbench you can screw something to, you could make up a little press to do this job from a couple pf lengths of steel stock, some bolts, and a door hinge.

Kinda elaborate, but if you really want to save the wheels AND the tires...

[Ace-Garageguy]

Whoa !!  You can do the press thing with the clamps you have here...It looks like the one on the far left should have enough height.

Support the tire with a ring of PVC pipe, and press the wheel through it using the screw (with an appropriate round washer to feed the load evenly into the wheel).

You may need a taller C-clamp to get everything in there, with the end of the clamp under the bench, of course, but it ought to work.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[StevenGuthmiller]

Great idea, Steve. What would work even better (if you have a reloading press) would be to make up a mandrel that would support the tire, and another one to support the wheel. You could then put slow and controlled pressure on the thing, watching all the time.

If you have w workbench you can screw something to, you could make up a little press to do this job from a couple pf lengths of steel stock, some bolts, and a door hinge.

Kinda elaborate, but if you really want to save the wheels AND the tires...

There you go Bill!

Even better!

That would save the "shock" of tapping with a hammer & possibly cracking something.

 

Steve

[Foxer]

One trick I have had good luck with is simply laying the wheel face down on some sort of "block" system that just contacts the tire & not the wheel & holds it about an inch from a hard surface like a concrete floor.

Then I just give the back of the wheels "light taps" with a hammer checking constantly to see if the wheel is working it's way out.

Eventually, it should pop out.

I've done this many times & have not broken a wheel yet.

Whoa !!  You can do the press thing with the clamps you have here...It looks like the one on the far left should have enough height.

Support the tire with a ring of PVC pipe, and press the wheel through it using the screw (with an appropriate round washer to feed the load evenly into the wheel).

You may need a taller C-clamp to get everything in there, with the end of the clamp under the bench, of course, but it ought to work.

 

Very interesting. That tall clamp has 1.5" spread. I don't need much more than 1/4" or so to press the tire out. I should be able to use pretty short lengths of tubes or dowels. Warming the tire with a hair dryer as I press should help too. I'll have to see what I have to rig that up. I'm waiting until I get the new rims before doing anything, though. I like this idea a lot.

[Mike Kucaba]

Have you tried applying a fine oil or some benign lubricant.?

[Art Anderson]

Chances are, those tires are a harder compound of PVC, which was common with 50's promo's, even the '58-'59 AMT Annual Series 3in1 kits.  However, that promo was probably molded in acetate plastic, given the shatter-proof qualities of acetate, as compared to the pure styrene that was the only styrene available in the early 50's. 

Art

[Foxer]

I really appreciate all the suggestions generously given and the tires are now off the wheels!

I made a press as suggested with a bottom of a pill bottle and a piece of a 3/4 plastic pipe. It all fit in my clamp and most went thru the process well, the hard tire softening under a heat gun as I slowly cranked down on the clamp. One wheel got a bit too hot and deformed but it will not affect the final piece. The original rims will be used only as wheel backs. Some resin rims fit perfectly in the tires from the front. The clamp also deformed on the last wheel with the pivoting end prying lose .. the clamp is dead.

Edited February 20, 2016 by Foxer

[Ace-Garageguy]

[Kit Basher]

..... the clamp is dead.

  I've done that before myself, trying to press the center out of a bearing. At least it was the last one, not the first one. Now you have an excuse to buy a better clamp! The wheels and tires look great.