Grassroots wheel repair

So I am refinishing these cool Pedrini basketweaves and one of them has a ding

I tried a block of wood and a 3lb hammer for an hour and got nowhere. These puppies are tough, Must have been a hell of a crub that bit it

Today I had an idea, and gave it a go.

My trusty 3 jaw puller loaned out one of its arms and pivots

A piece of 3/8" thick 3" angle formed the fulcrum, some 1/2"X1" stock the body and some scrap 3/4" tubing acts as a handle

Looks like what I had in mind so lets give it a go

Hey it fits! The tough part was holding the wheel. At first I clamped it to my workbench and promptly tore the bench top off of it. Wedged it under the deck in the backyard and lifted that right off its footings. I ended up jacking up the rear of the convertible and setting its tire down on the wheel face, then I was able to apply some force. I moved the tool three times and managed a pretty good radius.

Not perfect but 99% better

it does look better. You have more balls than me to try something like that.

Excellent work, good idea!

Bryce

genius

things like this are why i love this board

While the welder is warm, build a small tripod with a heavy base and a mount flange for a hub assembly and bolt the wheel down on it ;)

That is by the way the coolest DIY I have seen on this board.

Totally sweet. I managed to pound flat spots out of two bent Momos that I had years ago. They held up fine. That was with the wood block + hammer technique.

We took out a Roadmaster with the Toyota Truck once. Bent the steel rim and broke a tie rod end. I put a new tie rod end on and beat the rim back to about round with a 4 lb sledge hammer on the side of the road. Still using it today, 12 years later. Buick pieces all over the road. They towed the Roadmaster off.