Does anyone know of a good method or article on restoring dayton wire wheels? I had a slow leak that got worse after tightening a loose spoke, so I want to reseal the wheel.

I can't figure out how to get all the old silicone out. I scraped most off but a wire wheel doesnt do much for the fine bits.

(Pre-scraped)

 

Bought mine with a set of Daytons. Took them to my tire guy and he just shook his head. Impossible to balance (137k miles).

Problem is not just the coating, but the balance. Dayton does not recommend putting them on XJ-series cars because they are just too heavy. Over time they will warp and bend, and it will be a never ending battle. They might look perfect and beautiful, but when you've got to worry about tolerances on 72 spokes, they'll never be good again.

If yours are low mileage, they might be salvageable and maybe usuable a little longer, but it may be very costly.

Here's what mine looked like:


Padre

 

They don't "go bad," and it isn't an endless battle, the wires just have to be adjusted after a while. You can't fix it with wheel weights because the wheel itself is out of round, as in your wheel is an oval because the tension isn't properly adjusted all the way around. Needing this adjustment every 100k-200k doesn't warrant throwing them in the bin to me.

These days you have to send them to a specialist to get them properly adjusted since the monkeys at tire places likely have never seen a wire wheel before. Mine are not out of round or I would have noticed it last time I balanced them, one or 2 spokes being loose isn't a big deal if the rest are still holding it in the proper place. You CAN do it at home, but you have to make a jig to put it on, you need a hub to spin the wheel on and a dial indicator, from there it is incredibly tedious (I've watched a friend do MG wheels).

I'm not tossing them because the sealant went bad. Once replaced, it'll last another 30 years, so that doesn't bother me. I can't warrant the price of sending them to someone who works on them, either a british or lowrider outfit, when all they need is sealant.

I'm just trying to figure out how to get the silicone out of the crevices and stuff


Btw I'd never go to that guy for tires ever again.


EDIT: If dayton tells me my car is too heavy for wires, I will send them a jpeg of a duesenberg. Typically wires go out of round from banging curbs and then ignorant tire shop guys deem the foreign looking part to be unfixable.

 

I use Denatured Alcohol Solvent to remove silicone. It does seem to help break it down, although slightly, but I haven't done wheels before.

 

Thanks for the "gentle" reprimand.

Mine were just so bad when I picked up the car, it was undriveable.

But you did spur me to do some research, and looks like I can get them "trued" for $100-200 each (not counting shipping a 30lb hunk of metal). I may do that before I sell them on eBay.



Padre

 

I went "old school" and put inner tubes in mine. No problems so far.

 

Just an FYI, but my '90 XJS conv came with Dayton 72 spoke wire wheels installed by the original dealer. Never had any problems or issues with balancing.

There were problems with the 60 spoke wheels, which were incorrectly fitted to XJ6s or XJSs.

 

I don't know if the chemistry will cross applications here (is there any finish on the wheels that could be harmed?), but I've learned a few tricks in restoring Corvettes. The side mirrors get loose and the little rivets inside need to be re-peened to tighten them up. To remove the original dated mirror glass, which are glued in with dabs of clear silicone, the trick is to soak them face down in a bowl of mineral spirits paint thinner overnight. Come out in the morning and the mirror glass will be in the bottom of the bowl and four super soft spongy donuts of silicone will be floating in the soup. I wonder if the same trick could be used to remove the silicone sealer from the wire wheels. Would be an awfully big bowl of mineral spirits though.

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll try leaving a spirit soaked rag on a section to see what it does, I don't think it should bother the nickel/chrome

 

Yeah I wasn't trying to really give you a hard time, it is just that the topic of wires don't come up often, and when they do it is hearsay worse than Jag electronics. They were used in so many applications prior to the 70s, it is hard to consider thinking they have a design fault making them nearly useless.

Get the ones trued that you need to, no reason to ship them all out if you only have one that got smacked on a curb. The shipping sucks, but you can always make whatever back by selling them. Last I checked they were still around $300 a piece

 

Perhaps you'll find this useful:

Solutions and Solvents for Removing Silicone: A Practical Guide | Solid State Technology

https://www.dowcorning.com/applicati....aspx?R=9982EN