Not for the faint of heart.....

[Licensed to kill]

8 minutes ago, Vladislav said:

My understanding is those shields were important when seals were not efficient enough. My 1945 Mack truck had hub seals made of leather. Modern stuff wouldn't allow any greas to go out if all was centered well during machining so my guess you will be Ok with what you've done.

That was what I figured as well. Of course the hubs were an oil bath on the original truck but I chose to grease the bearings anyways partly because, even though the seals are new, they were never designed to hold in oil so I didn't know how they would fair as oil bath, and I didn't see the point of oil bath anyway for the few hundred miles this thing will see. 

[Brocky]

5 hours ago, Freightrain said:

Now that I got them painted up better, I'll likely leave them.  Though shiny aluminum is nice to look at too.

Larry, I know I am an old fart who likes originality.. And Spokes are period correct!! To me too much bling takes away the Historical look..

[Vladislav]

23 minutes ago, Licensed to kill said:

Problem with the angle grinder idea is that it had to be stepped down to go into the back plate so there is 1/2" on the very end that is about 17.5" OD going g into the back plate then it steps up to the big OD of about 18.5" or so. The reason that it took so long is that, being such a large diameter AND having to hold from the inside with the chuck jaws, (and perhaps due to the fact that it is cast) it had to be turned very slow or it would chatter. When I took them in, the machinist estimated 45 minutes for the first one and 30 minutes for the second but was concerned about the aforementioned issues. It ended up taking 2 hours and he rushed as quickly as he could. He felt bad and offered to take the difference out of his salary but it is what it is. I don't expect anyone too work for free or at a loss. 

Your truth it is. I forgot about that shoulder. And any (good) work should be payed up. You could accept his offer but doubtly would be able to make another job done there. And sure it wouldn't be honest.

I had experience reconditioning working surface on 16.5" brake drums for Mack spoke hubs. Had to drive to the opposite side of the city (nearly 40km of traffic) to a shop with a lathe big enough. Good thing I asked (twice) on accurate centering the drums in the chuck when spoke by phone with a manager. A guy in the shop put first drum on the lathe (by the outside of the jaws since the hole was really large) and was going to cut. I asked for a dial gauge... He showed out big surprize and after I said I was promized the check he went to a shelf and picked up a stand with a gauge. All in all it took him nearly 30 minutes to center up each drum and then nearly 10 minutes or so to cut. Slow revs indeed. So he spent nearly 3 hours cutting 4 drums. And that cost me crazy money. Something US $40 apiece that time

[mowerman]

On 1/27/2022 at 1:15 PM, Brocky said:

Larry, LEAVE THE SPOKES!!!!!!!!!!!

God love you I grew up with spoke wheels I’ve been on the West Coast for 42 years I still think the spokes are the shits ….. But this is what this guy wanted so glad he got what He needed it’s his truck ….. Bob