rust repair; 16" wire wheels

[Slowplane]

I'm gathering a set of 16" K-H "bent spoke" wheels. A couple of 'em have fairly heavy pitting along the bead area inside the rim (maybe from sittin' in the woods for 40 years?).
Any suggestions on filling/smoothing this area before painting? (they will NOT be powdercoated)
Maybe a 2-part epoxy filler? ...or?
I believe they're nice enough to be repaired.
Thanks for any inputs.
Jeff

[1952henry]

IF the pitting is heavy, as you say, I'd have them looked at by a tire shop to make sure they are serviceable. If given the okay, then perhaps some two part epoxy, such as JBWeld or Devcon.

I wouldn't want to run with rims with questionable bead areas; there's a lot of stress in that area. YMMV

[hemifalcon]

Are you running inner tubes?

[Slowplane]

yes I'll be runnin' inner tubes

[FlatheadTed]

Sand blast then 2 K prime then Bondo .

[Fe26]

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I would be asking the question; what is it that supports the ends of my spokes? If the area's around the spoke nipples are heavily pitted then the spoke will not be well supported.

[hardtimes]

Originally Posted by Slowplane

I'm gathering a set of 16" K-H "bent spoke" wheels. A couple of 'em have fairly heavy pitting along the bead area inside the rim (maybe from sittin' in the woods for 40 years?).
Any suggestions on filling/smoothing this area before painting? (they will NOT be powdercoated)
Maybe a 2-part epoxy filler? ...or?
I believe they're nice enough to be repaired.
Thanks for any inputs.
Jeff

Hey Jeff,
I went thru same thing with a couple sets of these wheels. I'd like to see pictures of condition of which you speak ,i.e.-pitting. Then maybe able to give you better advice,eh !
BTW...I chose Coker tires, etc for my wheels. Coker had developed a new old style tire from an original mold...but added steel belt ! Great tires. Now with the spoke rims, the guy at the Coker outlet (up San Fran way) said that they also developed a TUBE specifically for this setup...and it was indeed heavy rubber. I also liked the little tube safety item/touch that he showed me. It is a simple plastic/whatever thing made to stick out of the rim and on the tube stem..to protect tube from being cut by rim during inflation/flexing,etc. Great idea. Good luck