Rangie steel rims

[Loanrangie]

Hi guys, i was just looking at the spare set of stock steel rims i have lying around and wondering how i would go reversing the rims. The centers are only held in with cold rivets so it would be easy to grind the heads off , tap them out then reverse rim and then either weld or cold rivet back together. Any suggestions are welcome - i know Ranuki has offset rims on his 4dr ute.

thanks,
nick.

[Nick (in the Falklands!)]

....Should'nt be a problem...the competition people in UK used to go in for that a bit.....You'll have to re-drill the valve hole & plug the old one...if you don't, the calipers'll have the front ones off first turn...

I've made wide rims up for several of our Landies now, (Like 1-Ton & F/C wheels) by knocking the 6-stud centre out of 101" rims & welding in
standard 5-stud centres.

The rivets will probably be partially countersunk as well as what you see
in the rim well...so just grinding or chiselling that off is not enough...&
grinding the head off from the inside looks easier than it is...!!

I prefer to drill each rivet first with a well-centred 3/16" bit (as thats about the stem dia.) & go down about 1/4". Then using a suitable strong taper drift or punch, the rivet should come right out or at least clear the rim hole & stay wedged in the centre disc hole....the rivet 'ring' will stay on the drift...

I have no idea how hard the RR rim rivets are, but as the rivetted rims seem to be an early- vehicle feature, (at least for the home market ones)
& the 101"s were conceived around the same time, they could be quite soft... I would much rather drill & punch 16 101" rivets per rim than the
12 you get in 1960's Series Landie rims...they must have been left over from tank building in the war; they're so hard..!!

Now, where you get new rivets.....I have no idea..! (As mentioned before, I electric-glued mine, as I was adding extra offset too...the alignment game is a real guddle, & allowance needs to be made for
'pulling' whilst welding.

[daddylonglegs]

I find that it is much easier and quicker to chisle the rivets off.
( about 8 minutes per wheel) Just clamp the nice sharp cold chisle in a pair of mole grips so that you don't break your hand if you miss, and bang away. once the rivet heads have been sheared off, the stems usually drift out easily with a pin punch. some may drop out on their own while you are shearing off the remainder..
If you have a wheel works in your city, the cost of them doing the whole job for you is about AUS$45 per wheel.
Bill.

[Aquarangie]

That's what good about the old Rangie rims, easy to modify

Pity they didn't make them in a 7 inch width as I think that are better than tthe Disco rims anyway.

Trav

[Loanrangie]

I thought about chiseling the rivet heads off but i dont want to stretch the holes as i will use them to position the rim once its reversed. I want to avoid paying someone to do them , how would i go welding them ?

[RANUKI]

Nick has pretty much nailed it for you, The rivets are soft and I just use a grinder to cut the top of them
and then punch the rest out

Then spin the centre and line up with holes (not always possible), use bolts through holes to line up centre
Take your measurements from the j-lok (grove on rim) to make sure you are straight. Remove one
bolt at a time and plug weld the holes.

Get them checked for balance at this stage to make sure you are on line. If right then add a 5 1" welds
to the inside of the rim to add strength (stock centres can deform under heavy load). Dont forget to move
the valve hole to other side rim as Nick explained.

Have them checked for balance again just before fitting tyres.

N.B. You can NOT reverse very early rims as the only have a single J-lok, this could become very dangerous.
You can also get wider rings (outer rim) from some mag shops and put these on, that is what i did
so my rims were 8" wide with stock centres

Hope that helps

Ben