Rebuilding 801 PA Rims?

Lynn Patrick

Well-known Member
I am in the process of rebuilding a terribly rusted out PA rim on my "new" 881. I have a new rim purchased & have 2 of the 4 "rails" off & cleaned, ready to weld on. My question: do any of you have a good way to remove & clean up these "rails"? I have used a 4" grinder w/thin metal cutting blades (it takes a LOT!), a panel cutting air gun (too wimpy!), a big grinder (to clean up the spot welds), and mostly a big hammer & chisel. I'm worn out & have 2 to go!! Any suggestions? How did you do it??
Thanks in advance!
Lynn
 
I would expect that the easiest way would be to cut the rails off with a cutting torch and clean them up with a large grinder.

Note: Keep the rails properly indexed and install on the new rim in the same position relative to the valve stem hole.

Dean
 
Thanks Dean. I placed the old rim on top of the new one, used a straight edge to mark where they are to go, then marked each rail so I would not mix them up. I plan to used the center disc to hold them in place while welding.
The 4 welds on the ends are easy. It's the 9 or 12 spot welds that are driving me nuts! They are hard to find & even harder to cut.
 
ditto what dean said.

I did a set and my buddy did a set. he was torching his, I started with an air vibro cutter and quickly switched to a torch.

if the rails are rusty, then toss them into an electrolysis bath, then clean up with a grinder.

DO make sure you mark the new rim with the old one to get it spaced correctly!
 
Torch was not an option yesterday, so I ended up using my 9" grinder to grind out the spot welds from the rim side, then used a chisel & big hammer to break them loose. Worked much easier than any other way I had tried.
Now to get them lined up properly today!
Thanks for the responses.
Lynn
 
keep us posted.

when you get them on, don't be alarmed if the center disc is darn tight. with the way welds pull when cooling, sometimes you get fractions of milimeters off for perfect alignment.

I cleaned my center disg with a knotted wire cup to remove any rust, and then greased it.

I cleaned the rails on the rim with a wire disc on an angle grinder to get in the lil channels.

The rails were good with no rust, but getting that center past about 3/4 of a revoloution to get it started was rough at first. I then took an old air chissle flat hammer and it buzzed the rim center the rest of the way around so that it was fully engaged in all 4 tracks.. from there i was happy to install her and let the tractor do the rest of the power adjsuting... just didn't want to stick it on without it fully engaged all the way around.

Some dork had even welded my centers to the tracks ALL the way around, and added in lil gusset strips too. took me forever to cut all that crap off.
 
You are so right about that 3/4 turn wall it hits! I had already done all you did & finally got it past the 3/4 mark. It went fairly easy to the full turn & is now up to the 4th rail, but I was interrupted, so will get back to it this morning.
I like your idea of the air hammer! May have to try that! I plan to try to screw it in about 1/2 way before I weld anything. That should assure it being in place.
I guess if it was easy anybody could do it!
Thanks again,
Lynn
 

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