[Mark Simiele]

I lost my inside dirt cheap upstate NY storage for my project 67 Bonneville convertible and its now here in Danbury, CT as of April 10 at a storage facility, so nice to have it home but a simple move has now become a big project just to get it indoors. Here is my dilemma and sorry for the long winded post.

Its covered up now from the weather (seemed so strange covering up a car that needs everything and most would part out) but I need to get the car inside the storage garage soon and car is a total non running project so it wont move on its own power (no carb, alternator, battery, not run in years) and needs to be put inside with the help of a flatbed but three of the ancient tires are dry rotted and basically off the 8 lug wheels since the trucker had to drag the car off the flatbed. I need to get three new cheap tires to mount on the rims to make it roll enough to get on the truck but it's so listing so low in the areas with dead tires there is no room to get a jack under there. I have maybe three inches of space to work with.

The car is too far away from any power sources to get power to it for electricity to get the tires off or run a compressor so they will have to come off by hand but how the heck am I going to get the car raised up to begin with? and, since I am not familiar with 8 lug rims at all, do you think they will be frozen on the drums and real hard to remove to get decent tires re-mounted? Any ideas for some cheapo tires?

I almost need a mobile service truck with air bags and a generator/compressor like the ones that work on big rigs when they are disabled!

Thanks for your help for your ideas with what you would do because I need em.

[GPCONV]

If you own a floor jack you should be able to get it under the rear axle tube for jacking the rear up, I've also jacked on the rear frame section behind the rear axle, just make sure it's a solid frame. It's real handy if you have one of the cheapo jacks where the handle comes apart in the middle for clearance underneath. Make sure you loosen the 5 lugnuts that hold the drum BEFORE you jack it too high. Once you get the car up a ways you can cement block the frame just in front of the rear wheel where the lower control arm bolts into the frame, then lower the jack from the axle and move to the frame near the block, at this point there will be enough room to fit the jack under the front of the frame behind the front wheel. Remove the 8 lugs with the drums attached. With the fronts just remove the cotter pin, castle nut and bearing to pull it off with the wheel/drum assembly, then you can unbolt the front rims from the drums. Mounting the tires can be done with the rear drums bolted to the 8 lug rims if you can find somebody with an old coats tire machine with a center post hold down, not the kind with the arms that grip the rim, altough I'm sure a smart guy could make that work too for a tip. Tires, hell people pay to have them disposed of, I'm sure a tire or Goodyear shop will give some baldies away. The only problems you could run into is if the wheels won't spin at all and the drums are seized to the shoes, then you might have to find somebody with a torch to cut the adjusters through the access holes... so you got that brass hat car, very cool options and color, good luck with it and keep us updated with pics!

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by GPCONV

If you own a floor jack you should be able to get it under the rear axle tube for jacking the rear up, I've also jacked on the rear frame section behind the rear axle, just make sure it's a solid frame. It's real handy if you have one of the cheapo jacks where the handle comes apart in the middle for clearance underneath. Make sure you loosen the 5 lugnuts that hold the drum BEFORE you jack it too high. Once you get the car up a ways you can cement block the frame just in front of the rear wheel where the lower control arm bolts into the frame, then lower the jack from the axle and move to the frame near the block, at this point there will be enough room to fit the jack under the front of the frame behind the front wheel. Remove the 8 lugs with the drums attached. With the fronts just remove the cotter pin, castle nut and bearing to pull it off with the wheel/drum assembly, then you can unbolt the front rims from the drums. Mounting the tires can be done with the rear drums bolted to the 8 lug rims if you can find somebody with an old coats tire machine with a center post hold down, not the kind with the arms that grip the rim, altough I'm sure a smart guy could make that work too for a tip. Tires, hell people pay to have them disposed of, I'm sure a tire or Goodyear shop will give some baldies away. The only problems you could run into is if the wheels won't spin at all and the drums are seized to the shoes, then you might have to find somebody with a torch to cut the adjusters through the access holes... so you got that brass hat car, very cool options and color, good luck with it and keep us updated with pics!

Mark, If your going to be under the car or have hands or arms under it even for a matter of a few seconds please DON'T use cement blocks. Wooden blocks (I use 2 X 6,8,10s cut in 8"-12" lengths piled up) or short jackstands. Too many times I have seen them fail with no warning and a 60s full size car can't be lifted by anyone I know. Other than that the plan sounds good.

[GPCONV]

I've heard of people being scared of cement blocks, but I have have yet to see one fail in my 35+ years of using them especially the solid ones. They're fine if used in the correct placement as in the way they're stacked for your house and with added wood top and bottom supports even better. It's obvious that anything can go wrong when working on a car and it all depends on the location and conditions. If you're on cement then yes, jackstands are optimal, but even jackstands will sink and tip in asphalt. If you're on soft ground then the block with wood reinforcements is much better, and even then if your on a slope or grade proper placement or moving the car alltogether is imperative. This is all common sense stuff and if you're not sure of what you're doing or scared of the situation then have somebody who knows what they're doing (as in a tow service) do it for you. NO car is worth risking your life or limb for.

By the way Sir, nice take on God.

[mike nixon]

Why not jack the car up and put a set of dollies under the wheels instead of screwing around with the drums / wheels now?

MIke

[Mark Simiele]

All good ideas guys and thanks as I need them. Regarding the dollies, think they would stay under the wheels/tires when winched on/off the flatbed to get it into the storage unit? I saw some USA made dollies for $200.

I will get some pictures up here too in about a week or so.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by GPCONV

I've heard of people being scared of cement blocks, but I have have yet to see one fail in my 35+ years of using them especially the solid ones. They're fine if used in the correct placement as in the way they're stacked for your house and with added wood top and bottom supports even better. It's obvious that anything can go wrong when working on a car and it all depends on the location and conditions. If you're on cement then yes, jackstands are optimal, but even jackstands will sink and tip in asphalt. If you're on soft ground then the block with wood reinforcements is much better, and even then if your on a slope or grade proper placement or moving the car alltogether is imperative. This is all common sense stuff and if you're not sure of what you're doing or scared of the situation then have somebody who knows what they're doing (as in a tow service) do it for you. NO car is worth risking your life or limb for.

By the way Sir, nice take on God.

My father, which had been a mechanic all his life warned me many times about cement blocks breaking, and of course I thought he was full of it as most kids do. I never thought cement blocks would break either until I saw it with my own eyes. I was scrapping an old chevy truck and the tire was flat on it. I took the wheel off to take it and get some air in the tire and the truck sat on the block for maybe 5 mins. and it just crumbled with no warning, right down on the ground. Since then no way will I use them and luckily no one was reaching under or around when it crumbled. Anyway, good luck Mark.

The G-T-O is on one of the shirts we sell. The idea was given to me last year by one of our customers at a show. I liked it and had a shirt made from the idea.

[Mark Simiele]

Spoke to the trucker and he said the dollys could become dislodged when winching the car up onto the flatbed so need to get the wheels/tires off. I got my hands on a 24 inch piece of 6x6 landscaping railroad tie that I will cut into four 6 inch blocks and use some pieces of 2x4 as well to block it up. Will try to get it done this weekend and I will keep you guys posted. Then onto removing the wheels/tires. It sure would be easier if they were just Rally II wheels or plain steel rims instead of 8 lugs. I am a GTO guy and they seem so strange to me but they are great looking.

[GPCONV]

Was it a cement block or an old cinder block? Cinder blocks are weaker and I could see one of those crumbling for no reason.

Originally Posted by Sirrotica

My father, which had been a mechanic all his life warned me many times about cement blocks breaking, and of course I thought he was full of it as most kids do. I never thought cement blocks would break either until I saw it with my own eyes. I was scrapping an old chevy truck and the tire was flat on it. I took the wheel off to take it and get some air in the tire and the truck sat on the block for maybe 5 mins. and it just crumbled with no warning, right down on the ground. Since then no way will I use them and luckily no one was reaching under or around when it crumbled. Anyway, good luck Mark.

The G-T-O is on one of the shirts we sell. The idea was given to me last year by one of our customers at a show. I liked it and had a shirt made from the idea.

Hey Mark, it's no different than pulling brake drums except it's easier to pull wheel and all.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by GPCONV

Was it a cement block or an old cinder block? Cinder blocks are weaker and I could see one of those crumbling for no reason.

Cement block, I know the difference and yes they do break, if not you'd never see a cracked foundation which I have seen plenty of. All it takes to have a weak one is a bad batch of cement. I don't see any quality standard of inspection at Home Depot next to the blocks they sell guaranteeing them to hold up a 4000 # car. They are hard and brittle and porous the adhesion of all the aggregates are not 100% predictable. A mason can split one with a sharp blow with their hammer. There are a lot better alternatives that are safer and just as cheap and if just one person is saved from being crushed under a car by reading this all the better. This is my last post on the subject and if you feel all warm and cozy under a car on cement blocks so be it, but please don't endorse the practice to others. Mark, I apologize for the rant on your post, but I was trying to educate some of the people here by my first hand experience and maybe save someone from being hurt.


It looks like you might be replacing some tires where it sits, Good luck on your project and I hope the weather holds for you.

Brad Yost