Pram Restoration Update: Tire Removal
Quick update on the status of the vintage baby buggy.
The kind people at luxuryprams.com confirmed they will be able to replace the tires on our pram so we began the process of removing and cleaning the rims.
The old solid rubber tires had completely lost their elasticity and become brittle. It appeared to be impossible to remove the tire from the rim in tact. We decided to saw a portion off in order to get better angle to dislodge the tire from the rim.
What worked best for us was sawing two lines to the rim and then using a screwdriver to pry off that section of tire. Once we got that section off, we were able to get under the tire and remove the rest of it intact. It was a dusty process since the tires were so brittle so be sure to wear a mask and goggles!
The tires from luxuryprams.com are built to spec so they requested three different measurements from us.
End to end measurement of the rim
Width of the outer portion of the rim
Width of the interior portion of the rim
Once we had the tires off, we were able to get these measurements rather easily. Our Baby’s Cars Vintage pram has 12” rims and a width of 24mm. We sent the measurements and photos of the measurements to luxuryprams.com and we should receive the tires in 4-6 weeks. The cost of all four tires was $138 and there was an additional $48 to ship the tires from the Netherlands to the United States.
After taking the measurements, we began the process of cleaning the rims. We gave the rims a similar treatment as the rest of the chrome. We used steel wool and some WD-40 to remove as much of the rust as possible. This was really effective for the outer and center portion of the wheel. The steel wool wasn’t as effective on the spokes.
After getting running over the spokes with some steel wool, we switched to Scotch-Brite pads. It was tedious but much more effective and the final product was noticeably cleaner.
