Nice article in that last link! An old-time dirt track racer in my home town is doing this same thing YEARS ago, without a dial gauge to measure runout. He used one of his solid axles clamped to a work bench for a holding fixture, then used a nail clamped to run just inside the edge of the rim. If the tip of the nail doesn't just touch, it's not right! He told me once that this was good enough for dirt track, but didn't think he'd do it for a street car. The dial indicator probably doesn't get any closer, depends on how much contact with the nail he felt was good enough.
I think he just didn't feel it was worth the risk of a failure on the street -- street wheels were available (still are!) for most applications. If you wanted wide wheels, you bought aftermarket in the "old days", you didn't worry about using the stock "dog dish" hub caps. That's a more current trend for "retro rods" and "nostalgic" builds. Back then (and even in the early 80s when I started rodding) most people wanted custom wheels, not custom width stock looking wheels!
This guy is in his mid 60s now and still runs his own shop. Doesn't do much heavy work like building and replacing engines anymore, but still has his old dirt trackers and lots of parts. I visit every time I get a chance when I'm back home, he's a wealth of info on all sorts of things, and for some reason I remember most of what he's told me over the years. The wheel info is something he told me 15-20 years ago when I noticed the welds on one of his dirt car wheels. He's "restored" the old things (early 30s modifieds) and occasionally takes one of the two out for exhibition runs at local tracks -- at least he used to. Haven't stopped by in nearly two years!! Will have to make it a priority next visit.
On the back of one of the cars is a Barris style painting of a guy with a flat head sticking out of the top of a 30's style dirt track car with the shifter sticking out too. This fellow ran flat head Ford V-8s well into the 70s until they finally stopped running the early modifieds, and usually placed 2nd-4th in a pack of 10-20 cars, depending on track location and attendance. He ran alcohol blends against much larger OHV SBCs and a few SBFs, and even had an occasionaly first place in the later years. Really impressed/ticked off the guys with more modern, larger engines. Under the painting was this: TEARHISASSOFF. So the guys following got to see the "mad flat head driver" and read that!! No wonder some were ticked off!! :thumbup: :evil:
