Valve Stems

[Nick Winter]

This is how I do 1/25th/24th valve stems on wheels. I've simplified this a bit.

Tools you'll need: Side/Wire cutters or cutting method of choice, Telephone Wire, a Sharpie, Push Pin or Pin Vice (Push Pin shown for simplicity), and CA/Superglue.

Your gonna start by making your hole un an appropriate area, on this type of "Cookie Cutter" Chevy Rallye, that's underneath the Trim Ring.

You'll now want to strip the telephone wire, I'm lazy and cracked out the wire strippers. You'll want to blacken it now, you can use a Sharpie.

After that you can glue in the whole length and cut to an appropriate length after it's dried, touch up the end, and finish detailing your rim.

and it should look something like this.

Now what to do with it?

Nick

[Longbox55]

Nice tip, looks pretty good on the wheel. However, you may want to use a shorter length of wire. Just eyeballing it, the length shown appears to be the 3" "Curbfeelers" whch shouldn't be used in a wheel of that type on a 1:1. For an average wheel, mag, open steel, or with a trim ring like the one shown, the average 1:1 valve stem would only be 1.25"-1.5" long overall, with perhaps 1"-1.25" sticking out. The longer 2" and 3" stems are really only used on wheels with full hubcaps, usually older rwd wheels where the stem hole is farther in from the access hole in the cap. Same deal, only a small part will be visable with the cap in place.

Side note, on a 1:1, a stem that's too long used in an open wheel application, where the stem isn't supported, will actually flex when the vehicle is driven. They can flex enoung to make the tire lose air pressure, but not show a leak when checked with the tire in a static sitiation.

[mr cheap]

looks good ... it is to long cars about 1in... light& MED trucks ARE 2 TO 3INS ..

[TurboKitty]

it doesn't really matter if it's too long in the pics, it's just an example to get the point across. Thanks for the cool tip Nick, this is something I've always overlooked in my builds, now I can copy you LOL!

[Danno]

[Chuck Most]

Ran some valve stems that were a bit too long in my '75 El Camino once. Went through a McDonald's drive thru, scrubbed the curb... pop! Instant flat. That's what happens when a 17 year old puts on his own tires in auto shop!

[Nick Winter]

Like it's been mentioned I did this quickly just to get the point across, in reality when the valve stems are done they should be shorter, but hey I did this in 5 minutes including the time it took to do the pictures, and I don't see anyone else offering to show how to do it

Nick

[paul alflen]

GOOD TIP NICK,KEEP THEM COMING!!

[crazyjim]

I use 25 gauge wire from Hobby Lobby instead of telephone wire. I drill the wheel, use Micro Krystal Klear to glue in the wire. Wait until dry and trim it off. Then I get a gob of the Krystal Clear and dab it on the tip of the wire. After it dries, I paint it either the body color or a contrasting color. Looks like a chrome vavle stem with a colored cap on it. You can check any of my builds that I've posted for pics.

[Romell R]

Excellent tutorial Nick keep up the outstanding work. Oh and don't let the" Know it all" ruin it for you.

[Nick Winter]

Thanks Romell I'll add photo's later of a set I took my time on for a project.

Nick

[Longbox55]

Excellent tutorial Nick keep up the outstanding work. Oh and don't let the" Know it all" ruin it for you.

I assume you mean me. I was only making an observation and giving a suggestion on what the 1:1 valve stem lengths would be. It was not necessarily aimed at Nick, but rather for anyone who might use his tip that may not be familiar with valve stem lengths.

BTW, I wasn't being a "know it all". If you look at the bottom of my posts, you will see that I work on 1:1s for living, so I am very familiar with the subject.

[Nick Winter]

Better photo's or Valve stems cut to proper length

\

Nick

Edit: reminds me gotta paint those slots.

Edited August 2, 2011 by Nick Winter

[Longbox55]

Those look perfect, Nick!

[Nick Winter]

Just slowed down, and cut them carefully instead of rushing for my how-to photo's, still gotta paint those slots though, forgot about them.

Nick

[ra7c7er]

Cool tutorial a very simple way to add a bit more accuracy to a build.

[Romell R]

I assume you mean me. I was only making an observation and giving a suggestion on what the 1:1 valve stem lengths would be. It was not necessarily aimed at Nick, but rather for anyone who might use his tip that may not be familiar with valve stem lengths.

BTW, I wasn't being a "know it all". If you look at the bottom of my posts, you will see that I work on 1:1s for living, so I am very familiar with the subject.

Didn't mean you in particular I left the "s" off the end of all, sorry if you were offended.

[Romell R]

Nick, Nice tutorial. Thanks for taking the time to show. Only suggestion I would make is to save your pennies for a camera with a good macro function so you can take clearer pics to maximize the benefits of your tutorials.

Romell, With all due respect I worked along side that "Know it all" for 6 years & am still friends with him & you couldn't be further from the truth. Billy knows a LOT, not all but close lol, & he is more than happy to share in a non-condescending way. Since Nick didn't mention the stems should be shorter all Billy was doing was adding a little knowledge for those following along who might not know any different. BTW I am thoroughly impressed by your builds and yuor willingness to share your techniques. Just wanted to stick up for a good friend

read my above post geeeze!

[Danno]

(Emoticon indicating "Wow, am I ever glad we got that cleared up" here.)

[Art Anderson]

I too have made valve stems for model car wheels. Nick's tutorial is right on target, frankly. Modern valve stems most generally are in the 1.5" range, which means that less than that will be exposed to the eye when tires are installed. However, in my experience, there are wheels, there are tires, and it's wise to consider some of the differences:

For example, someone building a model of a car produced prior to the universal adoption of tubeless tires, the valve stem is part of the innertube, not a bolted in device, which meant the valve stems on those older cars was longer; in order to clear not only the steel rims through which they extended, but also to allow for the installation of first "beauty rings" but also full wheel covers. With both of these, longer valve stems were a necessity, in order for them to extend far enough through the added wheel trim to allow for an air chuck sufficient room to seat down tightly on the valve stem.

For cars of the era up to about 1930, valve stems were even longer, and thicker in diameter as well.

For these reasons, I prefer using K&S brass rod for valve stems. For modern cars, when I've installed this detail, .020" gets the call. OK, so that translates to 1/2 inch, but sometimes I think that the "illusion of scale" is more important than being "exact". For those old-time metal valve stems with their long caps, such as were used almost universally from the beginnings of pneumatic tires to circa 1930, 1/16" brass rod gets my call.

But still, Nick's technique is right on target IMO, and pretty much so are the rest of the comments in this thread.

Art

[Longbox55]

Hey Rommell, we're cool. I wasn't really offend too much, just took it the wrong way.

Just for reference for anyone interested, here's a link to Dill Air Controls, one of the largest manufacturers of valve stems for the 1:1 market. http://dillaircontrols.com/files/Snap-in%20Tire%20Valves.pdf These are the common snap in style stems you see on modern cars, say from the '50s to 2007 ('08 and later use the TPMS style stems). The one in the middle that is 1/2 rubber and 1/2 brass is the HD stems used in most later model 3/4 and 1 ton pickups.