Damaged rear rim

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nL7A9EWC5pkBN4Up8. Please click this photo link. Fellow P11 builders, I'm gobsmacked that something like this has occurred. It's on the very early high piper, I'm currently doing the trial build after a lot of expensive/ extensive cosmetic work. The rear 18" Dunlop rim has been distorted somehow by its apparent mishandling. There is now a distinct bulge on the newly replaced and rechromed rim. I took my time mounting and dismounting the Dunlop K70 twice with it's difficult 2 rim locks added. Couldn't find anything wrong. At first I thought a nut was trapped between the tube, rim protector and the rim. Not so. Then I thought it's tool damage from a pneumatic tire changer? Mine is entirely manual and I dont think I could apply enough force to distort the rim this much. Any idea? It won't stop the job as it's only cosmetic. It's just that I've never seen this before.

I'm pretty sure pneumatic tire changers run around just inside the rim edge, and don't get in that deep. It could be done with long manual tire irons, but it would take one heck of a cold stiff multi-ply tire wall and some serious torque. The long red bar that comes with HF manual tire changer stands could easily do it. Looks like it was done during a manual tire installation to me.

Have fun with the restoration.

I have a manual Coats 220 tire machine. I have to agree with your analysis as the probable cause, damnit. It was an especially difficult tire to get on requiring lots of fiddling because of the two rim locks.

Oops, didn't mean to imply you had a HF tire changer. I had one and the bar is huge. I should have made that clearer.

I removed the rim locks on the P11 wheels many moons ago. I did not enjoy changing tires with those rim locks. With the marks on the tires lined up with the tube valve stems, my front and rear wheels balance without weights with the rim locks removed. I think I got lucky on that though. It may not work out that way next time I put new tires and tubes on, and I need new tires. If I'm recalling correctly, putting tubeless street tires on those skinny rims is not particularly easy even without the rim locks. Darn things are stiff. I actually don't know if I can do it anymore. I might have to let Cycle Gear ream me.

Jerry,

I just put a new front tire on the old fashioned way on top of a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket. I used Motion Pro bead breaker bars and one other 16 inch bar made in Italy. The Italian job has a special end for getting a tire back on over the rim. It never goes into the wheel, and stays hooked over the rim edge. Anywho, I can still do it, and without a tire stand. Yippee!! I'll be putting the rear tire on later today. Both tires I am installing are tubeless road tires with tubes inside. They aren't as stiff as I thought they would be.

The Motion Pro bead breakers work really well. Breaking the bead with them was the only easy part of the job. Cycle Gear would have done about 15 tires in the time it took me to change 1. Fortunately my hourly shop rate is zero.

Was your rim badly rusted prior to restoration? Maybe wall thickness of rim bead was weakened locally?
Otherwise, I can't think of a normal handling load causing this damage.

-Knut