The original rims were just too rusty to use, and the ancient tires were so hard that I couldn’t remove them from the rims anyway.  Using a carbide blade on the reciprocating saw, I simply cut away the spokes to free the aluminum hub.  I cleaned the 5 decades of grime and oxidation from the hub with steel wool pads, then used 3 different buffing grits to polish the hub to give it a bit of shine.  As you can imagine, it’s much easier to polish the hub with the spokes off.

I separated the spokes into 2 groups, since there are both ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ spokes, distinguishable by the angle of the bend at the top of the spoke.  The inner spokes were installed first, followed by the outer spokes.  Each spoke received a new chrome nipple to hold it in place.  The spokes have only been hand tightened at this point.  I still have to ‘true’ the wheels to ensure that they spin perfectly, with no wobble.  I now have both wheel hubs laced to new rims and ready for truing.

The parts should be back from the paint shop in 2 days, and I’ll start assembling the bike next weekend.