A decent solution. Rim strips are cheap though so your own time to do the cutting was probably worth more! As you discovered, old tires are, shall we say, highly unreliable.

I'd be more nervous about riding without having repacked the bearings. They won't go bang! and leave you stranded like a tire might but they could wear out quickly, and in the meantime perhaps create a lot more drag which you'd really like to avoid. They could be in fine shape with good grease and everything, but you never know. If you pick up the wheel and give it a spin and it slows down quickly then you really must rebuild it. If you spin the rear it might slow down because of drag in the FW, so that's harder to judge. BUt if the front needs repacking then the rear probably does too. Aw, what the heck, just do both on a rainy Saturday.

In any case, it's an easy job, contemplative and satisfying. You'll need grease to repack them. You'll need a cone wrench of the right size, which could be 13mm, 14mm, or even 15mm, depending on the hub. You'll need a wrench to fit the locknut but that usually doesn't have to be thin like a cone wrench. A cone wrench is a useful tool to have if you repack them more than once, and they aren't expensive.

Take apart only one side. Unscrew and remove the locknut, remove the keyed lockwasher (you may not have one, but probably do), and unscrew and remove the bearing cone. You may have to pop out a dust cap too. That will give you access to the bearings which you can pick out. Then flip the wheel over and lift out the axle to get to the bearings on that side. Remember which side the axle came out, though it probably doesn't matter for the front. Clean it all out. Re-grease that second side and reinstall the bearings and axle. Flip the wheel back over and re-grease and install the bearings on the first side. Screw in the bearing cone hand-tight, replace the keyed lockwasher, then screw down the lockwasher.

Now comes the fun part, getting the adjustment "just right". The bearing cone should be just tight enough let the bearings spin freely with no roughness but with no free play. You need to tighten the locknut without upsetting the bearing adjustment. This may take several frustrating attempts. It's a "feel" thing but not hard.

I've had hubs where after I tightened down the QR skewer on the bike the bearings got tighter. Check that yours don't. Perhaps err a hair's width on the side of loose if you tend to crank your QR skewers. But check for free play once it is back on the bike.

Go for a ride!