I've been on a mini-mission for the past couple months now,
and this evening marks it's completion.
Can you tell from the picture what it was?
Finding the right tires and rims is a crapshoot.
Many pictures were studied and questions asked to make the best choices.
Most owners are happy to talk about there cars,
even if you are trying to find out the size not to use.
Just don't tell them!
My initial problem started with these ebay rims.
The seller had described them a bit differently than what arrived.
I left them in the box for a couple weeks and didn't notice until too late,
even though the cheap price and free shipping made them cost effective to keep.
A used set of 205/75R15's were scrounged on craigslist,
and almost immediately it was obvious these were not the right tires.
Way too wide.
On top of that there were no hub cap nubs on the rims.
Chit.
Good enough for rollers,
but if you look at any of the old pictures,
there's never a good front quarter shot.
The wide wheels made the poor 40 look like a 70's street rod!
In a stroke of luck,
an almost new pair of 195/65R15's were found on good old craigslist.
Way cheap too especially for Goodyears.
I guess they were too skinny for a tuner honda!
(you can see the width difference in the pic above)
After that I found out how hard it is to find basic 50's ford car 15" steel rims.
Years ago I gave away a complete set of these ford wheels with tires.
In a bid of desperation a pair of studebaker rims were found,
but again there were no dang hubcap nubs.
At least these were the right width though at 5.5" wide instead of 6.5".
These may go on the rusty 40 if it gets front disc brakes.
At the Big 3 Swap a guy wanted 180 for a pair of bare beater rims.
Another seller wanted 600 for 4 rims and decent tires!
What the heck!
The last day I scored one for cheap cause the guy had only one.
Last week the red one was sent by an ebayer to seal the deal.
Finally the time had come to test fit all the goodies.
Wouldn't you know it,
but the center hole was too small to fit over the disc brake rotor.
The studebaker rim had fit fine,
but not the ford.
Fortunately I was in the mood for grinding,
and the holes were whittled out with the good old grinder.
No problem...
Now that I was on a roll it was impossible to stop.
The rims were wire-wheeled and even sanded a little bit.
A nice drippy coat of rattlecan black was sprayed on.
I really like this Sherwin-Williams "Controls Rust" paint,
but it doesn't like to be sprayed at dusk.
Usually that's my luckiest time to spray as it evens the sheen.
Not this time as it really fogged up the shine,
and the paint stayed wet long enough to drip.
At least the old RPU was the perfect drying rack.
This morning I rushed and scour-padded the wheels to get a better final coat.
I'll tell you again this is some good sticky paint.
This was a good chance to blend in some of my rushed work.
What can you expect with that rust remover wire wheel!
The second coat came out way smoother.
This paint likes the heat to tack relatively quick once it hits the metal.
Remember our half-tire stools?
Another great use for them.
The new tires were assembled,
and the old wheels disassembled to flip.
I couldn't wait to try on the new shoes...
Way better now that the tire isn't flush with the fender!
As you can tell from this rambling post,
this was the catalyst I needed to get motivated on this old heap.
I had to recognize it was an actual car,
not just an endless series of projects.
After 2 months on jackstands,
it was time to roll it outside.
The junk underneath didn't pile up too bad...
The kids even came out to help...
The suspension may be a little high for some of you,
but it's way lower than it was as a flathead tractor.
Now it has that moonshine rig stance.
There's over 3" difference in the big and littles!
I'm stoked to have the front hubcaps off the wall and on the rims.
Now I can finally show the front quarter shot.
It will be interesting if it settles after 100 or so pounds of fluids (gas/coolant/moonshine)
and some driving time.
Well thanks for slogging through all this.
It's one of those small wins that makes the fire burn a little hotter!
TP
and this evening marks it's completion.
Can you tell from the picture what it was?
 |
| 1940 ford coupe |
Finding the right tires and rims is a crapshoot.
Many pictures were studied and questions asked to make the best choices.
Most owners are happy to talk about there cars,
even if you are trying to find out the size not to use.
Just don't tell them!
 |
| 205/65R15 70's street rod tires |
My initial problem started with these ebay rims.
The seller had described them a bit differently than what arrived.
I left them in the box for a couple weeks and didn't notice until too late,
even though the cheap price and free shipping made them cost effective to keep.
 |
| partial front wheel selection |
A used set of 205/75R15's were scrounged on craigslist,
and almost immediately it was obvious these were not the right tires.
Way too wide.
On top of that there were no hub cap nubs on the rims.
Chit.
Good enough for rollers,
but if you look at any of the old pictures,
there's never a good front quarter shot.
The wide wheels made the poor 40 look like a 70's street rod!
In a stroke of luck,
an almost new pair of 195/65R15's were found on good old craigslist.
Way cheap too especially for Goodyears.
I guess they were too skinny for a tuner honda!
(you can see the width difference in the pic above)
 |
| studebaker vs ford steel rims = 4.5"x5 lug |
After that I found out how hard it is to find basic 50's ford car 15" steel rims.
Years ago I gave away a complete set of these ford wheels with tires.
In a bid of desperation a pair of studebaker rims were found,
but again there were no dang hubcap nubs.
At least these were the right width though at 5.5" wide instead of 6.5".
These may go on the rusty 40 if it gets front disc brakes.
At the Big 3 Swap a guy wanted 180 for a pair of bare beater rims.
Another seller wanted 600 for 4 rims and decent tires!
What the heck!
The last day I scored one for cheap cause the guy had only one.
Last week the red one was sent by an ebayer to seal the deal.
 |
| enlarging center pilot hole with grinder - steelies |
Finally the time had come to test fit all the goodies.
Wouldn't you know it,
but the center hole was too small to fit over the disc brake rotor.
The studebaker rim had fit fine,
but not the ford.
 |
| modified vs unmodified ford rim for disc brakes |
Fortunately I was in the mood for grinding,
and the holes were whittled out with the good old grinder.
No problem...
 |
| hack job paint prep |
Now that I was on a roll it was impossible to stop.
The rims were wire-wheeled and even sanded a little bit.
A nice drippy coat of rattlecan black was sprayed on.
 |
| best rattlecan paint - sherwin williams controls rust |
I really like this Sherwin-Williams "Controls Rust" paint,
but it doesn't like to be sprayed at dusk.
Usually that's my luckiest time to spray as it evens the sheen.
Not this time as it really fogged up the shine,
and the paint stayed wet long enough to drip.
At least the old RPU was the perfect drying rack.
 |
| hot rod drying rack |
This morning I rushed and scour-padded the wheels to get a better final coat.
I'll tell you again this is some good sticky paint.
This was a good chance to blend in some of my rushed work.
What can you expect with that rust remover wire wheel!
 |
| scour pad paint prep |
The second coat came out way smoother.
This paint likes the heat to tack relatively quick once it hits the metal.
Remember our half-tire stools?
Another great use for them.
 |
| stool time? |
The new tires were assembled,
and the old wheels disassembled to flip.
 |
| wheel party |
I couldn't wait to try on the new shoes...
Way better now that the tire isn't flush with the fender!
 |
| fat fendered ford |
As you can tell from this rambling post,
this was the catalyst I needed to get motivated on this old heap.
I had to recognize it was an actual car,
not just an endless series of projects.
After 2 months on jackstands,
it was time to roll it outside.
The junk underneath didn't pile up too bad...
 |
| project almost storage unit |
The kids even came out to help...
 |
| perich brothers and sister - Macey, Jakob & Jaxon - 2013 |
The suspension may be a little high for some of you,
but it's way lower than it was as a flathead tractor.
Now it has that moonshine rig stance.
 |
| 1940 ford coupe - hot rod rake |
There's over 3" difference in the big and littles!
I'm stoked to have the front hubcaps off the wall and on the rims.
 |
| 1940 ford deluxe coupe |
Now I can finally show the front quarter shot.
It will be interesting if it settles after 100 or so pounds of fluids (gas/coolant/moonshine)
and some driving time.
 |
| 1940 ford deluxe coupe - moonshine rig |
Well thanks for slogging through all this.
It's one of those small wins that makes the fire burn a little hotter!
TP
No comments:
Post a Comment