So I finnaly got my wheels painted and three tires mounted and on the car... Had a weekend of Hiccups with the wheels... I had the two fronts painted last week, but I left them outside overnight to cure and the dew made the paint milky and dull... So I let them dry for two days, sanded them, and shot a light coat on top so they would get a shine back, and the paint wrinkled. Like horrible... So I decided to use aircraft stripper on all 4 wheels. That took a couple hours on saturday, got them all stripped down, 3 to bare metal and the last one was being a pain so I got 95% of the paint off then stopped. I sanded them all, primed one at a time, and painted them all with 2 coats of Rustoleum gloss black (my favorite spray paint 😀 ). I had them propped up on crates, and once all 4 wheels were painted, I took my daughter outside to play in the back yard. I came out front at one point and the last wheel I painted was face down in the grass... So needless to say it had grass stuck all in the wet paint. Grr... This was the one that only 95% of the paint came off anyway, so I figured it would be a good thing to sand it, prime it, sand it, and paint it again to level out the rough finish anyway... So yesterday I mounted the two rear tires and the one front that I could, and I sanded, primed, and re-painted the other front wheel for the 3rd time!
I have to say, 235/60-15 is about the perfect size 15" tire for these cars running at factory height. Because I decided to run a 215/60-15 in the front to have a little less sidewall, and hopefully have it be a little stiffer for steering, I have too much front wheel gap... So I think a 1" rear and 2" front drop are in order... I haven't decided if I am going to cut my front coils again or buy S10 springs to lower it... The front springs in it now are the diesel springs, and I already cut about 2 1/2" off them to get them in the car in the first place... The lower 2 coils are nested on each other so the spring rate can't be any good right now... The rears I think I am going to have to bite the bullet and buy real lowering springs. As this is a budget build and a half, I was thinking of heating the rear coils ans letting it sag, but I want to do it right... If anyone has any used lowering springs, I would be interested...
Anyway, here are some pics.
Front wheel with gap
Side view
Front angle view
Nother side view
Bugs view
Ground View
Rear View
and my new center caps that were waiting for me in my office this morning...
I have to say, 235/60-15 is about the perfect size 15" tire for these cars running at factory height. Because I decided to run a 215/60-15 in the front to have a little less sidewall, and hopefully have it be a little stiffer for steering, I have too much front wheel gap... So I think a 1" rear and 2" front drop are in order... I haven't decided if I am going to cut my front coils again or buy S10 springs to lower it... The front springs in it now are the diesel springs, and I already cut about 2 1/2" off them to get them in the car in the first place... The lower 2 coils are nested on each other so the spring rate can't be any good right now... The rears I think I am going to have to bite the bullet and buy real lowering springs. As this is a budget build and a half, I was thinking of heating the rear coils ans letting it sag, but I want to do it right... If anyone has any used lowering springs, I would be interested...
Anyway, here are some pics.
Front wheel with gap
Side view
Front angle view
Nother side view
Bugs view
Ground View
Rear View
and my new center caps that were waiting for me in my office this morning...
