Kinda interesting this. I got the wheels back yesterday after getting www.rallyamerica.com to move the centers outboard, and I wanted to get the tires on and back on the car to test fit.

But when I took them down the road poor Alex couldnt get the tires to blow up. I ended up taking them to McDonough Tire on racetrack. They had a cool method that I hadn't seen before; using a little compressed air tank they shot - more like exploded - 160psi of air into the tire. It basically BLEW the sidewalls against the rim.

They had to do it like 3 times per wheel to get the seal, but it was fun to watch.

Now back on the car, they fit perfectly. Next is to lower the body onto the chassis and see if they still rub the bodywork...

We got the wagon back today. Our friend Alex had it for a while to check it out and fix brakes, transmission and a bunch of leaks.

Now it drives much better. Tara got the groceries in it and dropped off Molly at a sleepover, so it looks like it's finally settling in as a daily driver!

Just in time, because tomorrow is our first Royal Tiki sales event - the local elementary school Fall Festival where we're selling our Skateboard Racks.

Uh-oh, strange rattles from the engine today - you can't hear them when driving, but I walked past the car when idling and sounds like the water pump or something is on the way out. No time to diagnose today though..

You really want to know more?

Then you need to get back to 1993 and start reading this series of blog posts that describe how I started with a GT40 replica and ended up with a '55 Chevy that really started out as a '37 Ford..

• 1993
• Posey's 37 Ford
• Grim and Lol
• Paul Barrow
• to be continued...

And, yes, that's me on the right in (I'm guessing) 1990/1991 when I was testing my GTD40 at Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit nr Chichester, England.

Man, I miss my hair.

I put my old 55 wheels up for sale on ebay and they sold after one relisting.

I'm pleased with the price I got, and its nice to get them out of the garage - they took up a lot of room!

Surprisingly, the rears weighed 61 lbs each, the fronts 51 lbs. That's quite heavy, and even sending to Washington D.C. cost $210 by UPS. I think I'd be disappointed if I'd just bought aluminum wheels and low profile tires and discovered that they weigh not much (if anything) less than the 15" steels that I'm now using.

I mean, unsprung weight isn't going to be much affected by buying Antera it seems.

After admitting I misunderstood how wheel widths should be measured, I finally scratched together enough money to have my tires removed from the rear wheels and the wheels shipped all the way to Prather, CA where Rally America will - again - cut the center out of my wheels and weld them back in a slightly different position.

*sigh*

They are moving them 0.75", leaving me just 0.25" gap between the wheel and the suspension. Fingers crossed...

Ever wanted to know how to drive fast?

All the answers are revealed in this inspiring video by one of the top Nascar coaches.

Ive never even visited Austin, but it sure sounds a swell place to live.

Ryan has to keep rubbing it in too. Hell, this is almost worth driving the 976.3 miles to Austin.

Apart from the fact that I have no hair of course.

Or Hot Rod.

*sigh*

Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to get out a deck chair and just stare for a few minutes.

So, yeah the wheels got powder-coated a second time and worked out great. But of course that's not the end of the story. These wheels still have a few more surprises in store for me!

I got the chassis off the wheel stands so I could fit the rear wheels (the stands were in the way) and raised the chassis on the lift under the body (which is hanging from the ceiling).

Looks great, doesn't it? It's exactly how I wanted it to look - except I hoped the wheels would fit *between* the arches, not so tight that they are hard up against the inner arches. HARD against.

Turns out my measurements were wrong. Looking at my drawings now I see the problem - 15x10 wheels are not 10" wide. Nope, they are 11.5" wide. The width of a wheel is measured inside the lip, where the tire sits. I didn't know that.

So, although my backspacing was right for a 10" wheel, they are about 0.75" out for an 11.5" wheel. So I need to remove the tire, send the wheel back to CA and have them cut the wheels apart, move the center 0.75" outboard and then - guess what - have them powder-coated again for the thrid time.

*sigh*

Still, they (will) look damn nice.