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New shoes
Posted: Wed Aug 30, 17 2:11 pm
by Adam
Feeling guilty because of the "death of a forum" thread, I thought I'd contribute a "what have you done to your Mopar today" type article...
My car came with 14" Rallyes, which always looked a bit lost in those big ol B body wheel arches, especially with 60 series rubber. A couple of years ago, I replaced the rears with 15x8 Rallyes, shod with 275/60 rubber, but that gave the car a "hot rod rake" which I didn't much care for.
A chance comment on Facebook recently led to purchasing a set of new 15x7s from Steve Hale for the front, and that spurred me to give the wheels a makeover:-
- I stripped and re-sprayed the rears with the correct Mopar Argent Rallye Wheel paint, to match the new fronts.
New centre caps with the correct 1970 "sparkle" finish
New correct acorn lugnuts (10 LH and 10 RH)
New polished trim rings
New front tyres 225/70
Wheels are from Wheel Vintiques. Tyres from Northants. Other bits from various US suppliers on eBay. Time will tell how well they hold up to our climate.
The car looks and rides a lot better on the 15s and taller tyres, which are 28" tall vs 26" previously.
Posted: Wed Aug 30, 17 3:43 pm
by Bryan
They look great Adam, Good upgrade.
Posted: Wed Aug 30, 17 10:20 pm
by Rebel
Looking good Adam.
I've often wondered why they were made originally with 14 inch wheels when they all look so much better with 15's on
Posted: Wed Aug 30, 17 10:59 pm
by Mossy68
Spot on !!!!
I don't think you can go any further with such a iconic car.
Posted: Wed Aug 30, 17 11:10 pm
by lough3969
nice work...
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 17 5:56 am
by cadboy
They look fantastic, I love the Rallye wheels on Mopars,
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 17 10:00 am
by MattH
Agreed, 15s work alot better on most of our cars, certainly B & E bodies.
Looking fabulous.
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 17 10:02 am
by Blue
Having seen it in the "flesh", it looks just right.
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 17 10:33 am
by Derek
Looks so much better, surprising what that 1 extra inch can do.
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 17 9:36 pm
by lough3969
Derek wrote:Looks so much better, surprising what that 1 extra inch can do.
Oo Matron!
Posted: Thu Aug 31, 17 9:47 pm
by latil
Can be the difference between adequate and tears
Wheels make the car
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 17 9:32 am
by guy whitwam
looks great on the road too, you are right having looked at some old photos those 14's did look a bit weedy compared to how it is now.
Yours
GUY
Posted: Thu Sep 07, 17 2:36 pm
by Adam
Thanks for the kind words chaps. Wish I'd done it years ago.
My target to finish them (centre caps and lugnuts) was the American Day at Brooklands, and then I didn't make it due to a dead short in the brake light circuit (which I still haven't traced). Grrrr!
Posted: Mon Sep 18, 17 9:04 pm
by Steve
Looks great Adam.... love those wheels!!
Have you considered just rewiring the brake light circuit? Does your car have UK legal rear lights (separate brake/ indicator circuit). Easy to do and probably easier than trying to find the bare wire that is grounding out somewhere...
Cheers Steve
Posted: Tue Sep 19, 17 10:13 am
by Adam
Thanks Steve.
Yes, the brake lights were separated years ago by the usual method of a new wire from the brake pedal switch. That circuit seems to be OK, and I've narrowed it down to the interior light circuit, which shares a fuse with the brake lights.
I was convinced I'd found the problem when I found a wire touching a live feed at the back of the fuse box, but having re-routed it, it's still blowing fuses as soon as I reconnect the interior light circuit. Not the bulbs or holders, so it must be the wiring. Probably under the headlining!
But at least I have brake lights now.