Wow I can hardly believe it’s been so long since I’ve been on the forums. As we all know life has a way of pushing our toys to the bottom of the to-do list.   I’m pleased to report that after some TLC the Duchess quickly became my daily driver. In temps below 40, or if it’s raining I resort to my old van. I never tire of the attention the car…[Read more]

Tire problem fixed!The new Nexen SB802 165/80R 15’s came in to my Walmart store today. I took all four wheels with Classic tires to the store and had them swap the tires. $32.00 to mount and balance them. The rims already had new stems. At home I decided to wax every contact point on the rims so I rubbed an old candle on the backs of the rims…[Read more]

George I did notice once , while grasping at straws, that when I would rotate a rim one lug at a time on the hub that the tire would be more/less out of round in certain positions. This surprised me, and I decided it was because I wasn’t getting the rim exactly centered each time. After that I was more careful, and also checked to be sure the…[Read more]

I’ve never had tires “shaved” but it sure sounds expensive. With a coarse wheel on a hand grinder it goes pretty fast. To do several I’d think a fixture would be needed. Something as simple as setting on a 1 x 6 on a plastic milk carton to rest the grinder on as you work. I ordered 4 new 165/80R 15’s from Walmart yesterday. They should be in one…[Read more]

Thanks for all the ideas! I found 165/80R 15’s at Walmart for $59 and free delivery to the store. I swear I checked there a week ago and none that size were available but my memory is going fast.I’m toying with the idea of grinding these Classics. I’ve done that with one tire before but never 4. I used a 9″ disk grinder with a very coarse wheel.…[Read more]

You’ll love driving your car. I’ve just had mine for a month and it’s already become my daily driver when it’s nice weather and I’ve not got it apart working on it. Love your garage… Glad to see I’m not the only person that has to stand nose to nose with a project to work on it. Where do we get all this crap?!

This strap was on my car when I bought it. It’s worked very well so far. It could blow closed in a good wind and thump your noggin. It’s an old seat belt with one end cut and screwed to the metal stiffener on the hood, and the other end riveted to the firewall. When I get time I think I’ll change it to a smaller 1″ strap. The seat belt is kind of…[Read more]

Thanks to all for the welcome and the tips. All of the cars I’ve seen here give me an unreachable goal. Gorgeous one and all! Right now I’m working toward the “looks OK from across the street at midnight in a heavy fog” finish.I will do the registry thing. Is there a way to tell if the car is factory built or customer built? The close fit of the…[Read more]