after dickin around this week (getting them balanced, sending a rim back to summit that was bent all to hell, getting a new rim and having it balanced, and tearing chunks out of most of the fingers on my left hand when i held on to the wheel as i spun it with very very very little clearance between the tire and fender extension <blood sacrifice to the car gods>), i finally took the car outside to clean the blue shit off the whitewalls and have a proper look at it. used to have black steelies and thin whites. i like it. matter of fact, i almost squealed like a girl when i saw it for the first time. i worried that it'd look odd, as i had to get fairly meaty tires for the rear to fit the 8 inch rims back there, as summit only had 2 15x7s, but i like it, and i doubt i try to level it out any. the rubber rake looks pretty pissed off, and from what my dad and his buddies, and a friend of mine's dad and friends were doing in the mid 60s, it looks pretty appropriate. wish it was a sunny day so as to flatter the chrome on my new shoes, but i'm pretty stoked. been thinkin about astros since i saw the "mint julep" 60 pontiac in rod and custom sometime around 2000 or 2001.
the rears are goodyear regattas in 235/75R15 and the fronts are the same but in 215/70R15. i would like to have found a 70 series rear tire, but my tire shop had these and i could actually look at them and etc. they fit the wheel pretty good. i figured i'd go with them because you never can tell how wide the tread on a tire is until you see it, and 70 series doesn't always mean a whole lot in between brands. nothin worse than a wide rim and a skinny tread.
Yeah That looks cool as hell. I agree that it could be lower, but I doubt there's a vehicle in existence that I wouldn't say that about. I really think I like it as it is. The choice of larger tires gives it a slightly different take on a common theme. Sorta muscle-caresque, but still very custom. Very nice indeed.
The Jalopy Journal
