7/24/09

Woo hoo! John has found a set of wheels for Lil' Wiggly. They are 13”x7” with a zero offset black “steelies” which look like Cragar “Soft Eight” wheels. I told him I'd buy tires if he’d buy the wheels. I've been doing a little shopping on the Boys of Pep website and found some Cornell tires in 175/70-13, which might have a little too much stretch for my taste, for $37.99 each. They also list another brand in the same size for $42.99 and $47.99 depending on the wear rating. They do have a 205/60-13 listed in the same brand as the pricier tires above for $43.99 or something. That is the size I would go for were the decision just up to me, but John likes that ghetto stretch look. We’ll have a look and discuss it either tonight or in the morning. The plan, as of last night, is that we’re going to the shop tonight to get the Violet ready to go to the crusher. I'm not sure if that means removing the ugly assed wheels and setting the car on its belly, putting another set of wheels on there, or sending them away with the car. I do know there is an engine and transmission in there that John wants to save. The transmission is in the hatch while the engine is still in the engine bay. We’re not sure if we’re going to roll the car off the trailer to get the engine out or if we’re going to try and “He Man” it out of there. I'll let y'all know on Monday what happened, I'm sure. Then again, the Violet really isn't all that much in the way, it could live there another week while we sort out Lil' Wiggly tonight and Saturday. I'm just saying. I mean, if we’re not using Violet’s suspension or wheels on Lil' Wiggly, there really isn't any rush to get rid of it. Well, I'll bounce the options off of John. I need to start thinking about that carburetor swap on Shichi as well. In theory, it shouldn't take much more than a Saturday to make the physical swap and the carburetors ought to be somewhat tuned already, I think, so... I don't know. It would be really nice to have confidence in that car again. We cleaned out the garage for it so I could take it out on a whim but since it is running so iffy right now I just don't do it. Hey, that would free up the dual SU carburetors for Lil' Wiggly if I wanted to go that route. Hmm, interesting. I think John has suggested that idea before so I'm pretty sure he’d be on board for it. What we really need to do is get the Honda out of the main bay where it is just wasting space. The other day John suggested, I think, putting the 175/50-13 tires we bought for the Honduh on Lil' Wiggly. I'm not sure if he was serious or not though. I just sent him a text asking about it. We’d have to really slam the car to fill the fenders with those tiny little bastards but they sure would turn. I've seen a 510 with that sized tire before. The guy drove it up here from McAllen, some 500 miles. Those tires rotate 1,014 times per mile. That’s 507,000 revolutions. So what? Well, um... your face, that’s what. I just heard back and it appears he was not serious when he suggested it. I just suggested the options mentioned above, 175/70s vs 205/60s. I then went on to suggest “Bigs and Littles” but I'm sure that will get shot way down. They both have the same, for the most part, diameter so the side walls would look the same front and rear but there would be a lot more meat out back. Of course the car doesn't need the extra traction, especially if we lower it by removing leaves. Perhaps I'll just let that one slip on by. I think I have just about talked myself out of taking Violet to the crusher. I think we may just be going to the Boys of Pep this evening. OK, I just heard from him. He didn't comment on the “Bigs and Littles” so I'm going to let it drop. He voted for the 175’s, as I knew he would, and I said I could live with it as long as it didn't have too much “Ghetto Stretch.” Hell, if we’re going for the Ghetto look, we could swap the 155/80s on the new wheels and be really driving on the side walls. Too bad they aren't whitewalls. Oh well, what are you going to do? Here’s what I'm going to do.