Wheels: Almost There!

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Vince said:
Next set of tires, get raised white letters. That will look really sharp with a white car & white rims.

I agree with you about the wheels. In the 77 dealer brochure the wheels are pictured with tires with the raised white letters, but the picture is of a Cobra II and there's that red stripe to contrast with the white. I was worried with my car it was going to be too much white but now that I look at it I think the raised letters would look good. I will probably make the change next time I need tires. I'm also seriously considering a tu-tone paint job with some combination of white/red/silver in the future.

I'm not sure where I'm headed with this car. What I started with is a bare bones coupe and there were parts missing on it so I didn't have an "original" car to start with which gives me freedom to experiment. The only thing the original owner "splurged" on was AC and that's because she lived in FL. slowly I've been replacing the lost parts and upgrading stuff like the steering wheel, radio (had AM, now I have AM/FM 8-track), wheels, and I put Ghia carpet and panels in the trunk. The third owner put in the full console. I've been browsing the dealer catalog, wondering what options I would have ordered if I'd bought the car new. I know I want to keep it stock, but I think I can upgrade the car and improve it with stock parts if I'm creative enough.

p.s. I was reading the Mustang Red Book tonight and saw that the white lacy wheels were options only in 77 and 78 and they cost $252 new. kind of interesting to know the history.
 
folly 77
about a month ago a flat bed tow truck came to my shop with a little white 78 ghia hooked to the back. customer had it towed because it wouldnt start
(timing chain broke on the little v6) so i struck a deal with the kid and his dad
the kid bought it as a non runner and was told it needed a battery:rlaugh:
after i told him the chain broke he was upset saying why do i get stuck with all the $#{- boxes... so i offered a fair even trade my winter ride for your summer ride. he agreed so its mine now..the funny thing is its exactly like yours.. hubcaps and all.. the only difference i see is the one i got has the black roof..well it has sort of grown on me that i should make this a nice ride
and not use it as a parts car.. its only got 50xxx miles on it, and not a single rust spot..it actually sat in a (old ladys) heated garage for yrs up in canada..i just dont know what to do with it, i was hoping to see some of your updates
to give myself a little inspiration or motorvation whichever comes first.
 
2muchtime said:
well it has sort of grown on me that i should make this a nice ride
and not use it as a parts car.. its only got 50xxx miles on it, and not a single rust spot..it actually sat in a (old ladys) heated garage for yrs up in canada..


2muchtime, wow it sounds like you made a great trade. Is the interior black to match the roof? Do you have any pictures?

I think coupes have lots of potential. :D
 
Folly, the rims look great. Did you mention in the previous thread what the prep involved was for the powdercoating? I bought some off ebay a while back and they will be here any day. I am debating powdercoat vs. polished aluminum finish. Either way I am sure you are happy with the way they turned out. Now we need a better pic of the wheels on the car.
 
Putter said:
Did you mention in the previous thread what the prep involved was for the powdercoating? I bought some off ebay a while back and they will be here any day. I am debating powdercoat vs. polished aluminum finish.

what kind of wheels did you get? What color powdercoat are you thinking of? The aluminum finish would look cool too. I may do that years and years from now when the wheels need restoring again.

there was no prep on my end except for cleaning. the shop that powdercoated them stripped them down to bare metal. If you plan to strip them yourself, I'm sure someone on here knows how to go about doing it.

(just thought I'd mention in case you decide to powdercoat, if you have wheels like mine with the chrome center caps don't forget to remove the plastic anchors in the screw holes (if they're still there) ... I meant to take mine out before the blasting but forgot -- :doh: -- so had to replace them).
 
Putter said:
Now we need a better pic of the wheels on the car.

okay, okay. hehe the picture is lame, I know. :) When the pinstriping is done I'll take some decent pics of the whole car. I've been browsing car magazines and books for cool "poses." And hopefully the fall leaves will still be pretty.
 
Putter said:
I have the same rims as yours.:nice:
I was wondering if they were bead blasted or any thing before powdercoaring? Did the shop say how they were prepped?

They did blast them, but I'm not sure what they used. Whatever they used worked great because there was a little curb rash on one of the wheels and the blasting really smoothed it out.

Are you thinking about keeping them white? What color is your car?
 
I'm having trouble posting pics.
The car is light brown (Chamois). There should be some pics on StangNet somewhere. The rims I bought are aluminum finish. I'll be posting more when they arrive.
 
Blue Thunder had a cool idea for the lacy wheels ...

I took a while for me to find it but I'm quoting him from an old thread of mine: "sending those out for machining and clear powder coating would make them look killer, too. Turned aluminum finish on those would be unique."

So that's another option...