Projects 1958 Corvette (I'm the new tire fryer)

els.....
I'm going to store the wire wheels for now, that way when the previous owner wants to go for a ride I'll put them back on for her.

 

Good call keeping the wheels. Those need to be put away.

 

Me and Benji are going to pick up the Vette in 2 hours, 29 minutes and 44 seconds.

 

Vettes and TT mags are a perfect combo in my book

 

You need an Armed escort? LOL

 

Good call on the hood swap. Great car. Have fun with it!

 

It doesn't look like you have enough money for that GEM. LOL. good luck.

 

I hate it when I am jealous. Its so unbecoming of me.
I used to have a 58 and a 59 Vette. One of the worst mistakes I will ever regret is getting rid of my 59.

 

Beautiful car, and the changes you plan on can only make it better. A little plaque, with your friends name and stats, has to go somewhere on/in the car, and you have to stay in touch with his widow. I envy you! I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Nice. Congrats!

Sent from my SM-G930V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Picked up the Vette yesterday.
Me and Mrs LowKat going out on our 1st ride together


When I picked the car up, the widow of the owner started crying as soon as I started the engine to drive it out of her garage. I turned the car off and asked if she was OK. She said they were tears of happiness because she knew I'd take care of her husband's pride and joy.

Thank you Cheryl.
I burned some rubber today in honor of your husband.

 

That is one beautiful car

 

Neighbour in top photo is probably thinking " Damn I want one of those"

 

Dave knew we wanted one and came over to congratulate us as soon as I backed it out of the garage.
He stood there to watch us leave on the maiden voyage. A good neighbor and is always interested in what I'm working on.

 

that car is great! lose the hood fast and the wheels! my cousin owns a 58 i found 283, dual quad ,automatic,numbers matching 3rd owner , vehicle because at 6' 6" I JUST DON'T FIT!!

 

Got the Torque Thrusts from the Impala installed on the Vette.
The 235/60 tires that were already mounted are too small for the rear.
They don't fill the wheelwell like the 275/60 on the wire wheels.

Looks like some new tires are in order for the TT wheels. Also going to need to get some old school caps for the wheels as the front hubs stick out too far for the modern thin caps.

caps I have


caps I need
plus these will look more correct



Also lost the front license plate holder.
Oregon only requires one plate on cars with YOM or collector plates.



Installed a "real" 8-ball shift knob I made and had in a few cars over the years.
The Hurst T-handle wasn't comfortable as the shift handle points straight up.


Mrs Lowkat wasn't real happy when she saw the TT wheels instead of the wires.
She asked "what happened to the bling?"

 

Mark car looks great. I am sure you are having fun. As to what tires to use to fill up the wheel wells, that is a good question. I like tall tires so that they fill up the wheel wells and 60 series tires are hard pressed to do that. It is better to go 70 series IMO. Also the "skinnier" the front tires are the easier they are to turn.

I run some old cheater recaps much of the time on the rear as I like the look. When I put on regular tires on the rear I use TA Radials that are 235/70/15. They are 27" tall. If I ran 29" then I would be right against the dog leg (mine is a 62 and I have not measured a 58). They are not really wide but wide enough for me - 7" contact patch and 9 1/2" overall width-which is important because if you go too wide you are into the springs. My front tires are 215/75/15. I went with these 75 series as I like the look and they too are 27" tall. They seem to be a bit easier at steering at low speeds. Not saying you would want to copy mine but just giving you some feedback so you can figure which way you want to go. My next project I am contemplating moving the axle back so I can go a bit taller in the rear (have some piecrusts in mind). Good luck with yours.

Looking good.

 

Looks better already, good job Kat. Filling those rear wells up will make a huge difference too. Likin' where this is headed.

 

I would suggest that you drop the height of the rear and lose the "slapper bars". The tires will fill the wheel openings better with the back of the car lower. It is a challenge to get much tire on the C1 Vettes. You may have to change the wheel offset to fit the tire in the wheel well.

 

This car and a black '57 with a blower use to hang out at the Speck in Portland on 50th and Foster in the mid 70s. I never met the owner because I was driving a clunky old 57 Pontiac sedan. Beautiful machine.

 

The owner was Doug Sukau. (pronounced Sooka). Fairly well known guy in the Portland area car crowd. He painted quite a few cars seen in the Portland Roadster Show back when. Also had a 1st Gen Camaro restoration shop during the 1980s to late 90s in Oregon City. I met him at his body shop about 1990 when I saw his Vette the first time.

Wow, mention of The Speck drive-in was a memory jogger. I lived in Portland from 1972-75 and would always stop there on the way down to "cruise Broadway". Lots of hot cars and girls on weekend nights. I was driving this 66 tri-power GTO back then.

 

Jim, the TT wheels on the front now are 5.5 with 215/70 tires and it drives WAY better than with the 8" wide wheels and 245/60 tires.

For right now, I think I'll go the cheap route and install the new 215/65 tires I have on the front and buy some matching 275/60 for the rear which are a little over 28" tall. That's the same size as on the rear wires now and the size looked good on the car.

It has coil assist overload shocks on the back now that ride kinda rough.
I need to disconnect those and see how saggy the rear springs are.

Mrs. Lowkat really likes the wires so I'll probably stash them and let her have "her way" once in a while. I checked into a couple skinny Tru Spoke wires for the front but they're $450 each.

 

Why not go real cheap and pull the two tires that were on the wires on the back and put them on the Torque Thrusts?

 

Mark good call on the 5.5 wheels. Some guys think it does not make that much of a difference but it does. I think 28" tires will look real good.

That GTO looked real nice. Of course we all wish we could have saved some of the nice cars from our youth.

 

I heard that

 

Love this 'Vette and the plans you have for it. I'm totally showing wood over this thing!

 

Ordered a pair of 275/60 rear tires and the old school center caps.

 

Congratulations on a great car & its history. I hope that you two are able to enjoy & drive the wheels off it for many years to come.
Having the original hood available in your pocket is perfect. The current hood seems to be fitting with the mild attitude of the car with the mags. Have fun and smoke the tires once in a while.

 

Nothing wrong at all with those ghost flames. I'd leave them.

 

That Goat brings back memories, nice.