We made plywood wheels for the car to sit on while the exterior pieces were being stripped, bead-blasted, sanded, etc. This set-up wouldn’t do, however, for moving the car around the shop, so we went to a nearby salvage yard and bought four “doughnuts.” That’s how it sat as the work continued, until the day it was time to go to the interior shop with a stop along the way at the wheel store.
First I must mention how complicated it is to properly measure the fitment for custom wheels. Two shops actually refused to do it because the car did not have the original wheels upon which to calculate backspace, off-set, etc., and an incorrect measurement on their part means that they would have to “eat” an expensive set of wheels if they didn’t fit. A third wheel shop actually made a deal with me and then called the day before our appointment and said they wouldn’t do it.
Luckily for me, I caught another break: like Mighty Mouse flying in to save-the-day, Elite Roads (Ft. Lauderdale) solved all of our wheel problems. I pulled onto their lot and saw eight bays of cars, from top-notch customs to top of the line, brand new luxury cars getting their “shoes” changed. Inside, there were so many wheels from which to choose that after fifteen minutes, my head was spinning.
We examined Asanti, Lexani, Vossen, DUB, Giovanna, Forgiato, Foose and several others that I can’t even remember. It was, in the literal sense, a candy store for wheels, with each brand seeming to be “just the one we were looking for.”
Wheel-pros Carlos and Rico, however (with the patience of saints), walked us through the process, giving us the pros and cons of the various options and never seemed to tire of answering our questions (eve
n when they were asked two or three times).
Finally, after considering all the factors that make up the total appearance of the car, such as body shape, color, size, height, etc, we decided on a set of DUB wheels with Nitto Invo tires. The fronts are 8.5 inch putting down 9 inches of rubber while the backs are 10 inch putting down an 11 inch track. That all done, it was time to get back on the flat-bed.
Next: The Fairlane Gets Stitched