Rocker's 1973 Duster "Clara"
The first thing I got my wife to agree to was getting rid of the tiny stock sized tires, but in order to get bigger tires we had to get rims too! To keep things simple, we decided to keep it SBP (this may change later). I love steelies and poverty caps, but in order to keep my wife on board with spending money, I agreed the Rally rims would look better (my 2nd choice anyways). I bought a set of 14 x 5.5 SBP rally rims off of Mopardude318. They were in good shape and came with a set of decent center caps. I had the rears widened to 8 inches, then had the set powder coated (inside and out).
I Went with BFGs 225x60x14 up front, and 245x60x14 in the rear. The 245x60s were not easy to find at the time!
I scrubbed the hell out of the inside of the caps by hand 30+ years of grime to remove. They are not perfect, but damn near close! I also carefully re-tapped all of the center cap screw holes, and removed some flash off of the lug nut holes so they wouldnt scratch my rims once re-installed.
I went crazy with the steel wool; both on the front polished areas, and the backside!
Yeah I masked all 4 off like this Yeah I know there are easier ways, but I like torturing myself.
I used Totally Autos "Textured Light Argent". The product worked fantastic for me, and they turned out killer!
They look badass in the sun!
When your limited on workspace (apartment living), you have to improvise. I gave the tires a final wash in the kids bathtub my cat helped by stealing the SOS pad...multiple times!
Finally back together and ready for the car.
A comparison of the New vs. stock rear tire width.
The original undercoating was solid. I hit it with a wire brush and gave it a quick coat of Duplicolor rubberized coating. Really only wanted to get rid of any over spray from the paint job the PO put on the car.
I like the "raw" look of running without the trim rings. This was my very first major project, and I was satisfied with the results. I added a few pics of the final product...not like we all haven't seen a Duster with rally rims before though! :D
Still my favorite shot!
I will continue my updates tonight...the good stuff is still coming.
The first thing I got my wife to agree to was getting rid of the tiny stock sized tires, but in order to get bigger tires we had to get rims too! To keep things simple, we decided to keep it SBP (this may change later). I love steelies and poverty caps, but in order to keep my wife on board with spending money, I agreed the Rally rims would look better (my 2nd choice anyways). I bought a set of 14 x 5.5 SBP rally rims off of Mopardude318. They were in good shape and came with a set of decent center caps. I had the rears widened to 8 inches, then had the set powder coated (inside and out).
I Went with BFGs 225x60x14 up front, and 245x60x14 in the rear. The 245x60s were not easy to find at the time!
I scrubbed the hell out of the inside of the caps by hand 30+ years of grime to remove. They are not perfect, but damn near close! I also carefully re-tapped all of the center cap screw holes, and removed some flash off of the lug nut holes so they wouldnt scratch my rims once re-installed.
I went crazy with the steel wool; both on the front polished areas, and the backside!
Yeah I masked all 4 off like this Yeah I know there are easier ways, but I like torturing myself.
I used Totally Autos "Textured Light Argent". The product worked fantastic for me, and they turned out killer!
They look badass in the sun!
When your limited on workspace (apartment living), you have to improvise. I gave the tires a final wash in the kids bathtub my cat helped by stealing the SOS pad...multiple times!
Finally back together and ready for the car.
A comparison of the New vs. stock rear tire width.
The original undercoating was solid. I hit it with a wire brush and gave it a quick coat of Duplicolor rubberized coating. Really only wanted to get rid of any over spray from the paint job the PO put on the car.
I like the "raw" look of running without the trim rings. This was my very first major project, and I was satisfied with the results. I added a few pics of the final product...not like we all haven't seen a Duster with rally rims before though! :D
Still my favorite shot!
I will continue my updates tonight...the good stuff is still coming.
