Need All of your Opinions on Something

Mustangs are often high in the front aren't they? I had a '66 Fairlane and jacked the back end up. Improved the looks dramatically. Nice car and nice wheels IMO.

Well thanks to everyone for the suggestions.
Once again, for those that think I should have used Torq Thrusts, the back spacing on those wheels is all wrong for these cars. In fact, its the same as the wheels I had on the car before. With those wheels, the widest tire I could fit in the rear was a 215, and it scraped when four people were in the car. Worse, there was a good 3+" clearance on the inside. I also wanted something different. These wheels have perfect back spacing for this application, and me being a form follows function guy, that sealed the deal. I like the black centers myself, so while that may be what bothers some of you, I don't think its what's bothering me. I do think maybe the center caps are bugging me a little, and I also agree with the whoever posted about making the lips not so shiny. If anyone knows a trick way of doing that, please let me know.
Staggared tires - That's what I wanted. That's what cars had in the 70's. I may not have pulled it off well, but it was intentional. Keep in mind that I will have road race style tires also on road race style wheels. These are my cruise and cruise in tires and wheels, along with any longer trips. I can easily lower the back end for track use.
Someone asked about the wheel size. It's 15x7 front and rear, which is the perfect size for the front tires, and the rears are about the max for that wheel, but I was going for that slightly bulged look.
I went white letters out because that's what I would have done back in the 70's for sure. Again, going for a look.
I love the photoshop, but I'm concerned that I'll have clearance issues if I go that low, both with the front tires and the headers.
Seems like many think it's fine the way it is. I'm still not sure. But at this point the only changes I'm willing to make are in ride height, minor changes to the wheels, and front tires, since they are off the old wheels and kind of old.
I think the issue for me is still stance. While I think lowering the front may be the best fix, I'm inclined to raise the back end, mostly because I want to replace the ultra stiff rear springs anyway.

wrek496 wrote: Mustangs are often high in the front aren't they? I had a '66 Fairlane and jacked the back end up. Improved the looks dramatically. Nice car and nice wheels IMO.

Yes. But my front end is already almost 2" lower than stock.

All I can say Bravenrace, is that some problems are good to have. That is a beautiful car as it sits. There are 3 pages of semi-anonomous internet strangers all in agreement on that issue. Maybe a pic with the rear raised a bit would help. Wheel style and color will always be a subjective area where in the end the only opinion that really matters is yours.

Well I never said I thought it looked ugly!.
I will take some pics with the rear raise 1". We'll see what people think about that.
I agree about things subjective, I just thought I might get an clue from someone else about what is bothering me about the car. And I've gotten some ideas from people. I do think the centercaps stand out too much. I looked at them last night and there's no good way of replacing them with something else, but I'm thinking of painting them black or partially black, or...
I also think the lips of the wheels are a little too shiny, but am hesitant to mess with brand new wheels. I'll have to think on that one a bit. The stance is wrong. I just have to figure out which end to change. I've got a photoshop of the lowered front, so a pic with the rear raised should help clear that up. If I did it again, I might go black walls on the tires, but those things are road force balanced and I'm not paying to have it done again! The white letters are period correct, but I generally don't like white letters, so I think that's bugging me a little.

mazdeuce wrote: Front is high. Still looks pretty damn good.

This

I think the staggered sizes look good, have fun maintaining that setup though

I also agree the lip is a bit too shiny. Let 'em get a little dusty and see how they look from a distance to get an idea without messing with the new wheels.

Some problems are good to have. Beautiful car!

I know you said you want to keep the white letters but to me that and getting some of the Torq Thrust type center caps (as in dull, not so shiny) are the only things I would change. Well, that and getting the header mufflers out of the weeds; I like the look but speed bumps will take 'em right out.

Curmudgeon wrote: Some problems are good to have. Beautiful car! I know you said you want to keep the white letters but to me that and getting some of the Torq Thrust type center caps (as in dull, not so shiny) are the only things I would change. Well, that and getting the header mufflers out of the weeds; I like the look but speed bumps will take 'em right out.

I've already taken care of the exhaust. I made up some S-bends to raise the exhaust, and remounted the mufflers where they are supposed to be, although the headers are still hanging low.

How is it possible that I wasn't aware of this thread until it hit page 3?!

First, let me throw this out there: It's important to remember that poster cars for tire ads don't need to do anything besides look good. Nobody said that the BFG car can go/stop/turn.

I had a '65 fastback a few years ago. If I recall correctly, I had 215-60 15s on the front and 225s on the rear, mounted on Torq Thrust IIs. I had lowered the front A-arms the way Carroll did and needed to roll the front fenders because the tires were rubbing pretty badly going in and out of my driveway. Had I known that I'd have to roll them and damage the paint, I would have left the A arms where Ford put them.

It's also important to consider that these early Mustangs can be tedious to align because they use a bunch of cheap stamped parts and alignment shims. Not exactly precision components, so making changes to the front can create more problems.

I do think that the rear tires are too tall, but I understand what you were going for. You already own them, so keep them. If it were me, I'd try raising the rear, only because it's really easy and very reversible.

I don't love the wheels, but I wouldn't risk making changes to the brand new factory finish. I might see what Cragar has for accessory center cap options, though.

Nice car.

The reason your front tires rubbed was due to the back spacing on the the torq thrust wheels. The shelby mod would actually help that situation, not hurt it, as it causes more neg camber as the spring compresses. I've done that mod also.
I've never had a problem with alignment. Nothing wrong with alignment shims. I aligned hundreds of GM cars in the 70's with the same setup.

Lesley wrote: That's frigging beautiful. So jealous – I'm drooling. Does look like it would rub with a fat man in the car though.

OK, so when I read this, some weird GRM version of Little Feat's "Fat Man In The Bathtub" went through my head and I almost had a crisis.

Sorry, Lesley.

Duke wrote:

Lesley wrote: That's frigging beautiful. So jealous – I'm drooling. Does look like it would rub with a fat man in the car though.

OK, so when I read this, some weird GRM version of Little Feat's "Fat Man In The Bathtub" went through my head and I almost had a crisis. Sorry, Lesley.

I LOVE Little Feat!!!! One of my all time favorite bands.

darkbuddha wrote: Just needs photoshop:

Thanks for doing that. It is really helpful. Any chance you can photoshop Torq Thrusts on it?

That's one of my dream cars, right there. I absolutely love the way the roofline meets the rump. Gorgeous.

In reply to Lesley:

I could be persuaded to sell it.

I'd have to sell all my body parts to buy it. Poor starving writers drive crapboxes, not dream-mobiles.

Dibs...oh never mind...

Lesley wrote: That's one of my dream cars, right there. I absolutely love the way the roofline meets the rump. Gorgeous.

Note to fastback shoppers: Open the trunk, stick your head in and look up. Check closely for rust. That's a tricky area for the 2+2s.

On the Cragars you have, is the rim steel or aluminum? If the wheel was all aluminum, I'd have the wheels you already own bead blasted and then do something similar with the caps. If the rim is steel, well, maybe it could be masked somehow? I'd want a dull aluminum finish in the middle and either the same or a chrome/polished look to the rim. Make the center caps match the rim.

Or just get some gunmetal finish RFP1's because RFP1's are the E36 M3.

Honestly I'd run a non-staggered tire collection on the thing but that's a personal preference. Pick something half-way sized between the rears and fronts you have now and I think that would be nice.

Lesley wrote: I'd have to sell all my body parts to buy it. Poor starving writers drive crapboxes, not dream-mobiles.

It's likely not as expensive as you might think. Of course, it's also not quite as nice as it looks in pics either...

Woody wrote:

Lesley wrote: That's one of my dream cars, right there. I absolutely love the way the roofline meets the rump. Gorgeous.

Note to fastback shoppers: Open the trunk, stick your head in and look up. Check closely for rust. That's a tricky area for the 2+2s.

True. And you'll find no rust on this car anywhere.

Just as I suspected...

How 'bout the new Cragar Eliminator 500's? I bought a set (in 17") for a AWD Astro van.....that I have not bought yet.

This is what I was thinking of for the track day tires:

YES YES YES YES!!!