The ongoing saga of my utter stupidity has finally ended... and it has ended in a positive note. The guys at American Muscle hooked me up with a set og GT4 wheels! Staggered 18X10 and 18X9 wheels with Sumitomo High Performance HTR Z II Tires. 275/40 R18 in the back and 255/45 R18 in the front! It hooks up much better now even though I lost a little HP going through the gears due to the weight of the tires. However, they look cool and will be very functional. For links to the website click here!

After I put the chrome grill on I wanted to darken things up a bit so that's why I went with blakc rims. Now I can use chrome and black trim throughout the car without looking odd!

I'm selling my SVT 03 Mustang Cobra Wheels 17x9 & 17x10.5, 17 inch rims. You can get them for a great price if you're interested in them and you can pick them up locally. They WONT fit a 2006 Mustang without a wide body kit... my stupidity is your gain!

Also, a bit of an update! I've ordered several things for the Stang. I'll have pictures on Tuesday!

OMG, this just never ends! It's been stated before that I HATE back orders and guess what? Centerline is back ordered until almost December. That's much too long to wait for wheels that MIGHT have enough back wheel clearance to fit over my break calipers.

So I was forced to make some tough decisions. I wanted 15" rims but without major work, that just isn't going to happen. So, I've decided to go up to 17" rims with lower profile tires. This will actually allow me to go with a wider profile in the back and get more meat on the ground to hook up with the pavement!

So here is the deal. This is what I'm getting...
I'm going with 17X 9" in the front and 17X10.5" in the rear
They look like Cobra wheels! I'm going to have them painted flat black! Should look nice once done and the price is about half of the centerline rims and I know they will fit!


I'm going with BF Goodrich G-Force tires 275/40 ZR17 in the rear and 225/50 ZR17 in the front


The rear tires are 1.1" lower in profile and it will take 30 more revolutions so I will increase my torque which is not a bad thing for what I'm looking for.

I hope this is what I end up with because I'm about to say screw it, it isn't fun anymore!

So everyone get ready for my shameless (unpaid) plug for Meguiar’s Car care products! I routinely wash my car with Meguiar’s Gold Class Shampoo and conditioner car wash but I’ve noticed that the so called “wax” that the dealer said they put on when I bought the car seemed to be gone.

Finally I have some results! I've been on the phone with several people today and I've come to the final conclusion on what I'll be doing for rims and tires for the Mustang.

Rear wheels
Centerline 045907545
Wheel Size: 15" X 9" Rims
Rear (backspace) wheel clearance: 14" at hub to 15" at bead
BHP 5 X 4.5
Back spacing 6.5"
Off set + 39 MM
Cost: $199.95 per wheel

Rear tires
Cooper radial GT
Size 295/50 R15 white letter
Overall height: 26.8"
Difference .20 Less then stock 27"
Cost $117.95 per tire

Total rear cost:$635.80



Front Wheels
Centerline 045755545
Wheel Size 15" X 7.5"
Rear (backspace) wheel clearance 14" at hub to 15" at bead
BHP 5 X 4.5"
Back spacing 5"
Off set +27MM
Cost $195.95 per wheel

Front Tires
Cooper Radial GT
Size 215/60 R15
Overall height: 25.16"
Difference 1.84" less then stock
Cost: 89.95 per tire

Total front cost: $571.80

Total wheel and tire upgrade cost W/O shipping: $1207.60

The front caliper clearance is going to be super tight but from my measurements it should work for me. The back spacing tapers from 15" to 14" from bead to surface mount. The caliper also tapers but it tapers in the right direction so I should be good to go. If there is an issue the tech rep at centerline said I could use a small wheel spacer to gain enough clearance.

My local pep boys sells Cooper so I'm going to wait until they have a buy 3 get one free deal to save on the tires. I should also be able to get the rims locally to so I can avoid the added costs of shipping.

I just can't decide on wheels! I've never experienced any decision making for an automobile that's been more of a frustrating experience. It's almost impossible to find 16X9 rims let alone tires that will keep the ride height the same!

All of a sudden it hit me, I originally wanted to go down to 15" rims but for some reason I gave up on that. I started looking today and I found a ton of tire choices for 295/50 R15 that give an overall tire high of 26.8". The tie height I have now is 27"! That would be perfect. I really like the Cooper Radial G/T tires and the Mickey Thompson Sportsman tires.



These would both be great options and would like nice on these 15X9 R15 Center line rims with a 6.5" back spacing. That would put me at $325.99 per wheel and $1,303.80 for the whole set minus new lugs and valve stems.

I tell you, this has just gotten out of hand for me and has really begun to not be fun! From what I can tell online, 15" rims will clear the brakes and some shock brackets must be shaved a bit but they will work! Seriously, this is just frustrating!

I finally got around to painting my Brake Calipers with the G2 paint kit Lisa got me for Father's day. I've been wanting to get it done for a while but I haven't really had the time. So, I took the time and since it was a Father's day present I decided to have a go at it with help from my oldest son Dante! He was my parts man. He took the lug nuts and put them on the counter. He was a big help to me!


The kit came with brake cleaner, the paint, the activator, a brush and a stirring stick. Oh, instructions and a sticker. Here is a picture of some of the parts.


The instructions were written clearly and I was confident that it would work out nicely! The first step (after jacking the car up and removing the wheels) was to clean the calipers so they would be free of rust, dirt and oils. The brakes had no rust so I just had to give them a good rub down. However, half way into the second caliper the brake cleaner that they supplied started to malfunction. The sprayer nozzle stopped working. Somehow it got clogged and I couldn't get it working right. It still sprayed but it got all over my hands and frankly it did a good job of making them numb. I was able to keep it off of the body paint and rubber parts and the job got done.


Here is what the brake looked like once i got it all cleaned up and ready to go.


The two part paint mixture was surprisingly nice. It even had metal flake in it. The instructions said it would dry with a high gloss if I did everything like it said. They said to paint one complete caliper, wait 15 minutes and apply a second coat. I don't know if the humidity was too high but when I went to apply the second coat the paint on the caliper seemed to tacky so I let everything dry for two hours before applying the second coat. This seemed to work better and the end result was nice. The picture below is a shot of the front caliper. It was still very wet at the time.

Once it dried and the metal flake ran into place it really looked nice! I gave it 24 hours to dry before mounting the wheels and I was able to spray wash with a hose later on without any issues. This stuff is tough paint and has it's only hard-coat built into the mixture. Here are a few shots while it was still in the garage.


Here are a few pictures of how it looks in natural sunlight. Paint always looks a little different when it's outside. Although the calipers seem to have a little more metal flake in it then the actual paint on the car, it looks nice and the only way you would notice a difference is if you are inspecting for it. All in all, this kit was a win!



Since I've decided to keep 16" rims I won't be able to use the wheels I originally wanted to use so I'm going with a set of Budnik Pentacle rims so when they come in, they will show a lot of these breaks and the overall look will have more impact.

So I think I’ve decided on tires. I want something eye catching and I want something that’s going to help me keep my HP going to the ground. Burning out is fun but not when you’re trying to hook up with the pavement.

I want to use AR Torque thrust and keep the 16” rims. I’m cool with that because they didn’t have 55” rims in the 60’s!

So I’ve done some calculations and I’m going to attempt to fit 295/50 R15 tires under the rear of my Mustang.

Before anyone gets all freaked out, I love fat tires but I don’t want to change the gear ratio of my rear end with a tire change. I currently have stock 215/65/R16 which translates to 27” of tire. My new size will translate to 27.61. A taller tire will give it slightly stouter feel on take offs. It makes the gears “taller”

Let’s do the math on the stock tires

215 X .65 = 139.75 This is one side wall
139.75 X 2 = 279.50 This is both side walls
16” X 25.40= 406.40 Rim diameter converted to MM
406.40 +279.50= 685.90 This is the overall height of the wheel and tire together
685.90 / 25.4= 27” MM converted to inches

Now let’s do the math for the new tires…I know, this is fun!

295 X .50 = 147.5 This is one side wall
147.5 X 2 = 295 This is both side walls
15” X 25.4 = 381 Rim diameter converted to MM
295 + 406.4 = 701.4 This is the overall height of the wheel and tire together
701.4 / 25.4 = 27.61” MM converted to inches

This will give me an 11.61” wide tire in the rear and keep the overall height of my tires the same. I should never have any troubles on dry pavement with this set up. I have absolutely no idea what I’ll need to do in efforts to get the tire snugly under the car. I might have to move shock mounts and tub but hey, that’s what it’s all about isn’t it!

And before you ask, yes, it’s possible to get 295/50/R16. I'm going to go with BFGoodrich Radial TA tires!

I like the way it steers so I’ll likely keep the 215/65/ R16 in the front.

I’ve decided on the wheels I’m going to get for my car. I’ve always loved the vintage look of these wheels and I think they will look great on the Mustang. I’m opting for the American Racing TTO VN 309 in 17” rims. I’ve currently got 16” Carol Shelby wheels (I believe they are knock offs.) They look good but I like the black on satin look of the ARs. I threw together a mock up of what the car will look like. The colors are a bit off but it’s close.