After two weeks of being incommunicado because my project changed buildings,
I'm now back to pontificate and annoy. Here's my two cents on all topics I
can remember after three hours of reading back messages.
Tubes and tires: Radial tires need radial tubes. I used to buy whatever
radial tubes were on hand at Discount Tire and I was always getting flats.
The guy who trues my wire wheels told me that the best tubes are made by
Michelin and they're better because they have lap seams instead of butt
seams. He was right! Ever since I convinced Discount Tire that Michelin
really does make tubes and that I'm really willing to wait two weeks for
them, I haven't had a single flat. But since I've bought up all the ones
in the United States, it will now take a month to get them from France.
The question seems to be "To Michelin or not to Michelin." I looks like
I'm the only one who uses Pirellis. I put Michelin XZX's on my B when
Pirelli stopped making the P3 and I didn't like them. They didn't last
any longer than the Pirellis and I don't think they handled as well. I
now use P4's in (I think) size 185R14 which is bigger than stock, but
hasn't caused any problems other than making my speedo off.
All I need is a Blaupunkt radio and my car will represent all of the major
players in WWII.
Fixing up painted wire wheels: I just take mine to Don at Ralph's Spoke
Wheel Service (609) 449-2666. I once asked Don why it's called Ralph's
Spoke Wheel Service when he (Don) is the owner and only employee. I don't
remember his answer. It costs about $100 to have one wheel trued, bead
blasted and painted, and turnaround time is about a month, but it's worth
it. The wheels end up perfectly trued, gorgeous, and don't rust. He gets
wheels mailed to him from all over the country and he's even done Model T
and Deusenberg wheels. He'll disassemble, chrome, reassemble and true
wire wheels, but he says that chroming makes the spokes brittle.
SU throttle shaft leaks: About ten years ago, I got oversized throttle
shafts from Octagon Sports Car Center (609) 283-7005 and had my friend
Clark at Formac (Foreign Machine) (609) 698-7003 ream out my carbs. At
the time, the Octagon crew told me that the throttle shafts I got (don't
know the brand) were .005" oversized and the ones from Moss were .010"
oversized, so when the new ones wore out, I could get the Moss ones and
do it again. My friend Clark the machinist told me that even after
reaming for oversized shafts, I could go back to stock shafts by knurling
the shaft holes. He described this as consisting of tapping (threading)
the hole, which would make the inside diameter smaller, and then reaming
back to the stock diameter. Then the threads are packed with grease
decreasing wear and sealing the shafts better than new. And then, of
course, you get another two shots at the two sizes of oversized shafts.
It's funny how people become friends after you give them lots of money
for lots of years.
Denise Thorpe
thorpe@kegs.saic.com
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