Cheers IGT, but I reckon they've gotta be pizza cutters with the original rims and caps...otherwise, go an alloy like Glenn's Sport or GTtoo's GT.

A great result, waiting until the right car comes along. I'm glad you were able to negotiate a way into this little car & that it will be back cruising the South Aussie back roads.
Davo is right, be patient and it will happen! On the other hand, I'm not so patient and just want them all!

On the tyres, both my Belletts have 185/70's on the standard rims. They fit up OK & even look fairly decent. Not a problem, even fully loaded for the 2009 Nats trip.

Gary Carter has these on his 117. I reckon the ribbon walls look way better than the plains, & it's what I'll get next time. Just had them in stock in Borowa, I'll find the brand & price & post, but they were very reasonable. I'll ask about sizes too.


Cheers, drive with this face:
Matt.

Congrats Duane! I was stoked to hear about this.... was worried that the Freegard car would skip the state. I know some of the Vics (well, Brett) have bitched that we've pinched a few cars from over there, but there weren't that many GTs here in the first place! Plus there's not many of us here who enthuse over them!

I've always said that if I had an original GT, I would leave it sticking up in the air at the front, per their original stance, but I guess they can always go back that way if you keep the original springs. I know low cars are cool but there's something hilarious in their stock rake and stance...!

As discussed before, all you really need is a set of rear springs for the front. I'm not sure I've got any in my stash as the stash is not at my house, but someone will have some somewhere!

As for whitewalls, my Ratter is running 155/80 series Cooper Trendsetters. They probably do a size up if you're really after 165s... they were the tyre size of choice for sporty machines back then!

I have to say, I wouldn't begrudge you sticking a set of 15" Sigma Turbo Globe alloys on there or some kind of vintage alloy, especially for daily duties.

As much as I love those hubcaps, they just can't be run on a car without extra security. Can they be zip-tied on anywhere? I've never looked closely at a set but I kept my Deluxe items on there pretty securely with them.

Well, our last cruise is done and dusted - so we'll have to have another one! With another GT!

Cheers,

Dave

I'm actually getting used to the stance...in fact, I'd love it if the rear was even lower

The ride is fun, it hops and skips around like my old Escort panel van, only much faster! Oz dropped around with some sorely needed front bushes yesterday, so would like to fit them soon and tighten up the front end.

Amazingly, I can't find radial 13" whitewalls anywhere...anything on the market 12 months ago is gone. Of course, I can always get them from overseas (Maxxis seem the best priced 165/80, but really thin wall). And I know the caps should go in the garage, but I'm really struggling with it, they just look too good to remove. I have had some discussions with a friend of mine in regard to reproduction, but production numbers would need to be very high for him to make money out of it - told him he'd be better off charging more and making less.

Anyway, it's happy days, I've had a great time driving the car and will for a long time yet...someone took a photo of me in the car the other day, a dude in a Maserati just about crashed into the car in front of him twisting his head around to check the GT out, and a dude chased me for a suburb to pull me over and make an offer on the car (turned out to be an ex-uni colleague)! Nutty stuff.

From my experiences and from what I remember, most sporting car enthusiasts in the mid to late sixties could not wait to get rid of the "cross plies " and fit Pirelli Cinturatos or Michelins XAS , both being the premium handling tyres of the time , or else Goodyear G800's ( new and un proven ) , Fulda or Vreidestein - the last 2 being cheaper although still way ahead of the Dunsafe 5.60 x 13. The wheel trims generally got hung on the garage wall and forgotten .Most common wheel colours (without caps or trims ) was black or silver or if money was not an isue - chrome . The next big improvement was when you could afford the components to build or have built a set of 6 x 13 steel "widies" and put some 175 x 13 radials on them. This last step made a dramatic difference in handling compared to the factory original set up.
KB

AAHHH the old Michelin "X" what a tyre, all the cabbies used them because you get a million miles out of them, had them on first Bellett, and wern't they fun in the wet? didn't know where you end up, mostly looking at the road you just came along
Thanks for the memory.......nightmare.........

YEH! I couldn't wait to get rid of my Dunsafes. Ran Dunlop SP-3 's for a while. Nobody up here could do wheel alignments
successfully on my car. I later bought some 13" wheels off of the XP Falcon. Brand new they were. Going cheap because the late series XP ran 14" as well as the XR series. Fitted them up with Pirellis too. Eventually found someone who could do a wheel alignment. Best run I had was on my honeymoon to Adelaide in '75.
KB. Thanks for the pic. of the Roman Red. Brings back memories everytime I see Lindsay's, now Ocka and Trish's, Roman Red.

Dave.

Here are mine:

http://us.coopertire.com/Tires/Passenge ... ER-SE.aspx

...and they still make them in P155/80R13.

Just need to find an Australian supplier! Cooper Tires Australia only want to deal in 4WD tyres.

Dave,
I forgot about the Dunlop SP 3'S and SP 41'S - both were pretty good. I ran 13" Falcon wheels with winter tread tyres for Rallies and Auto X.
KB

cool classic picture you posted up there, Kerry.
i can remember a few Bellett's running around with Wide Steel rims

thanks for the memories



OZ

reminds me on the hot up articles in Wheels.....

Yep, that's the classic 60's hot up look, but not what I'm after. I reckon the 155's might be the way to go then, although nothing available in Australia in a radial. Tornel (Mexico) do a nice thick white wall 'ribbon', exactly the same as the old brochures...there's some on eBay in the US. The more I look at it, the more I want to keep those hubbies on there...if I can make it up and down Torrens Road without them falling off, I could probably make it anywhere. It has to be the worst road in Adelaide by a fair stretch (Foster's Road a pretty close second), no wonder so many people get killed on it.

Anyways, a local tyre shop actually gave the painted white walls a good wrap, but whatever 165/80's I select will need to have no text on the white wall area...will have to shop around again. I think there's only ~3 manufacturers bringing 165/80's into the country...amazing! 13's are slowly going the way of 12's!

Yes Genn , my new Bellett in 1966 was turned into a sort of low budget facsimile of the Wheels Project car. The car in the pic is another Bellett that was bought new by a family friend at the same time that I bought mine. Mine was sold in 1971 but I was able to buy the car in the pic in 1990 - has original 90,000 mls on it , and recreate my original Bellett.
KB

The Tornels I found are a wide 'ribbon', identical to this...

viewtopic.php?f=31&t=213

Does your ratter have the same width rims Dave? GT's were R13-5.60. I'd be chuffed if these 155's would fit my rims.

Nice reveal, Kerry. I was going to tell people, check the photo date! Re-created sedan looks fine!
So, what will you drive to the Nats? Decisions, decisions.................

Yeah, I knew the classic original look would endear itself Duane, and those caps have managed to stay on all these years. Only real hard cornering & potholes will bring them unstuck. Cable ties would be insurance. I ran original full covers on my Crown S - 300,000 Miles & I've still got them!

Cheers, Matt.

Not sure if the rim sizes are different, but if they are it would only be about half an inch.

I was trying to review the brochure scans, but it's too hard to find what I'm looking for.

I think we will have to split up the History section a bit to make stuff easier to find!

Of course! A landslide of reference material online at my finger tips and I didn't even check! D'uh. I Aussie '67 sedan brochure I posted up states the tyres are the same as the GT, so good news. I'm finding tyre comparison charts very confusing, but 5.60-13 seem to be compatible with 155/80's and 165/70's, and I guess you're running them so...

...bring on the fat ribbon boots! Looks like they'll be ~US$750 landed for a set of 4. Yet another $600-700 job to budget for and it's been a lean month for contract work.

probably beating degruchie to the punch line here but just sitting watching the TV gets a bit boring

the GT needed a bit of love on the front end and some basic tuning etc.
she (the GT not Duane) arrived about 1245 today and after spending the next 30 min loading up the Fiat (another story), we started on the front end.
as there was quite a bit of Bump Steer and vagueness in the steering control, and about a quarter of free turn in the steering, it was decided the steering rack was priority job. The rack bolt wiring was also missing???
the old rubber's were so soft we could easily pull them to pieces which is what happened as we removed them. i have become very focused on doing things the easy way, so the engine mounts were undone and engine was jacked up so access to the rack is easier.

it was rather good fun fitting the first set of Eurothane rack isolation rubbers which i have made with my molds! once we fitted the new rubbers and tightened the rack bolts, we also re-wired the bolts as per the original specs.
after a new set of points, dwell angle adjusted, new plugs and timing set back to 10 degrees, we started to do the sway bar bushes.
both the end bushes were virtually non-existant and the centre ones were worn a good 2-3mm out of the centre. much grunting and groaning was done as we re-fitted the new Eurothane bushes and had to line up short bolts to the bolt holes!
one of the centre ones did not quite slip in like the other side, but i reckon it will settle in.

Duane was pushed for time so no test drive was done, so i sure hope it got him home ok.

great to get the old girl a little bit tidier and on her way back to being a real fun and enjoyable drive

OZ

nice work oz! I hope it all went smooth for degruch on the way home! im sure you would have heard otherwise if it didnt! cant wait to fit up my bushes and see what difference it makes to the rat.
getting together and helping each other out is what its all about.

Heya Oz,

Yes, I successfully made it home and continued on to do a little more motoring today. Happy to report a substantial improvement in the tracking of the car on the road, steering now tight and direct, no sudden random half-meter lurches on undulating road surfaces - I declare your bushes a complete success!

Points, plugs and timing reset has improved starting and eased the pre-ignition.

Next priority: new tyres! Must be done this week.

Sorry I had to run, I didn't even say 'happy birthday'...what a bastard I am!

Hope you had a successful day at Gawler today...did the Fiat find a new home?

Cheers,
Duane