Frame Rail arrival & inspection

Frame Rails, working with frame fixture, measuring, welding

Boxing Frame Rails

Installing Crossmembers

Front Spring
C Notches

Bob rear
frame rails

U-Coat It

Assemble Frt Suspension

Installing Ladder bars - Rear end

Sandblasting & Powder Coating

Sponsor Sign & Chassis

04 Ladder Bar

Install Engine & Trans

IN 600 Street Induction Product

Steel Tubing Structure

Installing Windshield

Mounting Rats Glass Body to Chassis

Mounting Radiator, Grill Shell & Insert

Mounting of the Pulleys

Mounting of Steering Column

Wheel and Tire Combination

Duvall Gets Chrome

Size Does Matter

Attending the Goodguys Nationals this past July in Columbus Oh we were dealt a hand of fate. Directly across from our booth was noneother than Team III Wheels. You know , ET wheels, Classic Five, Fueler, LT-III and Gasser .
Well, we had the roadster on display and Scott from ET came over and introduced himself. The conversation was centered around the wheel and tire combination on the rear of the roadster. One thing led to another and as gearheads usually do a decision was made to upgrade the rear wheels and tires on the roadster.
What transpired was the roadster was to be the recipient of some special order new wheels and tires. The wheels were being upgraded from 15 " x 8" to 16" x 10'' s. My
problem being that American Wheel does not offer the Torque Thrust II in the 10" wide variety.
This is where Scott from ET Wheel made the suggestion that he would simply rehoop the wheel with a new wider rim.I  bought a pair of 16 x 8.5" wheels and sent them to ET to have the surgery performed. So with that problem solved I started searching for a matching tire to the front tires on the roadster. It seems that BF Goodrich discontinued the rear tire size I wanted, 315/55R16.
Scott at ET Wheel has had the 31 x 12.5R- 16 LT tires manufactured exclusively for his company and has them available but they do not match our front tires. I wanted a match set of tires so the search began.
It occurred to me while having a conversation with a customer at the show ( you know the big wheel stops when it wants to, and the answer just pops in )that another former customer had told me his son had a set of tires that would look good on the roadster. At the time I was not contemplating changing the rear tires and wheels, so I just filed it in that ever shrinking memory of mine.
As luck would have it that former customer showed up with his son in the booth the very next day. We discussed the tires and it seemed the tires he had were just what I needed. Being the streetrodders we both are we came to an old time horsetrade, I had something he wanted and vice versa. The deal was struck and the results are in the pictures.
The picture shows the original tire and wheel combo ( on the left ) and the new combo on the right. The original tire size 275/60R15 is being replaced with the larger 315/55R16
tire and wheel combo. The larger size will fill in the rear wheel well and add to the aggressive stance of the car.

After mounting the larger tire/ wheel combo the roadster had a stance with a little too much rake. The rear suspension was built with 3 point lower coil-over shock mounts, that allows changing the height of the car simply by moving the lower shock mounting bolt to another one of the three mounting holes found in the lower shock mounts.
The original set up had the bolt location in the center mounting hole. About 20 minutes later the rear shocks had been relocated which lowered the car. That result has the new rear tires and wheels filling in the rear wheel wells just right.There is still about 2.5" clearance between the rear C notch's and the rear end housing. We can always go back up once the suspension settles.

As you can see from the two photos, the before and after shot of the tire and wheel combo is quite dramatic. Also with the dropping of the rear suspension ,the rake of the car is more appealing. The combination of 14" tires and wheels in the front and 16" tires and wheels in the rear achieves that ever elusive curb appeal we all struggle to achieve.

Click Here For Next Page