Nick,
I've been out of town for a while, and I just got around to reading some
of last week's mail today; so forgive me if my remarks are old news.
> Well, the blow out is making me face the fact that Tilley needs a new
> set of shoes. But what to get her? I know Redlines are "original",
> but more expense than I want to spend, so? I would appreciate
> considered/knowledgeable suggestions. My kind of driving is
> obviously, pleasure driving, but I do want them to "look" right!
Whenever people on this list discuss tires, you get a lot of conflicting
advice. There are so many choices and we all drive in different
climates and with varying interests, so it's not surprising that there
is little consensus on which tires to use. However, my observations on
Redlines are that they're very expensive but not especially good tires,
and the only reasons to get them are for concours display and to feed
your personal aesthetics (which is reason enough for many many people).
If you're strictly looking for reliable, good-handling, economical
tires, go to your nearest reputable dealer with a price-range in mind
and take what they recommend. I think that for $60-70/tire you can get
very good modern all-season tires.
I replaced the tires on my TR6 several years ago. I think that the
modern equivalent size of TR6 Redlines is 160/70-15, and for my tastes,
these look antique: very tall and skinny. Since the TR6 is a muscular
car, I wanted something a little wider. I bought a set of Firestone
FR480 all-season 80K-treadwear 205/70-15 blackwalls for about $80 each.
These look really sharp (I get favorable comments---from purists as well
as neophytes---frequently). Since the TR6 is so light for tires of this
size, they'll last forever. As I say, tastes vary; but I'm pleased with
my choice.
> Also, since I am going to fiddle with the tyres, I may as well clean
> up the wheels. What type of paint should I paint the steel rims?
> Any special clean up materials or procedures I should follow?
Someone recommended an industrial painter, and I wish I'd thought of
that before I took mine to a body shop. The body shop wasn't really
interested, but I talked them into it. $125 and 2 years later, they're
rusty again. The shop owner told me (after I paid him) that he used
Rustoleum, and if the wheels started looking dingy I might look into
doing it myself next time.
> And finally, there was quite a front end shimmy aperiodically. I know
> that one upper tie-rod bushing is about gone. So, what should I
> expect in the way of a front end rebuild? What should I replace in
> the front end? How much time (in general) is required for average
> frontend rebuild? Can a novice with plenty of time do it? Best
> place for parts? Moss/TRF/??
I entirely rebuilt my front end just before I painted the wheels and
bought new tires. I bought the rebush kit from TRF, put on new
(competition) springs and Spax adjustable shocks, replaced the tie-rod
ends, replaced the bearings, had the disks turned, and replaced the
rollbar, bushings, and mounting ends. Oh, and I also replaced the
steering rack mounting bushings. It was like driving a new car! When I
had the new tires mounted to the repainted wheels and had the wheels
aligned, I had the wheels balanced on the car. The car rides pretty
well now. I don't remember the cost of all this work, but I believe it
took about 2 weeks of evening and weekend work. I'm a novice mechanic,
and I didn't have trouble with any of this work. In fact, the bulk of
my mechanical experience was gained a year or two previously when I'd
done comparable work to the rear of the car.
Good luck, Nick! I hope you opt to do the work yourself.
Kevin Riggs
________________________________________________________________________
Intergraph Corporation TEL: (205) 730-3074
Mailstop: GD3000 FAX: (205) 730-3453
Huntsville, AL 35894-0001 rkriggs@riggs.b30.ingr.com
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