Fitzy's GP is back!

[Fitzy]

Ready for another laugh? I get on the phone and start getting quotes for these gold plated diamond encrusted Cragar wheels. The first dude warns me that they are not legal for use in Australia because of the elongated bolt holes. So NOW I understand what 'direct drill' means, and of course I can't get direct drill wheels in the size that I want. Mind you, there are hundreds of 'illegal' Cragars getting around in Oz, so my newest conundrum is do I run the gauntlet and plead ignorance on the rare occasions that my car is actually on the road, or do I crawl back in my hole and paint my steelies and remain $2k richer??? Honestly, it's a good thing all my hair fell out when I was 25 because it'd be coming out now otherwise!

[JUSTA6]

2 hours ago, Fitzy said:

Ready for another laugh? I get on the phone and start getting quotes for these gold plated diamond encrusted Cragar wheels. The first dude warns me that they are not legal for use in Australia because of the elongated bolt holes. So NOW I understand what 'direct drill' means, and of course I can't get direct drill wheels in the size that I want. Mind you, there are hundreds of 'illegal' Cragars getting around in Oz, so my newest conundrum is do I run the gauntlet and plead ignorance on the rare occasions that my car is actually on the road, or do I crawl back in my hole and paint my steelies and remain $2k richer??? Honestly, it's a good thing all my hair fell out when I was 25 because it'd be coming out now otherwise!

Would have to assume the lugs on your wheels is the last thing a cop would think of.  It wouldn't be a reason to stop you,,,,unless the cop has rotating eyeballs.  Major speeding or maybe burnouts might aggrivate the cop into throwing the book at ya.  I've been driving the Sunbird for 35 years with the (ticket anytime) Blower hangin waay up out of the hood.  EVERYTIME, the cop Justa says he really wanted to look at it closer.  Drive it like everyones lookin at that beautiful hunk of Pontiac ....they probably are.   My guess...you'll be fine.

[64 kiwi boni]

Yip sounds like the response I would get too Fitzy from my wife 🙄

just buy the wheels mate 

you only live once 🍻

Bet the cops won’t look twice , and I know how hard Ozy cops are 😡

Edited December 11, 2020 by 64 kiwi boni

[Frosty]

16 hours ago, Fitzy said:

On a sadder note, I gently informed the missus that I just need to do one more 3 weeker to pay for those wheels. The silent glare that she responded with was withering enough for me to 'sob' save up for them. Oh, the pain!

 

You know you will be jumping for joy once the boxes that say Cragar on them show up and those shiny chrome wheels come out of the box. I promise you the pain will go away! Three weeks of miser vs., a lifetime of glory! Worth it! 

 

[Fitzy]

So, I was fiddling with the GP the other day doing some electrics. But, gotta put the battery in first so I pop the hood and there on the battery tray is a bed of discarded chewed seed shells. Then some movement catches my eye and a rat is looking at me from on top of the inner fender. I startle it and it deftly climbs across the engine and promptly disappears. I brush out the shells and find another collection on the little steel platform on the other side of the radiator, so I clean that up too. Then I mask and glove up, get the compressor going and blow the entire engine bay, with shit going everywhere. So, after fiddling with the electrics and getting nowhere I decide to fire her up coz it's been a while but I want to do a compression test first. I methodically disconnect one by one the HT leads and label them as I remove all the plugs and it's then that I notice that the ONLY item of any consequence in there which I had custom made is the solid core HT lead from coil to distributor, and that f#%&@ng rat has chewed through it. Enraged, I invent swear words that make no sense and yell them to nobody in particular. It's time for war.

After the comp test (BTW that old engine appears to be quite healthy, all around 170-190 psi) it's time to fire it up. I reconnect everything and wiggle the low tension wire that feeds the coil and it falls apart in my hand. After I fix that, I crank the engine but it won't fire. I get my trusty syringe (no needle) and carefully fill the front float chambers with fuel to avoid endless cranking. She fires up, but stalls after a couple of minutes. No fuel in carby. I release tank filler cap and hear the sound of escaping air as I release the vacuum. Vent pipe is connected and clear - it's a problem for another day. 

Anyway, today I bought 2 different rat traps and as you can see from the photo, I always wanted a Rat Rod! Chicken wire everywhere, mothballs in the car, 2 traps set. I hope that thing is dead before I get to it, for it's sake.

[64 kiwi boni]

oh fitzy i know your pain!!! bloody rats cause soo much destruction !!

 last year i put bait out and a rat was in the shed with the bosses mini..... brand f-cking new one, it ate through the washer bottle, then part of the wire loom and for desert, it took out the insulation from the underside of the hood. it was such a major that the car had to go back to Auckland to the dealership to be fixed thanks to insurance.... but the f-cker wasnt dead.

it got into the ceiling and chewed the water pipes one night causeing a flood that i found at 6 am the next morning, it stuffed the carpet, a door and ceiling... more insurance claims.

then...... we found it dead.........it had hemorrhaged, blood every where and my wife found it under our daughter pillow on her bed !!!!! 

wife..... super not happy

daughter...... will never know what happen

me.... never allowed to use bait again 🙄

 

what i have learned is KIS.... keep it simple..

a $2 wooden wire trap , with peanut butter on it, in a shoe box with a small hole cut in one end .

stick the box in a dark corner. or along the side of a wall, and they will go for it!!!.

i will post a pic tomorrow of my super rat catcher. we have had sh-t loads of them the past 2 years and bait is the worst thing to use. the f-ckers go everywhere.and cause soo much distruction, i feel for you mate

 

[JUSTA6]

Been at war with LIL Fox squirrels at JustaG6's.  Garage war and somehow the thing has gotten in the house.  Can hear it in the walls.

[Fitzy]

I googled rodent car problems and the stories that I found make my situation look petty. Anyway, no sign of any visits last night and both traps are untouched. 

Kiwi, your story was legendary - what a disaster. It brings home the fact that no matter what we do, nature is there to undo it. If you construct something, or perform earthworks or whatever, Mother Nature immediately sets to work to undo it, through natural weathering or critter activity or whatever. No matter how much we set about destroying the planet, in the end it'll restore itself and we'll be an insignificant annoyance that once happened somewhere amongst the millions of years that the planet has been in existence. 

Squirrels in the walls! Jeezus, this is the sort of thing nobody needs, especially when you gotta get up for work in the morning. Some unidentified animal started tapping against the wall outside our bedroom at 5 this morning. Keep tapping, I'm reloading...

[64 kiwi boni]

Here is the $200 gas powered trap that has caught zero rats !!!

And here is my old shoe box, small hole cut in one end

And 2 cheap- as traps inside... you can see its works justA fine, lots of blood and guts from all the rats that fancy peanut butter !!!, and it just sits on top of a stack of water heaters in my shed👍

Edited December 19, 2020 by 64 kiwi boni

[Fitzy]

Nice work. I set one of those spring traps with peanut butter and it ignored it. I also set a Nooski trap that remains untouched. I chicken wired my entire engine bay, but left the battery tray accessible and put a throw pack of Ratsak nearby (ALSO ignored) AND placed some dryer freshener sheets (purported to be a rodent deterrent) around the place including on the battery tray. The f@#&ing thing left it's nut remains ON the dryer sheet on the battery tray.

I shall try the shoebox method - it's certainly worked for you.

As an amusing little side note to add to my tale of woe the other day when I was fiddling with the electrics, after I noticed the chewed HT lead, I wondered if I could still use it, so got my multimeter out to check for resistance. The multimeter wouldn't work, so replaced it's battery, still nothing. I wiggled the wires that attach to the battery and one fell off! I'm starting to wonder if I'm not being gently persuaded to take up an alternate interest, like bird watching or Morris dancing.

[Ringo64]

Never seen that gas powered trap before, had to look it up. Interesting. Sad it can be beaten by peanut butter and a trap from the 1900s  

[64 kiwi boni]

10 hours ago, Fitzy said:

Nice work. I set one of those spring traps with peanut butter and it ignored it. I also set a Nooski trap that remains untouched. I chicken wired my entire engine bay, but left the battery tray accessible and put a throw pack of Ratsak nearby (ALSO ignored) AND placed some dryer freshener sheets (purported to be a rodent deterrent) around the place including on the battery tray. The f@#&ing thing left it's nut remains ON the dryer sheet on the battery tray.

I shall try the shoebox method - it's certainly worked for you.

Ah fitzy, just remeber the rats dont like open spaces,,,, stick your trap in a dark corner or along a wall, the f-ckers are cleaver as !!

laying sheets out around is his way of giving you the finger 

give him something hard to get into and he will see it as a challenge.... you will get him👍

10 hours ago, Ringo64 said:

Never seen that gas powered trap before, had to look it up. Interesting. Sad it can be beaten by peanut butter and a trap from the 1900s  

yes Ringo,,, they are what the department of conservation use all over New Zealand and are supposed  to be great !!!!!🙄

dont work on my bush rats  

[64 kiwi boni]

10 hours ago, Fitzy said:

I'm not being gently persuaded to take up an alternate interest, like bird watching or Morris dancing.

i do recommend beer drinking, its a great hobby

[Last Indian]

On 12/10/2020 at 8:24 AM, Frosty said:

Spacers aren't factory. I think someone added them to prevent the drum from rusting onto the hub. That's my suspicion anyway.

What Frosty said! I’ve seen that before, but it’s a bad move! It destabilizes the drum, it also puts all the load of the wheel on small contact points that can then tend to warp the face of the drum! If you don’t want the drum face to stick to the hub or the center cone that houses the wheel bearings you use a painted on thin layer of anti-seize!

[Wrongway]

That's makes sense. 

[Fitzy]

I forgot all about the spacer thing. FYI, I removed both front drums and found a set of washers on both sides, but the sets were different side to side, so definitely not factory but someone got it into their head that it was a good idea and put them there. I have since removed them. Still dithering about the Cragars. The rat problem is starting to consume me, and I read someone's similar tale of woe when they stored their Cragars in their garage and a "chipmunk pissed on them," and it wasn't noticed for months. When the wheels were finally attended to, they had started to rust where the offending critter had peed on them. Is this a glimpse of the future for me? Sitting in the carport all night with a travel mug full of coffee and a loaded shotgun waiting for any sort of furry animal to go near the car? I'm mad enough already without waging war on animals. We live in the bush and the critters far outnumber us.

[Frosty]

On 12/20/2020 at 3:32 AM, 64 kiwi boni said:

i do recommend beer drinking, its a great hobby

[Fitzy]

Ah, glorious beer. After consuming a requisite amount I did more research on Cragars. It looks like standards have dropped since the company passed thru several owners. I keep reading about peeling chrome, but what finally decided me was that they can't be balanced on a regular hub mount balancer. I have given up on them and will go back to the Torq Thrusts, albeit with a PCD modification.

[JUSTA6]

No Cragars.....true spoke's 

https://www.cokertire.com/buick-wire-wheel-16-6.html?utm_source=google_shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term={keyword}&utm_content=BUI665212D&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_qD_BRDiARIsANjZ2LCJ3rTrcIMOmRLPOPgQUZtOMgveqrMrkrVIpk7KqiZYGBX_wqweopwaAlxEEALw_wcB

Lots to check out.  THE place to check out for period correct rims/tires

Edited December 28, 2020 by JUSTA6

[64 kiwi boni]

The magnum 500 looks super cool fitzy 👍

[Fitzy]

I had a gander at the Coker site and the Magnums. You're right - lots of nice wheels BUT...they have to be 14" and they need to be a 5x5 bolt pattern. The only wheel I can buy off the shelf in that configuration is a Cragar, otherwise anything else has to be modded, and I'm fairly sure they will only redrill alloy centres and the Torq Thrusts have been deemed to be suitable. So, just like the rest of you, we're all agreed on Cragars being the first choice, but I gotta move on. Anyway, the Torqs are still a fine looking wheel, the backspace is correct and they can be redrilled AND they are about half the cost of Cragars. They're made in China these days, but I suspect the Cragars are too which might explain the substandard chroming that I keep reading about. When are countries going to wake up to themselves and realise that importing countless tonnes of cheap crap isn't the way forward? I remember when Made In Australia was a guarantee of quality and you were happy to pay a bit more for something that was engineered properly and constructed correctly. The US would be the same, I suspect. Job security? Not anymore.

[64 kiwi boni]

soooo true 👍

[Frosty]

Fitzy - what about the old Keystone ET mags? Cragar now owns them, but they also have a 5 x 5 bolt pattern. So the JEGS catalog says anyway. If you are not a fan, I totally get it. The catch is they are 15 inch wheels.

https://www.cragarwheel.com/wheels/product-detail/series-32-keystone-klassic/

[Fitzy]

Hi Frosty, yep - another great looking wheel. I can't remember if I posted this info, but I borrowed a friend's 15" Buick steel rim (5 x 5) and attached it to my car and checked for clearance when it came off the jack. There was about 5mm between the outside of the tyre and the rear spat (everywhere else was fine) but the front was an issue because the wheels would foul the fenders at anything approaching full lock. Yes, I lowered the car so the fault is mine but it's non negoitable - I WILL drive a long, low car! So, I would LOVE 15" wheels because the choices are numerous but I have to have 14s. I could fit a lower profile tyre to help, but you know what? I actually like 14s with 70 series whitewall tyres on old cars - it retains that period correct look. If I went with 15s, I can buy direct drill Cragars and voila, problem sorted. Or Rallye 2s, or Dragways or just about anything. The other issue with 15s is that 15 x 7 seems to be the norm, so once again, even if I fitted 50 series tyres, there'll be clearance problems, and that will include the rear, soaking up that precious 5mm clearance. I need to get those new front springs in to lift the car slightly and I will then reassess. Anyway, I have a fence to erect, a carport to assemble and a shed to build in the interim, so all of a sudden, wheels are gonna have to take a back seat for a little while. The OTHER issue with wheel selection is that buying direct from the US is a problem because anything imported into Oz over $1000 value attracts duty, as I found out when my last Ames order turned up. Once you factor in shipping as well, it's just not worth it. The Torqs can be purchased here in Oz, about AUD$180 each.

See, I've got an answer for everything! Laying in bed at 3am thinking through wheel selection is an activity I don't recommend, but it does make me sound like a smartarse.

[64 kiwi boni]

Fitzy 

get your panel guy to push the fender arch out a little bit 

and radius the beads of each wheel arch 

and maybe a slightly narrower width tire