61 Bel Air

[Jon69RagTop]

I'm really pleased with how this thing rides with the new suspension. Ride Tech air bags, E 3 controller and Muscle Bars front and back.

[youthpastor]

very cool car, I have my eyes on a '62 for a similar build. subscribed

[GAP Industries]

I will ship the wheel tool out to you tomorrow. It has been a crazy week

[Jon69RagTop]

The front seat had been reupholstered with nice covers, problem is they reused all the original padding and most of the cushion was gone. I felt the springs were not quite as firm as they should be, so after speaking with Tracy at The Recovery Room, he gave me a couple pointers. What a great guy by the way.

I bought a new set of foam from Ciadella, nice quality too. I also cut a few pieces of lexan and affixed one piece on each side of the bench seat right where you plant your butt. The idea behind the lexan was to stiffen the feel of the seat while still allowing some flex. Seat is reinstalled and worked out great,I love the way it feels now.

I also mocked up the tires I'm putting on the car, I have to give kudos to The Tire Rack here. I ordered one front and one back for mock-up purposes, 20" for the rear and 19" for the front. The overall diameter and width was spot on, but I hated the lack of sidewall. Ended up ordering 19's for the rear and 18's for the front, liked the appearance of these much better. What I like about Tire Rack is they only charged me $7.00 for shipping two tires back, they put a call tag out for them, all I had to do was wrap them together and put'em on the front porch. Awesome service IMO. Tires in the pics are the new 19's and 18's.




Wheelworks sells this tool, Scott the owner was very helpful answering a few questions.

Ordered my Budniks today, 10" wide in back and 8's in front. New Shotgun style wheel with combination polish and brush.

[ChuckDriver]

Nice ride!

[WSSix]

Good choices on rims. That's going to look great on the car.

[214Chevy]

The 61 is gonna be sweet. Good choice on the wheels too.

[KPC67]

Originally Posted by 214Chevelle

The 61 is gonna be sweet. Good choice on the wheels too.

yup

[Jon69RagTop]

Last picture shows my only issue with the wheels, the shallow center caps don't clear brake rotor hub. I have room to shim the wheels out 1/4" , and this move along with turning down the outer diameter of the rotor hub .005. - this should do it. Worse cars scenario I exchange the center caps for the taller versions.
Overall the back space tool I used nailed it, the tires are in the wheel wells perfectly.

[214Chevy]

Looking good!! It may be because of the driveway slope, but is the front a bit too high? If so, are you gonna drop it about and inch?