The fickle motorist who wants a weekend warrior.

Re: tires. 
 

The wheels are 17x7. 
What I have are a set of 300tw Rikens in 245-45r17. These are a little wide, but not terrible for limited use. I may be able to sell them locally for not a big loss and get the same tires in 215-45r17. A much better fit, and slightly shorter for a gearing and acceleration. 
 

is it worth the trouble?

or should I keep the wider tires and look for some 17x8s in the future?

Ive run exactly one autocross even before, so my driving will certainly be a limiting factor. 
 

* new page, pictures:

Dang! Such a bummer that you can't get the t-bird registered. Too bad you don't have a little more time. I had to do a "insufficient proof of ownership" on a motorcycle about 6 months ago and I got the title in the mail in 3 weeks. Pretty painless process actually.

In reply to 2002maniac :

DMV told me it's a mandatory 90 days before I can get tags. In a way, it's probably good. The thunderbird is still very raw and untested. Maybe we make it work next year or after, we'll see. 
It was a kick in the teeth for sure, but I'm at peace with it. Especially with the huge outpouring of support and creative thinking that has helped form the new (and in some ways more ambitious) plan. It'll still be a pretty crazy trip. 

Put the 245's on the 7's for now, it is only 1/2" narrower than the min recommendation. If you decide you want to keep 17's on the car you can figure out how far down the rabbit hole to go later.

In reply to gumby (Forum Supporter) :

Pretty much how I was leaning. Best to use what's easy now and optimize everything later when I have more time to work. 

Some supplies are gathered. Maintenance on the mustang performed. Oil, coolant, finally wired a switch for the fan. Spare belt, water, oil. 
Getting there. 
 

Dad is coming. Which is good for a bunch of reasons. Company, another driver, cost splitting. We may leave a day early so we have a day to visit his brother in Georgia. So come Friday, possibly Saturday, we're on our way. 
 

This is gonna be good. 

Glad Dad decided to join in, this is going to be fun to follow along for those of us stuck at home this year.

Dropped the wheels with Patrick to relay to Gumby.

Turned 4 into 2, just don't tell swmbo.

In reply to Dead_Sled :

You're the best!

Never drama free, I decided to do something about my kinda-sorta leaky radiator. This being a manual 4 cyl, it takes a different radiator than cars with a 5oh. Nobody has one. But, it's copper/brass, and I'm a plumber.

Turns our I made it worse. Who knew that radiator repair is different than piping. 
 

So, out again for attempt three. Fun fun. 
 

In other news, after driving this car since June/2019, I finally decided the battery needed strapped down. Of course, nobody has the original style retainer, so I made one that uses j-hooks. 

poor lighting, but it's better than the plastic wedge that ford sent the car out with. Hopefully it passes tech. 

After driving home, still no leaks. Success!

Tires loaded. Two VW wheels loaded, 10'x10' shade thing loaded. Plenty of room for travel supplies. 3 days till departure. 

This has been a wild ride. In for trip reports.

In reply to solfly :

Yeah, I guess the moral of the story is I should just stick to ford 4 bangers. This thread started with a story about a focus, and now two years later we're back with a Lima powered mustang. 
 

Duratec swapped mustang! Oh man. That would be the absolute best. 

Car packed. Tools packed. Spare tire filled with air. Fluids all fresh and full. Gonna try to get halfway across Utah tonight. 
 

Leaving in a few. 

Your wheels will be in Gumby's hands tomorrow 

barefootskater (Shaun) said:

Car packed. Tools packed. Spare tire filled with air. Fluids all fresh and full. Gonna try to get halfway across Utah tonight. 
 

Leaving in a few. 

Depending on your arrival time at Gumby's, I might be able to stop by and lend a hand.

Still haven't left. I'm not thrilled about night driving in the deer infested Rockies, so we'll leave early tomorrow. 

In reply to Indy "Nub" Guy :

Depending how fast we drive, sometime Sunday afternoon/evening. Planned to wrench Monday. Extra hands welcome!

In other news, I found an old stash of stickers, and one was appropriate for this car:

Here we go. If you're along I70 between Denver and Indianapolis, or somewhere south of Indy on the way to Atlanta and Gainesville, keep an eye out. We're the guys in the loud ratty mustang, doing ten under. Give a wave. 
 

Wally World or bust!
 

Sorry sir, park's closed, the moose out front should have told you

The moose out front should have told ya

(Oh damn, the ninja edit got me!)

Fuel/potty/snack stop #1. Richfield UT. 200miles/3 hours. If we can keep this pace we should see Kansas tonight. Dad doesn't want to stop in Denver, or any big city really. I may override him for some bbq in Kansas City though. 

All aboard the GRM express woo woo

Rock on. Road trips rule.

Not sure how familiar you are with Western Kansas, but there ain't much between Denver and Kansas city.  There are hotels, but being cheap and travelling with a slightly picky wife, we generally stop in KC or Salina if we aren't going to make it to Denver.

Also, if you're not on Verizon, cell service basically doesn't exist in Western Kansas (atleast not Sprint), so I try to have a plan before leaving Denver.

Thanks for bringing us along!