Body In White

Reading your adventure with the glove box took me back 12 years, when I did the exact same thing. I can’t remember how I got the glove box open — care to share how you got it open for posterity?

(btw the tig brush from your dry ice cleaning video is incredible… trying to get my hands on one, there’s not a lot of good product info though)

Money2536

A long allen pushed underneath the bottom of the latch enclosure to push up the spring loaded tab. Took an hour...

Matt-R20

Tigbrush with the right setup is about $4K. You’ll want the 550, mid level model. We (drycenation) spent time with the Tigbrush folks to select the right version for the car application and the 550 has the power to get through the rust / corrosion on the parts.

Money2536

I'm not exactly sure when I first dreamt of having my own mounting and balancing machines, but my guess is that it was about 5 minutes into the horrible experience of attempting to get someone qualified that cares to mount my first set of Volks back in the 90s. I realized that dream about a year ago in getting a pair of Hunter Machines. In case you are wondering and would like a set-up like mine this is what you'd be in for:

Automatic Mounting Machine: Hunter Revolution TCRHBLK MSRP $40,250
Balancer: Hunter GSP9700 Road Force(R) Elite (5th Generation) MSRP $21,507





I need to compile a list of all the accessory stuff I've bought like weights, lube, TPMS tools, etc. I've mounted about 20 sets of tires. I have a long way to go to be proficient, but I do feel comfortable in safely installing after doing just a few sets. It's certainly not worth it if you do the math versus palming the Discount Tire guy a hundo, but man it is super awesome to be able to do it at my own pace and be fully in control of the process.



I'm generally a big proponent of sticking with OEM wheels on the GT3s, but there is something about the BBS RE-MTSP that really works for me. My car was originally a White Gold accented car. I toyed with the idea of bringing some of the white gold back, but ultimately had I had a white gold car, I'd be pulling the stickers off and looking for different wheels. The wing uprights are silver, so I chose to stay clean and stickerless on the body of the car and to do Satin Platinum on the wheels. Before I even had a chance to think about it, my friend Eric from Supreme Power sent me photos of each color, and I placed my order.

Colors: Satin Platinum or Satin White gold
Size/Offset: 19x9 ET47 Front | 19x12 ET48
MSRP Pricing is $9,600



I really need to get a wholesale relationship set-up. I bought Cup 2s in OE Sizes from Tire Rack: 245/35-19 and 325/30-19
I also needed TPMS: https://www.tirerack.com/tpms/detail...1&autoModClar=











I've chased wheel weights a bit. I bought all of these black and grey weights in every size CKAuto makes. By the way, I would suggest you buy your own weights and take them with you to your tire mounter. My first set of tires I mounted were from my Tesla Model 3. They had this amazing rubberized metal single piece wheel weight system on the wheels that peeled right off and left almost no residue. The system is from 3M. https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/c/auto.../i/automotive/ It does come in black or silver. The best version is the PN61405 that is 4mm thick by 23mm wide. The only problem is that they don't make that in size in black. https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40070544/





Each size and thickness type of weight has a scale. The weight needed provided by your balancer is cut via length as dictated by the scale.





I like to prep my tires before mounting. Cut off the nibs, remove all the stickers, and clean with Stoner's Tarminator.

Stoner's Tarminator: https://www.obsessedgarage.com/produ...s&_ss=e&_v=1.0
Multipurpose Towel: https://www.obsessedgarage.com/produ...r&_ss=e&_v=1.0













Since these are centerlocks, I don't have to worry about how they clamp onto the machines. For regular 5/6/8 lug wheels, I do have the parts necessary to clamp without touching the face. Most tire shops don't have this stuff.







Side bar here. I realized I was jamming out with some legit audio, so I took a few photos of my stuff. I listen to music in two places, the car and the garage, so having legit audio makes the whole place so much more fun to be. I have a pretty insane setup. I find that recording studio monitors do really well in the rather harsh listening environment that the garage presents.

I've become a huge fan of BlueSound/NAD. Think Sonos, but much better quality. I've built all kinds of audio packages on my site. If you need some help with audio in general, I love talking about it. Hit me up matt@obsessedgarage.com

This is my system with 2 subs. It is insane. https://www.obsessedgarage.com/colle...41745597726871













This Hunter tire lube is pretty darn good. It comes right after mounting. Some of them that installers use can be nasty to get off.



Time for install. I made a video sharing the process.














Another side bar, these machines need a compressor. I have the garage plumbed in Prevost piping/fittings/filtration. The system is powered by a FIAC 5hp Silent Piston Compressor. If you need some help with a compressor, we can design it for you.

https://www.obsessedgarage.com/pages...ltation-design
https://www.obsessedgarage.com/colle...compressed-air











Wipe the area down near around the red line with this stuff.







I explain this in the video, but I was completely mistaken what a Road Force balance actually entails. The front balanced without any Force Matching, but the rear needed to be rotated. The Road Force part is when you use the guide from the balancer to mark the wheel and take back over to the mounter to rotate the tire to the recommended position. Then you move the wheel and tire back over the balancer and check it again. It is time consuming, and most places won't/don't actually do the Force Matching part.





















Next step is coating.

FLT6SPD

Bravo on the tire equipment, love it! Don't just do it, over do it has always been my motto as well.

I have a similar story with machine shops and ended up buying a CNC machine and learning CAD/CAM. Tooling and accessories ended up costing more than the machine.

Audio is another addiction...

Money2536

As I shared last week, I got the tires mounted on my new BBS RE-MTSP. Having this stand makes the process of coating the wheels and dressing the tires so much easier. This is The Source Garage's third version. It's pretty darn good. I like it in the Spinning Base w/ 4 Vertical Rollers. I modified mine cutting the all thread down to fit better.

Source Garage Stand: https://www.obsessedgarage.com/produ...41898234085527





Since my wheels are new, I can skip the need to remove tar, adhesives, or worry about polishing. I can just clean up the soap left over from the tire mounting and soak down the wheels with some CarPro Eraser. I would suggest buying a gallon and a Pressol bottle.

Capro Eraser: https://www.obsessedgarage.com/produ...=5669516574751
Pressol 750mL Translucent Sprayer: https://www.obsessedgarage.com/produ...026db2bf&_ss=r
Pressol Label: https://www.obsessedgarage.com/produ...026db2bf&_ss=r



I was catching up on Sam the Cooking Guy episodes while working through each wheel.





I like to clean the tires first. Since I already prepped and deep cleaned them before I just needed a simple wipe down with Stoner's Tarminator. I find this product to do extremely well at prepping tires to accept a tire dressing. Mineral Spirits will do a quicker and more thorough cleaning, but I find it dries out the tires. Spray the Tarminator directly on the towel not the tire. You don't want to get overspray on the wheels.











Soak the wheels down with Eraser and clean well to prepare to accept the coating.





I'm in love with these gloves. I need to get the in the store soon. https://amzn.to/3XOUFwP



So normally I would coat the wheels with 2 coats of Carpro Dlux topped with a coat of Gliss. I have a bottle of Gliss, but my shipment of Dlux was in transit. I had a bottle of professional install only Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra and another bottle of a new version of EXO that I'm testing, so I used that.

Dlux/Gliss: https://www.obsessedgarage.com/produ...x&_ss=e&_v=1.0
Suede Applicator: https://www.obsessedgarage.com/colle...ber-applicator
Applicator Block: https://www.obsessedgarage.com/colle...plicator-block
Removal Towel: https://www.obsessedgarage.com/colle...oval-towel-3-0



I did one coat of CSU and one of the experimental EXO.



I then over-dress the tires. I don't want shiny tires, but I put a boatload of dressing on to "soak" in. I'll wipe them flat before I put them on the car.

OG Tire Dressing: https://www.obsessedgarage.com/colle...-tire-dressing
CurveBall Applicator: https://www.obsessedgarage.com/colle...urveball-brush
RaceGlass Tire Brush: https://www.obsessedgarage.com/colle...iling-brush-xl
Wheel/Tire Towel: https://www.obsessedgarage.com/colle...l-tire-towel-1







Done! They will sit overdressed until install.

googone20

Matt, your killing me with this update. I was hoping to see those bad boys mounted on the car with this latest update. I am sure these are going to transform the look of the car. I know switching from silver to black wheels, or black to silver wheels is a big move.

Money2536

Yeah, I'm so ready to get brakes and wheels on the car. I've been in Helen working on the closets. I'll get the car back late next week.

neurotic

god I love tires without lip protectors!

googone20

Working on closets!!?? Lol!! That doesn’t sounds as fun as a GT3 RS project car. 🤣 That place you have in Helen is amazing though brother. Beautiful setup for sure. Can’t wait to see the updates when you get back. I know these projects and such as a lot of work, but it is coming out great.

SupraSaiyan

Agreed, looks so much better!

Dubber

x2 They totally ruin a tires profile.

jreifler

I just returned a set of PSC2s because they weren't the right N0-spec and had the lips. So much meatier without the lip.

Money2536

I got the car back from the Dryce Lab, so I'm back at it getting the car dialed in. I'm really starting to fall in love with thing. Bolster protectors are something that I have a love/hate relationship. I love what they accomplish and Ed Guards have OE quality, perfectly matching leather and stitching. The only thing I dislike is that I generally don't like covering stuff up that I'll never see again. But...if you don't do them, you're bolsters are likely toast.

https://www.edguardusa.com/product-p...bolster-covers

Money2536

I'll put together my Dry Ice Cleaning post in the next few days, but I wanted to share what I have been working on. After having all of the panels off the car and now clean parts, I've been able to get a clearer picture of what my plan of attack is to get the car set-up the way I want. Step one is to remedy the ride height. I'm all for low, but this is just too darn much for this car. I don't think it looks good.







Initial height was 25-3/8" on the passenger side and 25-1/4" on the driver's side.



The car has aftermarket Swift springs in the front and stock in the rear. The last owner lowered the front coilovers to the lowest position. The problem with doing so is the length of the spring. In order to lower the car this much either a longer spring would need to be installed or a helper should be added. As you can see in this photo, the collars are bottomed out. You can't see in the photo that the spring is floating. There is no load on the spring in full droop. I've found it's okay to have a little float, but not 2" of slop.



I needed to raise the collar up a substantial amount to add about a turn worth of pre-load on the spring.



The car came up almost a full inch.







The sway bar was set to full stiff in the front. I also found the endlinks to bound a bit. I moved to the middle and set the length.





The rear was set to full soft. I moved the middle and set the length.





I took the car for a drive. The front end feels a whole lot better. I don't notice much of a difference on the sway bar change. It still darts in the rear when letting off the throttle which leads to me to believe the toe is off in the rear. I'll be swapping wheels and brakes shortly. New Cups with a little meatier sidewall will also help the look. My next stop is to head to Driver's Choice in Orlando to get the car precisely aligned.