New Shoes... and Feet!

[Rafe Hollister]

I just ordered new tires & wheels for my 56 P-Hawk... and I had to tell someone! American Racing TorqThrust 2s with General Altimax RT43s . The TorqThrust 2s seem to be about the lightest wheel AR sells, and one of the lowest priced. They show a bit less rim and a bit more spoke that originals or 'D's, but way less than cartoonish 'M' version.
Front: 16x7 wheels with 215/60/16 tires. Rear 17x8 wheels with 235/60/17 tires. The fronts are typical 3.75" backspace. The rear wheels have hard to find 5.48" backspace, this will be necessary to clear fenders.
I currently have 205/75 on 15/7 rims with 4" backspace on front. 235/70/15 with 4" backspace on rear and they rub occasionally.
These will lower the front maybe an inch, but rear will stay same but with a half inch more fender clearance. I think I will like this stance. They are supposed to get here next week, I'll post pix as soon as they are bolted up.
I got everything from TireRack. They will come mounted and balanced with lug nuts and center caps at no extra charge. I tried to get them locally, thru Summit and Jeggs, but no one could get the rear rims.
I picked the tires because they are top rated by Tire Rack and exceptional in rain... it rains 101 days a year here in NorCal coastal. And since Studebaker names their cars Dictators, Commanders, Presidents... you just gotta put Generals on them!
Pix is of TorqThrust 2s 17" on 'Stang.
Rafe Hollister

[Silverplate]

Those wheels will look real nice on your Hawk. Be sure and follow up with photo of them installed…Mike

[bensherb]

Those Torque Thrust II wheels should look pretty good on there. The Torque Thrust has always been my favorite wheel, I didn't know they started making the "2 " in other than polished/chrome; cool. The "M" is for Mustang, it's the same as the wheels that came on '05- '09 Mustangs, hence the "M".
It sounds like you'll have a lot of rear fender clearance, Thom. The wheels I have on all four corners of my GT are 17"x 7.5" with 5" backspace; With 235-55-17 Hancook tires. I have 1" spacers under them; in front for suspension clearance and in back because it looked funny with too much fender clearance. They are also Mustang; '15-'19. Much like your car, mine has about a 2 1/2" rake to it (at the rocker). Everything clears fine. (don't fret about the hood fitment, that's part of my cooling system. The rear of the hood is electrically lifted to let heat out when it gets too hot. It was running at 223F(digital gauges) when I parked there today, it's normal, it's pretty warm here; has to get over 105F ambient to be hot.)

I did replace the Mustang center caps with some I made though, .


Thees wheels would not have fit the rear of our '53 Coupe, when it had the original axle, as it was offset 1" to the right. They will with the current Ford axle, it's 1" narrower and now centered between the fenders. We have 15"x 6.5" Crown Vic wheels on it, with 215-70-15 goodyear's on it. They were on my GT before I changed wheels, and fit both cars PERFECT. Like they came from the factory with them.

[Rafe Hollister]

Nice rake, Bensherb, shows better in 2nd picture. I may want to lower my front another inch to get a similar stance, but will see what new shoes do. I think the GTs may have more room in the fenders than my 56. Both sides of mine rubbed with the 235/70/15s/4"back space, so I put them in front with 205/75/15 on rear. But I recently put air shocks on and with 20lbs I can run the big ones on the back now.
I thought the 'M' stood for modern. But I know Mustangs came with something very similar a few years back.
Those aren't TorqThrust on your GT, what are they?
I sure would like to know how you made your center caps. Do you have a write up on them?
Does you hood open from the back?
Rafe

[bensherb]

Hi Thom/Rafe, no the wheels I have on the GT are factory from a 2015-2019 Mustang. I did a lot of work on a guy's 2017 Mustang, and he let me keep all the stuff he/I took off and replaced, (exhaust, 2 of them, sway bars, suspension bits etc.) much of it is on my GT now. It only had 350 miles on it. When he changed the wheels and tires a week or so later he asked if I wanted them; I bought them for the cost of one tire.

I don't have write up on the caps. But; I had some stickers made from a picture of my R 1 grill emblem, then made aluminum disks with a recess about 1/4" deep that fit into the wheel. The disk is threaded and there is a matching washer that fits into the back of the wheel, then the two are screwed together clamping the wheel in between them. I put the sticker into the recess, then filled the recess with "crystal clear" polyester resin. I made two of them one day, and for some reason the surface ended up with an "orange peel texture ( the tests I made did not, they came out smooth). So when I made the other two I waited until the temperature and humidity was the same as when I did the earlier two, then "poured" them. To my surprise, they too had the orange peel texture, which I found interesting and different. The tricky part was that the rear axle nut sticks out pretty far so it was trickier to fit the attachement screws around it. A single screw in the center wouldn't fit, it did in the front though.

No, my hood does not open from the rear. When I got the car the hood would open a foot higher than the prop rod, so I made an extension for the rod, it made it much easier to work under the hood. When I removed the hood, to facilitate engine removal, I found that the hinge studs on the hood had broken free, so before reinstalling the hood I welded them back in their original position. When I installed the hood I found it would no longer open as high and it was difficult to work under. So...I modified the hinge pivots ,where they mount to the hood, to allow the movement it previously had so the hood could be raised higher.

Almost 30 years ago my dad found when he was having cooling problems on his way to Oregon in his '53 K , if he raised the rear of the hood by closing it on a rolled up towel, it dropped the running temp considerably. After clearancing my hinges so the hood would open further, I found I could raise the rear of it even further. So, I went a step further than my dad did and installed electric "screw jacks" to raise the rear of the hood on demand. We've also replaced the cowl seal ( on both his and my car) with rubber blocks, that alone makes a surprising difference too, allowing heat to escape from the engine compartment. It can get quite warm here , and cooling a hot engine is much different when it's only 80F, than when it's 110F.

This pic is under the dash, showing the lift servo. This is the right side, its just above the vent door, which I removed and replaced with a screen because it could not be opened when my AC evaporater unit is in place. I also modified the exterior "gill" vent door opperating lever assembly too, as it was not accessable with the AC unit in place.

[Buzzard]

Rafe,
Good on ya!
Way back when the first wheels I had on my '63 GT Hawk (50+ years ago) were ET's which are very similar to your black 5-spoked units. I think they really suit the Hawk's body lines and compliment the car's unique appearance. I used 15x7 with 235/70R15 (HR70 in those days) tires. A little massaging of the rear fender lips was all that was required.
Bill

[Andy R.]

That "on demand" hood lift mod is trick!
The effect of the center caps you describe as orange peel almost looks like enamel in the photos.

[bensherb]

That "on demand" hood lift mod is trick!
The effect of the center caps you describe as orange peel almost looks like enamel in the photos.

Thanks Andy.