1962 Daytona J8 (62S-16390)

[M-Webb]

Good looking work Pat. I like your thought process and attention to detail. Seems like we think alike. I run bias on the Champ as well and yeah, not the best performers, but they do look great! Worm clamps under the dash same as well. Can't see them without unreasonable effort and I don't want them leaking. In the engine bay, the spring clips will do.

Question though, it looks like your firewall penetration holes are in a completely different place than the factory vintage photo. Is that correct, how does that work, assuming have the same factory heater in the car? Looks like the wadded up some Dum Dum on the penetrations as well, no grommets, or visible ones anyway.

[62champ]

One thing I like about the bias ply tires, is how easy the Daytona and my Champ steer. The Champ had 215X15 - 70R radials on it before, and it was quite the workout driving around town. I have people say, "oh, but doesn't it want to follow lines/groves/etc. on the road?" Yes, it does - but that simply means I am always paying attention to what I am doing and not tempted to pick up my phone or anything else for that matter.

The car was built at the factory with heat, so it was done in South Bend. According to Matt Burnett, for 1961 and 62, the factory simply punched holes in the firewall for the heater hoses. The hole is not cut, per-say, it look like it was a pressed hole - the edges are not sharp and seem folded over. Without grommets, they did put dum dum around the opening to keep most of the outside out.

[M-Webb]

Yes, I agree on the bias on my Champ. The bias are way easier to steer at stop or low speeds than the radials were that were on the truck when I got it. As in a lot easier. So that itself is enough of a benefit for me to keep them. Plus I like the looks of them better, more period correct. I don't really have a tracking problem that I have experienced. It is more that one of the front tires always seems to have a lump or flat spot in it, even after replacing them once, still the same thing. It seems to only be in the front steer tires, not the rear traction ones. But I have yet to actually pinpoint if it is the tires or something else I can't seem to find and figure out. I'll have to wait to get the new motor back in the truck and it back on the road again before I can look into that again more specifically. But if I still have the problem when running again, and the power steering seems to be good, I might be tempted to swap the front tires for a bias looking radial of some sort to try to fix that. Or just put more matching traction tires on the fronts too and give it a faux 4X4 look, see if that fixes it.