Wouldn't the vintage tire re-issues cover that problem? If they're producing vintage tires, you'd think they would be in vintage sizes. They may not be specifically Goodyear Bluestreaks, but I'd think that something would be available in regards to the vintage racer scene.

hey chris, i just finished watching the mulholland fun run dvd and found it very informative as well as entertaining. i sure wish more of the folks who used to actively race mulholland would come forward and share their stories so we could have a mulholland racing archive. info on all those cars that went off deadman's would be interesting as well.

Tires and Reg
 

Back in 1976 when the car was new, I tried several different kinds of tires. Here is what I learned with performance in mind.

I found that street tires are worthless, no matter what you pay for them. This is no joke.

Goodyear, Firestone, and a couple other manufacturers make excellent Racing Tires. I tried Firestone and Goodyear Bluestreaks in both treaded and slick design.
Firestones were tried first and didn't stick worth a you know what until they were hot as hell. One Sunday morning while going for a test drive, I spun the Carrera at the top of the Esses at about 50 mph. That taught a good lesson, always, and I mean always, heat up a racing tire before making it do what it's supposed to do. If it isn't to temperature, you will most likely get an unpleasant surprise, especially when applying throttle. (Street tires work fairly well cold, and that's one of their advantages).

I found that the Firestone Racing Tires were stiff, rough, and had too much rubber not in contact with the ground due to it's tread design. It looks more like a street tire. Besides they scared me like I said in the paragraph before.

Next I tried Blue Streak Sports Car Specials in slicks and, "Oh my god" did they stick like glue, no, better than glue. One of my favorite quotes is, "With Bluesteaks you can go thru a turn as fast as you have balls big enough" (identicals at near 70mph). However, I kept thinking about the folks on Mul that like to water the asplalt at night for whatever reason. You know those slicks won't be too forgiving when it's hydroplane time. I thought to myself, "If you hit that water in a turn while fully commited, it's bye bye time." So I relented and got the same tire in a treaded design and found that they were almost as good as the slick design, at least for Mulholland where speeds attained are less than a sanctioned racetrack has. The treaded design gave me the peace of mind to go 10-10ths. My hats off to Charley for always running Bluestreaks in slicks on his Vette. Jesus, he even raced in the rain with those slicks. I openly concede that he was definetely a little crazier than myself.

The Carrera uses 9x15 inch wheels in the front and 11x15 inch wheels in the rear.

The Tires it uses are 24.0 x 8.0-15 in front, and 25.0 x 10.5-15 in the rear using Goodyear Bluestreaks.


As far as the registration issue...I may have to get creative. I will post my solution when it arrives. ;)

Not comparing...Just an observation for the period.

I think the period correct repro tires would be plenty good enough. As Chris said before, the RSR will likely never leave the hill (or at least stray far). I also highly doubt it will ever be out in any real rain. The tread design for wet weather really only becomes a factor in moderate standing water at speed. Even the irrigation runoff on Mulholland is likely not enough to require a tire with anything more than decent water evacuation characteristics. It is really the tire compound and it's ability to grip when cold (or generate heat) that affects it's effectiveness in damp conditions.

Don't forget the purpose of Chris' RSR. It's made for short trips across the racecourse. Just take a look at the little brakes on it (no offense Chris). There were better brakes available at the time but were likely not needed as these were probably fine with the right pad and the vented/drilled rotors. It needs a tire quick to heat or with good cold temp grip. Water is really a non issue and neither is overheating like what would be seen from continuous lapping on a track. An autocross tire would likely be ideal but I think a period look would be more appropriate than chasing ultimate lap times.

I would be surprised if this RSR traverses the racecourse at 11/10ths like the old days anyway. It is after all a piece of history. ;)

Mulholland Carrera
 

That's a very good assessment vntgspd. Thanks.

Another point I've heard from vintage racers (or, at least, their sanctioning bodies) is that they don't want the most modern (stickiest) tires available. After all, vintage racecars were designed with vintage tires in mind. Start putting on stickier rubber, and stress loads increase and appear where the original engineers didn't intend for them to happen. Suspension parts get broken in new and interesting ways--and probably at inconvenient times.

Not that Chris's car is particularly old. Modern sticky race rubber will probably be fine. But it was an interesting point I came across one time (maybe at some vintage races at Lime Rock?) that I hadn't considered previously.

I hope y'all don't mind me jumping in here....

There seems to be quite a few real and replica RS and RSR running the Michelin TB15s at lapping days in Europe. I personally have never driven a car with them, but they seem to be quite popular. Just a thought.....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1213234874.jpg

autocrossers seem to swear by falkan azenis, but they are not available in all sizes. they're supposed to be the current top autocross tire, barring actual slicks;

http://www.falkentire.com/
http://www.stopandgotires.com/models/Azenis-RT-615.jpg

if you're going to all-out racing slicks, hoosiers are supposed to be the current best in the biz. problem with hoosers is that they have phenomenal grip right up to the limit but when they let go, they completely and utterly give up so if you don't know your car's limits it's easy to spin in an instant;
http://www.hoosiertire.com/

Azenis RT615's are what I run for daily and track. They are fantastic tires that get warm quick, but they are nothing compared to RA-1's or a comparable R compound.

I think white walls would look dope. :)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1213237737.jpg

I'm thinking someones been smokin some dope. (not that theres anything wrong with that)

Hey, what's in
this siht, man?

Mostly Maui-wowie,
man.

Yeah?

But it's got
some Labrador in it.

What's Labrador?

It's dog siht.

What?

Yeah, my dog ate
my stash, man.

Had it on the table,
and the little
motherfucher ate it, man.

Yeah?

I had to follow him around
with a little baggie
for three days
before I got it back.

Really blew
the dog's mind.

You mean we're smoking
dog siht, man?

Gets you high,
don't it?

I think it's even
better than before, you know?

I wonder what Great Dane
tastes like, man.

Ah, man.

That's some
heavy siht, man.

Yeah.

Hey, man...

am I driving okay?...

i love this thread :)

Lightning McQueen: All right, Luigi, give me the best set of black walls you've got.

Luigi: No, no, no! You don't know what you want! Luigi know what you want. Black-wall tires, they blend into the pavement, but these white-wall tires, they say look at me, here I am, love me.

Wheels reborn from many years of neglect
 

Here is how one of the front wheels looked before restoration. Badly pitted and toasted. Note the small test spot for polishing.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1213322221.jpg



Even the wheels are full of spiderwebs.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1213322303.jpg



Just doing one wheel is a lot of hard sanding, polishing, and, TLC
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1213322397.jpg



After polishing one of the daisy spokes you can see the deepness of the reflection.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1213322480.jpg

Wheel restoration
 

After cleaning the wheel's imperfections with 400 grit sandpaper, 600 grit was used to polish the surface.
Then polishing compound takes care of any fine scratches. The fine luster is brought about from the "Mothers Mag and Wheel Polish".
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1213322829.jpg




I had doubts that the wheel could be brought back life so incredibly.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1213322925.jpg




Wowee! Get the sunglasses. I'm blinded!
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1213322992.jpg




Here's a comparison between a wheel that has been restored (on the right) versus one with no restoration.
We still need to touch up the black paint on the wheel to look excellent.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1213323079.jpg




After all these years, I'm grateful that we can bring back to life in so many ways, a special California Car. Thanks for the motivation guys.

We are getting closer...

That looks incredible, Chris!

wow chris!
can you do mine next? :)

if it werent creepy id hug you. that is amazing, sir! :)