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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Posted: Thu May 19, 2022 3:29 pm Post subject: My latest 14" 4x130 "Dan Gurney" Wheels Project |
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Bought these (a very nice set of five used matching) from a top-notch Samba seller (Trevor, a.k.a. VWporscheGT3) back around February of 2021, and only recently felt ready to get them refinished and get the tires I had picked out for them mounted up, and then finally onto the car. I'm going to start slow, though, and add where I'm able, to a new dedicated Samba Forum thread, within the "Custom Wheel/Tire" area... I hope to get further into the reasons why I like this particular wheel, why 14" and not 15", and so forth, so stay tuned, as I'm able to work on this, in a gradual manner...
Several years back, I had another set of 14-inchers, which I bought from another top-notch Samba seller located in New Jersey (the one and only Richie of richiesgarage fame--he even arranged to have them hand-delivered to my house in CT--whatta guy!), and had refinished by my favorite local powder coating company (then known as "Shoreline Coatings," located in North Branford, CT--I've since heard that they are now part of "American Dry Stripping & Powder Coating" based in Milford, CT, and the North Branford operations are closing up and moving to the Milford home base). Then put some mongo super-heavy-duty Jeep-type knobby bias ply tires on, and had some fun driving them around on my former Creeky '69 Bug (this picture is from November of 2013):
Eventually I realized it was a pretty harsh tire for the relatively lightweight Bug, and sold the wheels & tires separately. I eventually got the itch to find those old wheels again, and made contact with a relative of the person (a very good long time VW hobby friend, who has since passed away) who I gave them to, but sadly, they were long-vanished. That's what set me off on the new search for another set of 14" Gurneys (and yes, I did go back to Richie first, but he did not have any in stock)...
Some side notes on the original set of these on the Creeky '69 Bug (shown in the picture above): The car had been fitted with Karmann Ghia front disk brakes by the previous owner and so I needed to run some 3/8" spacers, in order to get the wheels to clear the calipers in front... The name of the mottled-looking finish on the wheels is a powder coating called "Black Vein," and is kind of silvery, with a random pattern of depressions that come out black, giving a unique overall appearance. In looking at some online pictures of "Black Vein," however, I think this coating kinda looked more like "Black Frost," reference: https://www.prismaticpowders.com/shop/powder-coating-colors/PVS-3083/black-frost ... I liked it, but I was already thinking of some other type of look, if & when I found another set of 14" Gurneys...
EDIT: Here's another manufacturer's picture of "Black Frost": https://www.prismaticpowders.com/gallery/12261/powder-coated-15-inch-wheels
Anyway, lots more to come, as I can manage it, thanks for looking. _________________ Stock Steve
Shoreline Antique Auto Connection
http://www.shorelineantiqueautoconnection.com/
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Ich Bin Ein Facebooker: https://www.facebook.com/steve.fromsaac
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Join VVWCA: http://www.vvwca.com/
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Your source for old school metal tire valve caps: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1416217
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Thanks Veterans
Last edited by Stock Steve on Thu May 26, 2022 1:13 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Posted: Wed May 25, 2022 3:50 pm Post subject: Re: My latest 14" 4x130 "Dan Gurney" Wheels Project |
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I had been running a "wanted" ad in TheSamba for 14" Gurneys, and eventually I got a very nice response with an offer to sell me five super-nice matching 14" Gurneys from Trevor (a.k.a VWporscheGT3, who I think is located somewhere out west. He contacted me somewhere around late January of 2021 or so. I saved one of the pictures he sent me:
If you look closely, they have four little screw holes in between the lug bolt holes, for attaching a 4-ear-style center cap from the outside (the original set of 14" Gurneys shown in the first picture in this thread did NOT have these, so I assume some sort of push-thru cap was used). I think I saved a picture of the four caps that Trevor threw in with the wheels, which provided some more information about them. After I find that picture, I'll add it here and add some more analysis...
EDIT - Here's the center caps picture that Trevor sent me--note the "P/S" marking visible on at least one of them:
Sorry slow updates here--I am working on this when I can find the time. Eventually the whole story will be told (Spoiler Alert: there's no drama--everything turned out GREAT--I just enjoy providing what I think are appropriate details)... Thanks again for looking/reading! _________________ Stock Steve
Shoreline Antique Auto Connection
http://www.shorelineantiqueautoconnection.com/
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Ich Bin Ein Facebooker: https://www.facebook.com/steve.fromsaac
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Join VVWCA: http://www.vvwca.com/
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Your source for old school metal tire valve caps: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1416217
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NJ John Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2007 Posts: 2179 Location: HdG, MD & NJ
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Posted: Thu May 26, 2022 5:46 am Post subject: Re: My latest 14" 4x130 "Dan Gurney" Wheels Project |
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As always, nice choice. Every time I ask this question about Gurneys, I never get a response. I’ve heard that their really lite weight. Are they?
What’s next 13x7 aluminum slots with 60’s all around? _________________ 1973 standard, yellow, lowered, 3” narrowed front, 1600 blo-thru turbo w/single dell 15.4@86, so far
11.41 et buggy. Long gone
Let’s go O’s! Let’s go O’s!
https://www.youtube.com/@AirSpooledGarage |
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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Posted: Thu May 26, 2022 1:04 pm Post subject: Re: My latest 14" 4x130 "Dan Gurney" Wheels Project |
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NJ John wrote: |
As always, nice choice. Every time I ask this question about Gurneys, I never get a response. I’ve heard that their really lite weight. Are they?
What’s next 13x7 aluminum slots with 60’s all around? |
Thanks NJ John--I like 'em too.
I have a fifth one that's still bare (powdercoated, but no tire), so I'll try to weigh it. It seems pretty light. The 14" Westerns that I just sold (https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2546192) were around 16 or 16.5 pounds--these 14" Gurneys seem lighter.
I saw those 13" slots--thought about them a tiny bit--but I think I've found my home (well, for now, anyway) within the 14" world.
Thanks again! _________________ Stock Steve
Shoreline Antique Auto Connection
http://www.shorelineantiqueautoconnection.com/
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Ich Bin Ein Facebooker: https://www.facebook.com/steve.fromsaac
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Join VVWCA: http://www.vvwca.com/
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Your source for old school metal tire valve caps: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1416217
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NJ John Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2007 Posts: 2179 Location: HdG, MD & NJ
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Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2022 6:04 am Post subject: Re: My latest 14" 4x130 "Dan Gurney" Wheels Project |
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Just weighing in. Lol _________________ 1973 standard, yellow, lowered, 3” narrowed front, 1600 blo-thru turbo w/single dell 15.4@86, so far
11.41 et buggy. Long gone
Let’s go O’s! Let’s go O’s!
https://www.youtube.com/@AirSpooledGarage |
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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Posted: Thu Jun 02, 2022 9:38 am Post subject: Re: My latest 14" 4x130 "Dan Gurney" Wheels Project |
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As-received pictures, as of early February 2021. I got five really nice pieces! Very pleased! Thanks again to excellent Samba seller Trevor!
Here's a little side-by-side juxtaposition of the old 14" Gurneys (left), and the new Gurneys (right). Aside from the different configuration for center cap attachment (old appear to require push-thru from the back; new has four little screw holes on the front face for attaching a 4-ear type center cap with for little screws), I think the edges of the slots on the new ones have a more "rounded" appearance, while the old ones I think had more "angular" edges (I know, hard to see, with the powdercoat finish):
Going along with the "P/S" center cap marking that was mentioned earlier in this thread, I did some research on Samba forums and found a picture of a "Per-Spec Industries" version of the Gurney wheel apparently called a "GT," and it looks to have the screw-attached, 4-ear type center cap (and you can even make out the little "P/S" logo on it). Not having found any markings on the backs of these wheels, it was nice to finally have a good idea of who probably made them:
And this is just a picture that I figured I'd throw in, taken by my long-time old-VW friend "Rome" (@TheSamba), that shows one of his former 15" Gurney wheels, his cat checking it out, and also an example of the shoulder-type lug bolt that is needed to attach these to the '68 & up VW Type 1 brake drum (along with a washer; there appears to be one stuck on the bolt in this picture). I used this photo in a "wanted" ad on TheSamba to see if I could acquire a few more of these bolts, since they appear to be very much "NLA" these days:
And finally, here's a quick snap of a real McAfee wheel, that I believe all of the various Gurney variations were modeled after. This was a "hot" aftermarket wheel for disk brake Porsches. The McAfee wheels have the raised "nose" in the center, which in this picture, has some kind of custom spinner attached to it. I don't know what the asking price was for these, but I'm sure it wasn't cheap. Notice the nice rounded edges of the slots. I took this picture at the Central PA PCA Porsche Swap Meet in Carlisle, PA, on 4/30/2022, reference: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=767807&highlight=
Here's some good info about McAfees: http://www.jackmcafee.com/7.html _________________ Stock Steve
Shoreline Antique Auto Connection
http://www.shorelineantiqueautoconnection.com/
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Ich Bin Ein Facebooker: https://www.facebook.com/steve.fromsaac
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Join VVWCA: http://www.vvwca.com/
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Your source for old school metal tire valve caps: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1416217
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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2022 8:05 am Post subject: Re: My latest 14" 4x130 "Dan Gurney" Wheels Project |
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To answer a question about weight of a 14" Gurney wheel (Per-Spec Industries mfgr.)...
Stuck the one extra that I had w/o a tire on it, on the bathroom scale--looks like somewhere around 10 or 11 pounds. So they are actually pretty light!
Will be getting back to more in-progress updates next chance I get, but I wanted to make sure to answer this question about the weight.
_________________ Stock Steve
Shoreline Antique Auto Connection
http://www.shorelineantiqueautoconnection.com/
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Ich Bin Ein Facebooker: https://www.facebook.com/steve.fromsaac
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Join VVWCA: http://www.vvwca.com/
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Your source for old school metal tire valve caps: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1416217
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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 2:37 pm Post subject: Re: My latest 14" 4x130 "Dan Gurney" Wheels Project |
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Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022: Picked up the five beautiful gloss red powdercoated Gurneys from American Dry Stripping & Powdercoating of North Branford, CT (they have since closed the North Branford shop and consolidated their operations in the Milford, CT shop)...
Wednesday, May 4th, 2022: Brought four of the refinished wheels, and the four Goodyear LT 195/75R14 Wranglers (25.5" OD) to my favorite local auto repair garage, Stony Creek Auto Service of Branford, CT, for expert mounting...
I was so pleased to learn of the existence (for the time being, anyway, I don't think a lot of vehicles use this size any more--maybe 2WD mini-pickups back in the day, but that's probably about it) of these tires: Goodyear Wrangler Radials, size LT 195/75R14. They were *not* cheap. I found mine on ebay. I bought them probably a year or so ago, because I was afraid they'd "disappear" (become NLA, in other words). So, they had been sitting, sitting, sitting in my basement for quite a while, waiting for me to do something with those wheels! Here's a "manufacturer's" type image illustrating the tread pattern & sidewall detail that I grabbed from the internet:
Next time, we will move on to putting them on the car... _________________ Stock Steve
Shoreline Antique Auto Connection
http://www.shorelineantiqueautoconnection.com/
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Ich Bin Ein Facebooker: https://www.facebook.com/steve.fromsaac
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Join VVWCA: http://www.vvwca.com/
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Your source for old school metal tire valve caps: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1416217
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Thanks Veterans
Last edited by Stock Steve on Fri Jun 10, 2022 12:05 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2022 6:27 am Post subject: Re: My latest 14" 4x130 "Dan Gurney" Wheels Project |
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Installation Day details, Saturday, May 7th, 2022...
Got the Gurneys with Wranglers mounted up back from the local garage, and had some fun getting them onto the car...
Wasn't sure about whether or not to run center caps--I had a set of gnarly ones that I had painted red, and tried them on the fronts, not totally happy with those, so I was already thinking about moving the "blingy" center caps from the 5-slots over to these...
Not bad!
_________________ Stock Steve
Shoreline Antique Auto Connection
http://www.shorelineantiqueautoconnection.com/
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Ich Bin Ein Facebooker: https://www.facebook.com/steve.fromsaac
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Join VVWCA: http://www.vvwca.com/
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Your source for old school metal tire valve caps: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1416217
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NJ John Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2007 Posts: 2179 Location: HdG, MD & NJ
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2022 9:54 am Post subject: Re: My latest 14" 4x130 "Dan Gurney" Wheels Project |
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Thanks.
Do you have front disc brakes? _________________ 1973 standard, yellow, lowered, 3” narrowed front, 1600 blo-thru turbo w/single dell 15.4@86, so far
11.41 et buggy. Long gone
Let’s go O’s! Let’s go O’s!
https://www.youtube.com/@AirSpooledGarage |
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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2022 2:31 pm Post subject: Re: My latest 14" 4x130 "Dan Gurney" Wheels Project |
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Some initial local test driving with the new sneaks, 5/14/2022...
Also had driven down to Stony Creek Village on Saturday morning, May 14th, to meet up with some of the local 356ers for a coffee klatch. One peanut gallery comment I heard about later: "What's he got on there, SNOW TIRES?!"
Foggy morning by the water, but soon cleared up into a nice day.
_________________ Stock Steve
Shoreline Antique Auto Connection
http://www.shorelineantiqueautoconnection.com/
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Ich Bin Ein Facebooker: https://www.facebook.com/steve.fromsaac
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Join VVWCA: http://www.vvwca.com/
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Your source for old school metal tire valve caps: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1416217
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Thanks Veterans
Last edited by Stock Steve on Wed Jun 15, 2022 2:53 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2022 2:39 pm Post subject: Re: My latest 14" 4x130 "Dan Gurney" Wheels Project |
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Branford, CT Memorial Day Parade, 5/30/2022...
By this time I had decided that the wheels definitely needed the bit of extra "bling" that the nice repro center caps that I had assembled for my former 5-slot wheels (still for sale at this time, but not on the car any more), and installed them. These shots are pre-parade staging area by the edge of the Branford Town Green (where pre-parade ceremonies and speeches were going on before the start of the parade).
In this second picture you can see that the couple in the left background were clearly overcome with emotion by how nice the wheels & tires came out on my car, and got a little carried away!
I later found out when I got home from the parade that one of my white "dice" valve stem caps had either fallen off or gotten lifted. I eventually found some others on Amazon that I thought went well, will follow up with a picture ... _________________ Stock Steve
Shoreline Antique Auto Connection
http://www.shorelineantiqueautoconnection.com/
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Ich Bin Ein Facebooker: https://www.facebook.com/steve.fromsaac
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Join VVWCA: http://www.vvwca.com/
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Your source for old school metal tire valve caps: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1416217
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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2022 12:59 pm Post subject: Re: My latest 14" 4x130 "Dan Gurney" Wheels Project |
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This is a picture of one of the repro center caps, still attached to one of the 5-slot wheels. The caps are plastic, and I found them somewhere on ebay. They came without any emblem in the center, but after some research I found these nice ersatz "Empi GT" emblems sold by CIP-1. I think they were available in a couple different diameters. I made sure to measure the cap's flat mounting area for the emblem, and thankfully ordered the right size. They came with an adhesive backing, and were very easy to pop onto the caps, and they seem to stay on pretty well. The caps are a 4-ear design, and thankfully the exact same pattern of threaded holes were on the Gurneys, so all I had to do was switch them over, with the same attachment screws.
_________________ Stock Steve
Shoreline Antique Auto Connection
http://www.shorelineantiqueautoconnection.com/
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Ich Bin Ein Facebooker: https://www.facebook.com/steve.fromsaac
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Join VVWCA: http://www.vvwca.com/
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Your source for old school metal tire valve caps: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1416217
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Thanks Veterans |
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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Stock Steve Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2005 Posts: 1963 Location: My Left Nutmeg State
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Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2022 8:08 am Post subject: Re: My latest 14" 4x130 "Dan Gurney" Wheels Project |
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At a cool town green cruise night, 7/6/2022, Branford, CT...
Our town tried a new thing last year, with setting up a DJ to play oldies music on the Town Green, on Wednesday evenings during the month of July, and inviting classic cars to arrange themselves on the nice inner perimeter limited-access roadway that encircles about a third of the Green (major town roads border the other two thirds). This past Wednesday evening was the first for 2022, and they got an excellent turnout on a beautiful evening. I was very happy to be able to participate with the '70 Bug!
_________________ Stock Steve
Shoreline Antique Auto Connection
http://www.shorelineantiqueautoconnection.com/
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Ich Bin Ein Facebooker: https://www.facebook.com/steve.fromsaac
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Join VVWCA: http://www.vvwca.com/
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Your source for old school metal tire valve caps: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1416217
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VWporscheGT3 Samba Member
Joined: September 01, 2006 Posts: 2073 Location: Gardnerville, NV
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Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2023 10:25 am Post subject: Re: My latest 14" 4x130 "Dan Gurney" Wheels Project |
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Woah, just saw this post , thanks for the nice shout outs Steve! I think I saw a post where your selling them now , but they really look good on your bug. Its a neat look.
I still have my 15's , and am debating whether to polish them or sell em. as much as i hate my Rivies on my fastback... they just... work, and would likely look a helluva lot better if i put some effort into refinishing them.
anyway , again, thanks for the kind words even if im over a year late. You were a excellent buyer to work with. _________________ Schnell, SCHNELL!
I like being wrong, Because, it is another opportunity to learn. If you stop learning from your mistakes than what is the point?
If you have any questions about Forged ICON 4032 VW pistons just shoot me a line. |
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