Congrats on a lovely Dino! Don't be intimidated by the Dino, many items are easily done by yourself and other of us DIY'ers. In my cars there are two different ways the mirror mounts; my USA car is probably most correct that it has a floating mounting/attachment bar tthat is attached to the Door panel with its own fastener and has two tapped holes for oval head philips machine screws. The Euro car is missing the mounting bar and there are only two holes in the door, so I use the same machine screws with washers and nylock nuts. In this case the door panel must be removed by - unscrewing the two screws behind the door handle (in the metal cup) - removing the trim fasteners at the edge of the leather (if you have them) AND/OR gently pulling the door panel at the plastic push pins. - raise the window - reach in and access the interior mounting area hmmmm...perhaps I should start a DIY topic on this
Just a quick thought - If your tires are more than 4 or 5 years old, I'd think about getting new ones before going out for some hot laps. Michelin XWX 70VR14 tires are usually (but not always) available from Coker Tire (make sure to have them verify the build date), and you can also get the correct size and speed rating from Vredestein in their "Sprint Classic" line. Synchro has some on one of his Dinos, they have that "classic" look on his car, and I believe he is pretty happy with them. Mark
Hey guys we (Coker) are out of them right now, but we are expecting a new shipment in around Feb 1. I'll get some production dates for you guys when they come in. Jerry
I know everybody hates the mirrors, but removing them might open a can of worms and leave big holes. Think I'd better wait until the car is repainted.
Two choices. 1) Leave the mirrors. There are only about 100 obsessives in the world that will notice. 2) Remove the mirrors. Cover the holes with Prancing Horse shields. There are only about 100 obsessives in the world that will notice. Enjoy the car. Don't sweat the small stuff. Jim S.
Hello all, Just got a Dino last week #04280 purchased from a delightful man who had owned it since 1986. It has a newly rebuilt engine with 300 miles on it done by Tim Stanford. I'm located in Louisville, Ky. and I'm sure I'm going to have some questions. George Davidson George, Welcome to our group. You will find more than you want to know here and Jim S. has it just right. Don't be intimidated. Drive the car and let us follow your fun. Post more pictures. We are all learners and want to share the good and the bad. Everything is fixable and fixing is fun for many of us. Ask away! John
George, that's going to look great next to the French Blue car... You need to bring it to VIR sometime! <grin> Congrats on a great purchase!
Interesting - I had tried finding alternatives before, and the closest were either off a size or were not the original speed rating. Could you post the relevant info about your Bridgestones? Thanks - Mark
Jerry - Could you try to clear up a few issues? Apparently the XWX 70VR14 tires are made using original molds, but are they made using the latest advances in chemistry/engineering/construction techniques? For example, is the current XWX 70VR14 better now than it would have been in the 1970s? Also, when I last ordered my XWXs through Coker, they took 19 months to be delivered because Michelin supposedly was moving them from one production category to another (apparently from "classic" to "vintage" to "historic" or something like that) and from one production plant to another. I was told by both Coker and by Michelin that tires like the XWXs were built only as time allowed during gaps in regular (read "current") production. Is that still the case? Also, I have heard rumors that Coker either owns or leases the specific XWX molds. Can you enlighten us on these matters? Thanks - Mark
Here's what Tire Rack has to say about the tires: The Potenza RE92 is a High Performance All-Season tire designed for sports coupes and sports sedans. It was developed to provide responsive handling and year round traction, even in light snow. On the outside, the Potenza RE92 features a computer-enhanced tread design to minimize tread noise while interlocking triangulated tread blocks, circumferential tread grooves and an all-season tread compound provide traction on dry, wet and light snow-covered roads. Internally, the Potenza RE92 features twin steel belts reinforced by spiral-wrapped nylon belt edge strips (for H-speed rated sizes) or a full spiral-wrapped cap ply along with single belt edge strips (for V-speed rated sizes). The Potenza RE92 belt package stabilizes the tread area to enhance wear, while providing strength for cut protection and high-speed capability. The Potenza RE92 radials polyester cord body help deliver a smooth ride along with responsive handling.
All of the Michelins molds are still owned by Michelin France, we are just the North American distributor for their vintage/historic line of tires. We are told that they do 2 runs of the vintage tires per year, so there may only be 1 run of XWX's per year etc. As far as the compound goes Michelin won't release that info. All we know is that they are using new rubber technology on all of their tires. Let me know if you all have any other questions. Jerry
What size are you running? I just visited the Tire Rack's website and the only Bridgestone in the factory size (205/70-14 - forgetting about the V rating) is for a Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 studless ice & snow tire. Mark