I had a set of Ferrari 330GTC wheels freshly powder coated at a local shop. What started out as a repair on a couple of chips to the rim turned into having the whole set painted to match. As we inspected the wheels for the repairs, we found all but one wheel had damage, so it was easier to paint them all so they would all match. Since new tires were going on anyway, now was the time to do everything nice a new!

I asked the powder coater to mount the wheels as well, so if any damage occured during the mounting process, he could fix them at no extra cost! I assisted in the process with tubes and talcum powder at hand.

I took the wheels and tires back and reinstalled the splined hubs. With the new tires back on the car, they felt great and the balance of the wheels was spot on. I was happy!

I’ve had a 246Dino GT at my shop that I’ve been sorting, and during my test drives several weeks back, I noticed some rubbing of the tires on the front inner fender. A little tire rub can be normal, but I felt this was a little excessive. I took a look at the tires an noticed something wrong. The tires on this car seemed a little tall. They were Michelin XWXs, but the size was 205-14s. Dinos were originally sized with 205-70-14s. That one missing “70” on the sidewall was our problem.

I got a set of 205-70-14s and placed them next to the tires that were mounted on the car, and you can see the height difference. The taller tires were fitted to 330GTCs, but by the late 60s and 70s, tire manufacturers were using lower profile tires starting with the 70 series tires. Unfortunately, my other customer already bought his tires for his GTC, because we could have had a perfect match for a swap of tires, but the timing wasn’t good. I’m sure I’ll find someone who can use these 205-14 Michelins!