Introduction
Many years ago FM editor Mikelonis said something about this hobby that I realize now was a fairly profound statement. He was commenting how for many auto enthusiasts the motivation and excitement about their rides fades over time, and eventually results in the owner selling the car and buying a new project, only to repeat the cycle again in a couple years. It is easy to get years deep into a project car only to become frustrated at the slow rate of progress or the lack of light at the end of the tunnel. If you share my weakness than you likely go through this cycle every two years - time spent wrenching turns into hours browsing classifieds and local used car lots. The next thing you know you have taken on a new project car and sold off or forgotten about the old one. It's an addiction of sorts and in the long run it can become a very expensive habit.

This article isn't about how to cure yourself. In fact we're not even sure this behavior needs to be cured because after all, what would this hobby be without the anticipation and excitement of the next project car? However, Mikelonis' sage advise was simply that perhaps guys should buy a new set of wheels and tires when they feel their interests in their car wane. Women buy shoes, guys can buy wheels. A set of wheels and tires can fully change the look, stance, and demeanor of your car. It is a quick and relatively inexpensive way to make a prominent and bold change to your ride every few years. If the dragstrip look of fats out back and skinnys up front is wearing thin perhaps you ought to shake things up and slap on some 20" spinners. Just kidding.

To bring the story closer to home, we recently went through a similar bout of "depression" with Project '67. For those of you who have been following along with this project you surely know this is the original FM project car. Most of our projects over the past few years (400 Horsepower 302 Buildup; 331 Stroker; High on Carbs) have obviously been focussed at under-hood enhancements. We haven't done much to change the outward appearance of the car. In fact, since 1994 the car has had the same Cragar SS wheels and Cooper Cobra tires. Sure Cragars SS' have a legitimate history and are 60's period correct, but let's face it, they are a favorite impulse buy for new muscle car owners desperate to rid their rides of its' stock rims. Local speed shops love the SS for their multi-lug design, allowing them to stock one part number yet target most of the local Chevy, Mopar or Ford novices. We didn't know better back then, but now we do and so it is time to step up to something more Mustang specific.

Selecting a new set of wheels is tough considering the hundreds of possible styles available. Do you go retro, drag, road racer or bling-bling. Clearly the last category is out. The road racer look is pretty sweet, but also the most pricey. To pull off a road racer look on vintage Mustang you need no less than a 16x8"wheel. We contemplated a set of 16" Torq-Thrust's but eventually were not convinced that a gray/brushed aluminum wheel would go well with our black vinyl top. Ultimately we decided on a classic look that you simply cannot go wrong with on any early Ford, the Magnum 500.

Custom Wheels
Magnum's are generally sold in 15x8 with a 4.5" backspacing. On our '67 Mustang this dimension with a 245-60R15 tire on the rear wheels would result in the fender lip cutting into the sidewall when the suspension compressed. As a result we wanted a 5" backspacing to move the wheel and tire slightly inboard, and even allow a 255 wide tire in the future. Up front we opted for a 15x7 with the standard 4.25" back spacing. This will keep the inner tire off the ball joint, and work well with the 215-60R15 tire we are running in the front.

We sourced our Magnums from Specialty Wheels in Portland, Oregon. If you recall, they produced the dozen custom Magnum 500's for Jon Hancocks' Shelby-trio of '66 Galaxie wagon, trailer and '66 Shelby clone. In fact if you have ever wondered where all the classic reproduction wheels come from, now you know. Specialty also make the Mustang "Styled-Steel" wheel, the '68-'69 GT wheel, and the rare '67 Shelby Magstar. (Our first choice was the Magstar, however Specialty advised us that the riveted center is not recommended for high horsepower applications and sticky tires.) Cougar guys will be pleased to learn that Specialty also produces the 67-70 Cougar wheels. All the wheels are available in up to 10" widths and whatever backspacing you desire.

Backspacing Measure backspacing from the mounting pad to the outer edge of the wheel. We had Specialty Wheels produce our Magnum's in 15x8" with a 5" back spacing for the rears. The fronts are standard 15x7" with 4.25" backspacing.	Width Measure rim width from inside of the bead edge. We would have liked a 10" wide wheel out back, and while it would bolt on, a typical tire for a 10" wheel (e.g. 275 wide) would surely rub the leaf springs or fender on a 67-68 Mustang. The 8" and 5.5" rim will let us go to a 255 width down the line.
Clearance On early Mustangs the A-arm ball joint can interfere with the rim and tire. A 15x7" rim with 4.25" backspacing gives 3/8" clearance as shown here. Always bolt the rims up before mounting the tires, as most wheel companies will not accept the rims back once they have had tires on them.	Balancing Specialty Wheels suggests using a balancing machine which holds the wheel through the lug holes, rather than a hub-centric balancer as shown here. This is because the center hole may not be at dead center after the welding process. We weren't able to locate a tire shop with the recommended machine, however we haven't noticed any balance issues either.
Installation The wheels are installed and lug-nuts torqued to 100ft.lbs.	Stance Enough said!