Remembering Japanese cars from the past
A while ago I posted about how to fit stretched tires on those lovely 9 inch wide rims like this one on the Carina Firevan:
Well, I found a video how to do it without explosions:
Pretty nifty!:)
Still, I think the fun factor of the explosion method a lot more appealing. ;)
Ever wondered how they fit stretched tires on those fat 9, 10, 11 or 12 inch rims? Ever wondered how those wheels on the B?s?zoku, Kyusha Kai and Shakotan cars are done? I did after seeing this picture of the Carina Firevan:
See for yourself here:
What happens is that the tire is only fitted on one side of the rim and the other side has a small (ahum) amount of space between the tire and the rim. The guy in the video applies brake cleaner on the rim (to ignite), just above and inside the tire. Then he lights it and the brake cleaner ignites and explodes inside the tire. This causes the air to expand and the tire to stretch. Due to the tire expanding it will tightly fit on the other side of the rim and you have a stretched tire. It is as simple as that! :)
Here you can see a better (and safer) how to:
(don’t mind the bad choice in music…)
So, now you know how to make your car look Shakotan. ;)
And be careful… You don’t want to end up like this:
I know I promised to give a follow up on the AE86 cupracer in the Car feature, but writing that piece takes a bit longer than I thought. I’ll try to finish it later this week.
I still haven’t found the owner of the famous Carina firevan, however I thought I finally should add this great car to the sightings after I found these pictures on TurboDude’s gallery at Photobucket:
As you can see these two pictures were taken individually, but both of them are stunning! You can clearly see that the car is featuring a 3S-GE with ITBs. From what I heard that engine is perfect for lightweight cars, like the AE86 or this SA60.
I suspect the car started its life as a SA60 Carina Surf and not a A67 Carina van as believed earlier. edited: The car probably started its life as a SG67 van. The front indicator lights are inside the bumper and that’s only applied to the van and not to the surf. It would be far more easier to swap the 1S for a 3S-GE. And the round lights from the Carina A67 van could be swapped just as easy later on.
Here you can see a picture I’ve posted earlier:
The firevan next to two other Surfs. Compared to them it is really low! A really nice example of a car in Shakotan style, and not too distorted to be referred as Kyusha Kai or B?s?zoku. Lovely stretched tires on the first picture, and even more stretched on the other two. :)
Second picture is courtesy of Auto-otaku.com. You can find more pictures from him here:
Anyone got an idea where to find more pictures of the set which features the first set?
© 2025 Banpei.net
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑
