Universal Project Car Rule #1: Getting a project car ready for a show is always a nail-biting last minute affair. Always. Oh, even we veterans still try to plan and threaten our way into a more relaxed approach, but I've yet to hear about anyone successfully pulling it off. Lord knows we haven't.

The main problem is that due to the nature of running a business, your customers have to come first, no matter how important your project car is to the future of your business. As such, shop car work is usually relegated to late night and weekend shifts. Our deadline involves an event in Atlanta that was taking place on June 7. Since C2 is counting on their car to be in their booth, not being done in time is not an option.

Last update you saw the results of cutting the fenders for extra clearance and we told you we tried on the flares and were pleased with the results. That was totally the easy part. Now we needed to come up with a way to physically mount the flares to the car, while keeping in mind the aerodynamic forces involved during speeds of 100+ mph (not that we ever do that, mind you). Doubling the degree of difficulty was the fact that we plan to use these flares to make molds so that we can begin to offer them to the general public. That meant that whatever method we chose for mounting had to be temporary and allow for easy removal. In other words, a couple rolls of 3M double-sided tape wasn't going to do it.

Our body man and helper, Tee, suggested we fabricate aluminum brackets on which the flares could rest and use velcro - yes, velcro - to keep them there. With a number of self-tapping screws mounted to the bottom of each flare and the industrial-strength velcro around the tops, after completing the process with one flare we were confident that these babies weren't coming off no matter how fast we chose to drive (nothing over 70, of course).

Mounting the first flare made the the process for the other three relatively simple. Once done, we mounted up our new BBS RE wheels and Sumitomo tires and admired the results. Everything fit great and the car now had such an aggressive stance we couldn't help but smile. Still, there was lots left to do, such as coating the inner wheel wells, painting the flares, adding inner liners, and making sure we had adequate clearance even with the suspension fully compressed.

Due to leave late Friday night, we finished the car around 8:00pm Friday evening. Rule #1, for sure.

No doubt you noticed we revealed our choice of wheels and tires. More info includes the specs:

- BBS RE forged aluminum wheels size 18x10 ET30, weight approx 20-lb each

- Sumitomo HTR Z II size 265/35-18

We chose the BBS RE due to its lightweight and BBS' stellar motorsport reputation. The fact we're an authorized BBS retailer figured into the decision as well. At around 20-lb each, these REs are very light for such a large wheel. These wheels happen to be a Porsche application size, but since we really had no options in this size and the OE Rabbit 5x112 bolt pattern, we ordered up a set of H&R aluminum 5x112 to 5x130 adapters. Lightweight, hubcentric and strong, these adapters are German TÃœV-approved and work beautifully. They also convert our Rabbit to wheel studs and considering the track time in this bunny's future, that's a big plus.

The Sumitomo HTR Z II is a great all-around tire with excellent rain performance - something we'll no doubt appreciate during our soon-to-arrive Florida monsoon season.

Enjoy the pics below and we'll have better renditions along with Durty Fest coverage in our next update.