An acquaintance from the U.K. noticed that mixed in with the shell fragments are what appear to be a couple of pieces of lead shot. He suspects that instead of some dramatic event, the tire may have been used as a backstop for target practice. The more I think about it, the more I think he is right. However, that doesn't explain why the guy from NZ put it BACK in the car for a spare before sending the Mini to the U.S.

I am currently trying that electrolysis rust removal technique on the rim since it is horribly crusty. What I do with the rim afterwards depends on how well it cleans up.

The moment of the rifle shot was actually caught on camera......

Think the cops "stopped" it?

Angry EX?

Rim looks repairable, small dent in bead area could be straightened , question , is it worth the cost of welding up or the time ?

Obviously an early Kiwi version of dynamic tire balancing beads.

Sorry about the dead picture links.  They were uploaded to another message board (not my personal storage space) and apparently cannot be linked.  I don't know that this attempt will work any better.  Obviously let me know if you only see the red-x boxes.

We call that a riddle, multiple shots means that it's riddled...

            and , wait for it, the one that applies to this thread.........

Pictures don't show...

A guy local to me recently sold his New Zealand Mini. He had installed alloy wheels on the car and was selling the old steel rims separately. He finally gave up trying to sell the rims so I helped him find a home for them.

I picked them up yesterday for their future owner and when unloading one of the tires I noticed it "rattled". After looking over the wheel I found a few holes in the tire sidewalls, a badly dented rim bead... and a hole through the rim... from the inside out. I just had to dismount the tire to see what was inside.

Inside I found the remains of two copper jacketed high-power rifle bullets. My acquaintance said that when he installed the alloys on the car he kept the best steel wheel and tire for his spare. Apparently the damaged rim came from New Zealand "ventilated". I sure hope the guy wasn't in the car when it was shot.

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