Sounds like enough reason for me. I think your car would look odd if it had 18s on it. 17s seem to be enough for it. And I guess the previous owner really fucked things up before you got it?
As for a meet, I was thinking of doing something much smaller next month. Maybe meet down at the Waterfront, hang out and do a big-group dinner at Uno or something. I am also beginning to plan another large meet but that probably won’t be until July/August.