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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Apr 16, 2010 9:36:48 GMT -5
I did a little mocking up last night which has me still trying to figure out my alternator situation and I change my mind on my wheel direction. The great news is the engine pulleys and radiator hose clear the hood by a few inches actually. I was worried they wouldn't. There's more room under the hood than it really looks. I did take the carb off and the breather (wait for it), but the hood closes great. I haven't seen my car with the hood on in quite some time. Here's how the hood closes minus carb, breather, and alternator. Wait for it...  The other problem, as some of you may know, is I have never put the 17" vette wheels on upfront. I've always have had the 16" upfront so I figured they'd fit, no problem, right? WRONG. The tie rod rides on the wheel. I would need 2.5 spacers to clear. I have 2" spacers on there now.  This is a repost for some, but I'm going with Weld wheels and this is how the car will look.  It'll be safer cause I'll be getting ride of the spacers AND I'm lovin' the old school drag car look. I played with the alternator a little. I installed it as it would normally be. I was surprised it closed as much as it did. The hood is about 2" away from being completely shut.   I then disconnected the alternator and turned it as far outboard as I could. That gave me another 1/2" - 3/4" closer on the hood. It's so close to being closed. Ughh...   If only I could get the alternator to sit another 1 1/2" lower I would have it made. I'm looking into other alternator brackets. Last but not least, my carb scoop came in, tubes of seam sealer and all my paints for the car (MasterSeries, epoxy primer, high build primer, hugger orange, black, clear coat, HVLP gun, etc). Here's a mock up pic of the car scoop. Should look b*tchin'!  This weekend I'm going to try and get the rear sheet metal finished and get the hood cut for the carb scoop. That should just about get me ready for the body work stages. |
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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Apr 19, 2010 9:35:49 GMT -5
Got some work done. Not as much as I would've like, but something. Mounted my carb spacer and carb scoop mounted and I cut out the hood too. Mmmm, polished aluminum. I think it added another 50 hp, lol, jk. Maybe 5-10 hp on the top end. Got some work done. Not as much as I would've like, but something.      I think I may have my alternator situation figured out. It'll mount like this, but it'll take a little fabrication to make this work.  Did a little grinding to clean up the sheet metal in the engine bay.  I starting doing some seam work. I put down a coat of Master Series on the seams to keep then from ever rusting. Next it'll get another coat and them some 3M seam sealer.   I ordered my wheels so they should be here Wednesday. I should have some pics by the weekend with them mounted. Maybe even a little cruising video with some of the new toys on. |
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Post by humbug on Apr 19, 2010 16:52:48 GMT -5
Wow. That's really lookin good. Hurry up, cuz I need my VIDEO fix!
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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Apr 20, 2010 9:17:08 GMT -5
Wow. That's really lookin good. Hurry up, cuz I need my VIDEO fix! Thanks! LOL, no problem. I'll have something up after this weekend. I've got some things apart, radiator, so I can seem seal. I'll have a new video rockin' soon. |
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Post by 70fastback on Apr 20, 2010 10:07:38 GMT -5
What are your plans for a dash? X2 on the vids or it didnt happen! LOL
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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Apr 20, 2010 12:00:29 GMT -5
Right! The plan is to get or make an aluminum dash.
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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Apr 22, 2010 16:22:57 GMT -5
Been painting with MasterSeries rust sealer and sealing seams this week. I've finished the sealing the floor, the firewall, the rear wheel wells, and the radiator metal work in the back (which I forgot to take pictures of). I've applied a coat underneth the backside of the car and working my way to the front. Used 3M sealer. Stuff reminds me of heavy duty Elmer's glue. Haha...   My wheels came in. I order Jeg's Weld knock-offs instead of Summit's cause Summit didn't offer the offset I needed. I'm sure they the EXACT same thing, just different center caps. I forget how small 15" wheels are after having the 16, 17, and 18 wheels floating around this whole time. The size I got are... 15"x4" front w/ 1.75" back space 15"x10" back w/ 5.5" back space Tires will be... 165/80/15 front 275/60/15 back I'm going to Discount tonight to new get tires. Tires are going to be $300. Can you believe that? $50 each for the front's and $100 each for the backs. The wheels are pretty nice knock offs for the price. They'll make for great street wheels. Gotta bee even more budget minded that the kiddo is on it's way and the wife will be a stay at home Mom.    |
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Post by Mock1racer on Apr 23, 2010 6:37:38 GMT -5
I like those wheels, that's gonna look sharp.
One issue though, with a 10" wide wheel and a 275/60 tire, looks like it's real close to the leaf spring. I'm sure you did the measurements, but in the pic it looks like it's an inch from the spring.
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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Apr 23, 2010 9:20:55 GMT -5
Thanks! It's going to have a nice old school drag look. ;D I'll get another pic with the weight of the car on them. They're just placed on there for now.   Somewhat, meaty. ;D  I was worried about that too, but I researched and measured lots. Apparently guys are getting away with 15x10 wheels with 5.5" of back space and 295/50/15 tires. I've got the same wheels and back spacing but with 275/60/15's. I mocked them up last night and they clear everything by about 3/8".  The only problem is, "are the tires going to clear the fenders"?  I was thinking they would cause the 275/40/18's cleared, but when I held the fender up to the car it looked very close. It's cause the side wall of the tire bulges out AND the tires are 1.5" taller.  If they rub, I'll have to get 4.5" wide fenders. Mine are 3" wider as of now. I'll probably have to get 1.5" wider fronts too just to balance out the look of the super wide rear fenders. Any one have a pic with 4.5" rear fenders with stock fronts? Just curious. If it ain't on thing it's another. I'm very happy with the wheels though. |
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Post by Mock1racer on Apr 23, 2010 10:32:44 GMT -5
Yup looks good to me. Your tire comparison is very similar to mine, I'm gonna run the same size rears as you. My fronts are 145R15 Nangkungs, I had to get them from Ca. $120 a piece!
They are the smallest tires I could find with out going to a tube tire (135R15).
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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Apr 23, 2010 11:53:34 GMT -5
Cool. This tire setup was pretty cheap. Hopefully it all fits under my rear fenders as is.
Is there a Discount Tire or America Tire co. in your area? They were $49 each at Discount. I copied this straight from the email receipt.
165R-15 86T ARIZONIAN PREM METRIC B $49.00
WARRANTY: MILEAGE- 50,000
P275/60R-15 107S RWL BFG T/A RADIAL T/A $97.00
WARRANTY: MILEAGE- 60,000
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Post by Mock1racer on Apr 23, 2010 12:49:42 GMT -5
yeah we got a discount tire here, never thought about that though...
I did find some 165's for $75 but I wanted a smaller tire in front, just need the rears, BFG's are good tires for the street, hate to burn them up at the track.
I guess I've had my mind set on some drag radials... hmmm... might have to make some calls.
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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Apr 23, 2010 14:15:37 GMT -5
Speedwaymotors.com has some 145/15's for $95.
I hear that. I really don't plan to use these rear wheels for the strip, just the street really. I'll go to the drag strip every once in a blue moon to open her up safely. I'll eventually buy some drag slicks and another set of the same wheels for the strip, but I'll need to upgrade the rear as well when that time comes.
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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Apr 24, 2010 21:25:47 GMT -5
Pics of the new wheels.     It was beautiful out today so I did a walk around video. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXWytmDrrGgI got lots done. Doesn't feel like it cause I had to run back and forth and there's really not a lot to show for the time I put in. Got the new wheels rockin', obviously, did a quick eye ball alignment cause it was more obvious it was our with the new wheels, sealed seams in engine bay, sealed seams under car, inside wheel wells, ground out and redid a couple weld on the cage just to be sure, bolted in the gas tank, got some deck lid stand off's to see how they'd fit and work, fabricated and sealed up the tank filler neck holder, and test drove the car.    I couldn't resist test driving the car some with the new wheels and having the stand-offs. Great day for that. I made a little video.www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0lERkAIRIMI got on it a little. The car didn't pass 4K RPM and stayed around 2500 RPM. Was still lots of fun, scary, and I got the chance to break the engine in a little and to try out the 2" carb spacer. Didn't seem to affect the torque a whole lot. Still lights em up easy peasy. |
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Post by V8 Super Beetle on Apr 24, 2010 21:27:48 GMT -5
On a side note, notice how green my grass is compared to my neighbors. Haha, jk.
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I was thinking they would cause the 275/40/18's cleared, but when I held the fender up to the car it looked very close. It's cause the side wall of the tire bulges out AND the tires are 1.5" taller. 
If they rub, I'll have to get 4.5" wide fenders. Mine are 3" wider as of now. I'll probably have to get 1.5" wider fronts too just to balance out the look of the super wide rear fenders.