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nullbound

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Posts posted by nullbound

  1. No worries on the questions and I hope my advice is helpful.

     

    Rolling fender lips is done to add clearance for the tires in the rear. You can do this carefully with a hammer or the end of a baseball bat, or with a pricey tool like the following: http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/tools/fenderlip.jsp. I prefer the baseball bat/hammer route myself (I'm cheap that way), but the image in the link to tirerack should give you an idea of what it's doing. There's a roller on the top of the tool that is used to compress the lip of the fender in against the fender so that you don't end up taking chunks out of your tires on bumps or uneven pavement. You can also use a rolling pin like a cook uses.

     

    For a 280 with stock suspension, I would stick with a 235/60-15 on an 7" rim with 4" backspacing to be safe. Without seeing your car in person and being able to view the ride height and clearance, I can't recommend an 8" rim, especially given what you'll have to go through to get your wheels. While I think it would work with an 8" rim, I don't want you to end up with something you'll be disappointed with. However, if you were planning to go with coilovers, I would say go for the 8" rim. For slicks, look for something in the 26x8" or 26x8.5" range for the rears. That's in the same size range as a 235/60-15 will be.

     

    I have 6" front wheels and would purchase the same size again if I were to do it over. So, IMO go with 6" wheels on the front with a 205/60-15 or a 215/60-15 for street tires. Those tire sizes are pretty close to the stock diameter. If you want something to match with slicks, I like (and am currently using) Mickey Thompson Sportsman Fronts (26x7.5-15). While the size seems like it's close to the rears, it's really not. They look skinny, even on a 6" rim (that's what's on my car in my signature): http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=MTT%2D1572&N=700+4294923107+4294921520+4294793325+115&autoview=sku

     

    I'm being a little conservative on this, but just trying to make sure you get something that will work rather than something that might work.

  2. 4" backspacing would work for a 7" rim, but you wouldn't want that with an 8" rim, otherwise you would have some problems with your fender lips. An 8" rim with 4.5" backspacing is ok with stock suspension, but you will have to roll your inner fender lips. With 280 suspension, the spring perch is out of the way.

     

    I'm using stock style suspension with suspension techniques lowering springs on both my 240 and 280, both with 8" wide wheels on the rear. More details of my setup are in the thread referenced above by gearheadstik.

     

    For the fronts, a 5" or 6" rim is good (and would look good on your car), but IMO a 3.5" or 4" rim is really too skinny for a car you're going to drive on the street. Also, the available offsets for the smaller rims is limited.

  3. I had originally purchased tubes for the rears, but found out at the tire shop that the valve stem holes in the Welds weren't large enough for the stems on the tubes. I didn't really want to drill out the valve stem holes on my wheels, so I've been running without tubes. I haven't had any issues. I know of a few others running the same wheels and tires as I am and they're also not using tubes.

  4. Ha! Good one, Pop N Wood!

     

    In a physics class in college, I had a question on an exam about a swallow... I don't remember the question, but my answer was another question: "Would that be an African or a European swallow?"

     

    I'm glad my professor was also a fan, as I got full credit for that one:mrgreen:. A friend of mine at another college around the same time had the same experience.

  5. Snap, snap, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, grin, grin, know what I mean, know what i mean, say no more... say no more!

     

    Everyone here needs to see Spamalot, the musical. It's a really funny play on Holy Grail, with some random bits/songs from other sketches thrown in, as well. And the lady of the lake is hot.

  6. Roswell is a good location to work in and there are many places that are pretty convenient to live in and have a decent commute. Alpharetta, Marietta, Kennesaw, Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Cumming, Duluth, Norcross... Any of these locations has pretty good access to Roswell. Ga-400 has recently added a few lanes, which greatly improved the commute over what it was a year or so ago. At the same time, there are several routes you can take to avoid the expressway.

     

    As Zerrari said, the housing costs and taxes in Fulton County are higher than in surrounding counties, but that's not really a big deal when comparing to California prices. A lot of my coworkers live in Cobb or Forsyth counties, saying they got a lot more house for their money than if they had bought in Fulton county.

     

    I prefer Alpharetta to anywhere I've lived in GA, but have also lived in Dunwoody, Roswell, and Stockbridge (south of Atlanta). The growth in Alpharetta is pretty recent, with most of this area having been farmland ten years ago. Everything has a newness to it, whether its the businesses or the neighborhoods. You'll also like our gas prices:icon47:

  7. I agree that these would be unusable on a track car, unless you use fender flares and remove the factory lip. With my 280 being simply a street car at this point, I don't really see the harsh cornering that would truly test the fender clearance.

     

    I did actually have my first rub today on the expressway, when hitting a dip in the road at 70 mph. It was a light scrub and did no damage to the tires, but I'll be rolling the lips more than they currently are when I get a chance.

     

    I have the same problem with dips on the expressway with my silver 240 (with 26" x 10" tires on the rear) and have talked to a few local z guys about this... The recommendation I got was to use illuminas in the rear. I also talked to Ross C a little about this through email and he recommended coilovers and illuminas.

     

    My pics above show the rear clearance, but here's an interesting shot of the front spring perch clearance:

    front_clearance.jpg

  8. I got my sportmax 002's mounted on the daily driver '78 280 this weekend. Granted, the car looks pretty rough, but the new wheels do make it look a little better:?

     

    I'm using BFG KDWs for tires: 225/50-16's on the front and 225/55-16's on the rear. For suspension, the car has Suspension Techniques 280 springs and Tokico HP cartridges all around.

     

    Before Pic: turbo wheels with 205/60-15's on front and 215/65-15's in the rear

    DSC023871.JPG

     

    Side shot with sportmax wheels mounted

    DSC02392.JPG

     

    DSC023911.JPG

     

    DSC02393.JPG

     

    DSC02394.JPG

     

    Plenty of clearance in the back.

     

    DSC02396.JPG

     

    I did have to slightly roll the fender lips on the rear, but so far there's been no clearance issues.

  9. Looks awesome, Bartman! I am definitely a fan of having the exhaust tips not stick out past the bumper, even though they stick out farther than the bumper on my car (future change).

     

    I have the same rear valence for my 280z, but thought about filling in the exhaust cutout out on the driver's side and using turndowns behind the valence instead of having exposed tips.

  10. This was a good idea for a thread. Some really cool projects here that definitely inspire me to get back to work on mine :-)

     

    This is what my car looked like when I bought it (mild 350 installed)

    whenbought.jpg

     

    After a few years of work.. some cooling issues, paint, and suspension/engine/transmission upgrades:

    current.jpg

    240Z_front1.jpg

     

    Engine last year:

    bareblock.jpg

     

    Engine Now:

    DSC02236.JPG

     

    They're never done!! There's still a lot I want to do... like replace my brake master cylinder, bad dog rails, finish interior, and get my BetaMotorsports hood painted/mounted.

     

    I won't post my 280, since before and after wouldn't really show any significant change.

  11. Other than being a bit high and large you are happy with the cell? Have you had it in there long? Also, a bit unrelated but how do you like the borlas?

     

    Yeah, overall I'm happy with the cell. I've had it in the car for a little over 2 years. I actually like the 15 gallon capacity and probably could have cut the mounting brackets off the cell to make the fuel cell enclosure just a little smaller.

     

    And I love the borlas:)

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