Wheels for Christmas, which means questions

[jwinkler]

Actually, got greenlighted for buying the wheels, so before I do:

1) PS Engineering or Team 3 (not really interested in real spinners)? I do believe I've finally decided to go 17". Either one better for turn-around time?

2) Wheel offsets? My stock CR rims are 8" wide with 0" offset (or 4" backspacing, right?). Jack21 sent me pictures of his car with 235/45s up front and 275/40s out back, but I'm tempted to go silly with 275s up front and 335s out back partly to recoup tire height and fill up the rear wheel well, and partly just because .
His wheels were 8" (4" bs) and 9.5" (5" bs) respectively. If I go to an 9.5" rim up front, do I have room for 5" backspacing? With an 11" out back, can I do 6" backspacing?
2a) I have also been greenlighted to convert to discs for the rear. Does this change the rear end track width (and thus change wheel measurements)?
2a1) Would a complete rear end with discs (and maybe a 3.73 gear to take advantage of the new traction) be close to the same price range as the SSBC disc conversion? (I'm thinking it also might be an easier install?)

Ah, well - wish all my problems were as nice as this one!

Thanks,

JLW

PS - one other thing that might make it under the radar is a "bent-forward" shifter from Finish Line - any chance their T5 version would fit our car, or would I be whacking the dash in 1, 3, and 5? Has anyone tried this?

Thanks again,

JLW

[petek]

I tried the bent-forward shifter from FinishLine, doesn't work on the CR (hits the dash).

[dscott]

JLW, I like either wheel. I use the 9.5 in the back and the 7.5 in front with the PS wheels. With the stock drum rear you can use a 5" BS, on the front you want a 3.25 or 3.5" BS. I'm not sure what widths the Team III come in but you can adjust for the difference from the PS wheels. I don't think you will get a larger than 8.5" wheel to work up front, you will get interference with a wider tire. I'm sure you can modify the fender liner for clearance if needed but I've never gone larger than an 8.5" wheel. If you add an aftermarket rear disc setup it usually only adds about a 1/4" to the width. If you use one of the Mustang 8.8's with the stock rear disc it adds about 3/4" on each side so you will have to adjust the wheel BS.

The stock wheel on the CR is 8" with 3 3/4 BS.

Most of the forward shifters hit the dash (or your hand does). It's very easy to make one, just 2 bolt holes on the bottom. I have my local machine shop make straight ones for me at a cost of about $35. It wouldn't take much to put a bend in one.
Don

[jwinkler]

Don, Pete - thanks for the replies. I was thinking about it today, and it's hard to argue with the natural placement of the T-5 shifter. I remember being stuck in traffic once, and realizing that in 1st gear, I was resting my hand on the shift knob while using my thumb to keep the steering wheel straight as I crept along.

That being said ... Don - would your machine shop be able to build one that extended the normal T-5 rearward dogleg so that when it was bent forward from that point the end wouldn't be much past where it is naturally? I'd be up for being a test subject for at least a couple of tries (up to what I would have spent for the Finish Line shifter, anyway).

Next question - have you put 17" rims and tires on one of your cars? If so, was it Jack21's combo (235/45s in front, 275/40s in back)? Based on your rim width recommendations, looks like the biggest I can go is 255/45s and 285/40s (giving up about 1/2" of tireheight in front and 1" in back). You've got a nice picture of a blue car that you used to test image posting on the cr forum - I like the offset differences on that car - the rear looks much deeper than the front - if that wasn't a custom rear end, do you remember what you put on that one (offset-wise, and tire size wise, even though it looks like a 15" combo)?

Last question (honest!) - can I get any or all of this through CRII? Are you caught up enough to start handling parts yet?

Thanks,

JLW

[dscott]

JLW, if you have the shifter that has a dogleg to the rear you can just turn it around so the dogleg goes forward. Only 2 bolts holding the shifter on. If that doesn't work I can see if my machine guy will make one more forward facing.

If you look in my gallery there is a picture of a yellow Cobra that has 17" PS wheels. I used 295x40x17 on the rear and 245x45x17 on the front. It looks really good.

I can sell you anything you need. We are definitely selling parts!

Don

[jwinkler]

Don - I'll call you tomorrow! (contact info is right at classicroadsters.com ?)

Also, since the Finish Line "bent forward" shifter hits the dash, here's a crude stick figure drawing of the CR-specific reshaping for the shifter (the lines on the left (try to) represent the standard T-5 shifter shape, and the one on the right is the potential new shape):

[dscott]

JLW, I like the stick drawings. Is it just me or does the one on the left look like a guy sitting in a chair and the one on the right look like a guy sitting in a chair leaning over to throwup. I'll see what I can do to have one made.
Don