Project Facelift

[Jand3rson]

Lookin Good Josh, You gonna get ballsy and make it to the march meet?

I'm hoping to, provided it ends up being a combination tech day, I need help dropping out my tranny and replacing that input shaft seal, and if we're able to have it at Joe's friend Mike's shop, they have several lifts.

But let's not talk about that right now. We have much more important things to talk about.

Like how my rear apron is finally welded. :up:















The welds are pretty decent, but not the greatest. Andrew did the welding, but it was the welder that was the problem, it's just a temporary cheapie that he bought because their Lincoln shit the bed. But they're good enough, and you'll never see them, anyway.

The important part is that the major parts of this facelift conversion are DONE. All I have to do now is wash the area, hit it with a wire brush, spray on some undercoating, and paint it. We also cut off my Magnaflow muffer, since with the addition of the rear apron, the exit position of the muffler is slightly off and very crammed up against the right side of the exhaust opening, so I'm going to have it rewelded and have new tips put on to replace the stupid DTM tips.

[Mike325]

Josh, not sure if this will help you out.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

[AdironRider]

Break out the baseball bat and roll em anyways. Im running 205's with an offset of et20 and have no worries, even if I had 225's theyd clear no problem, but it doesnt hurt to roll em anyways. Heat up the paint and do the ol bat trick and its good to go.

[Borat]

so if my understanding and calculations are correct, that puts you at ET27, which is 2mm closer to the fender than mine.

Next time I go outside I'll peek under there and see how close I am to the fender with ET25. I guess it's time to diagnose that rub sound on my sharp turns at low speeds, too ;)

I'll let yah know what I find out.

ET27 will sit further in than ET25.
Josh, you should be fine with 225's when the time comes and not need guard rolling.

[Van Westervelt]

205/50's are the right size for a 16x7 wheel, and another half inch of rim width does not warrant another 2cm of tread patch. 225's would be too wide IMO. I run 205/50's on both my 16x7 sets.

Lookin Good Josh, You gonna get ballsy and make it to the march meet?

[DarkWing6]

Outstanding work Josh. Can't wait for the 10th now. Definately is one of the cars I can't wait to see come picninc time.

[smooth]

Ummmm, I believe the Borbet's are +35, and I'm using 8mm H&R spacers.

so if my understanding and calculations are correct, that puts you at ET27, which is 2mm closer to the fender than mine.

Next time I go outside I'll peek under there and see how close I am to the fender with ET25. I guess it's time to diagnose that rub sound on my sharp turns at low speeds, too ;)

I'll let yah know what I find out.

[Jand3rson]

what's your wheel offset?
my wife's 15x7.5's are ET25 and I didn't need to roll her fenders with 225's...

to be honest, in parking lots at speeds of <5mph I hear something going on in one of the rear wells. But I can't for certain say the tire is rubbing. haven't been bothered by it enough to check and it only occurs at that low speed and turning sharply into a parking space.

so you may not need to roll your fenders.

Ummmm, I believe the Borbet's are +35, and I'm using 8mm H&R spacers.

[smooth]

what's your wheel offset?
my wife's 15x7.5's are ET25 and I didn't need to roll her fenders with 225's...

to be honest, in parking lots at speeds of <5mph I hear something going on in one of the rear wells. But I can't for certain say the tire is rubbing. haven't been bothered by it enough to check and it only occurs at that low speed and turning sharply into a parking space.

so you may not need to roll your fenders.

[Jand3rson]

but then again, you did say this was your daily so then gas consumption, wet traction, less fear of potholes, and inexpensive rubber might be your driving concerns rather than appearance or performance.

Well, here's the explanation on that. The only reason these 205/50 Firestones are on there now is because they were free. My father in law gave them to me after removing them from my mother in law's Focus when he bought new tires for it, before I even had these wheels. He didn't want to just throw them away, and I said I'd take them, you never know when you might need a spare set of rubber. So when it came time for last year's PNW E30 Picnic, I slapped these on the Borbet's as a temporary set of tires just to make the trip up to Seattle, so I could have the new wheels on the car for the meet. Well, I ended up not being able to take the car, so the tires just stayed. Now the new tires I'm getting are 205/50/16's, because TireRack is closing out their remaining stock of Bridgestone Potenza S03's for $90 each in that size, and there was no way I was going to pass up S03's for $90. Next year when it's time for a new set of tires, I plan to roll the fenders and buy 225/45's.

[smooth]

I run 225/50's on 15x7.5's and the difference between them and 205/55 was definately noticeable.

the wider tires are much more aggressive looking.

Side by side you'd definately notice the taller, thinner look of the 205's.
I can notice it without them being side by side.

but then again, you did say this was your daily so then gas consumption, wet traction, less fear of potholes, and inexpensive rubber might be your driving concerns rather than appearance or performance.

[Jand3rson]

Josh, see post #387.

205/50 is within the realm of possible sizes for that wheel. And not pushing the fringe like those VW guys who stretch a 195 on 8" or wider wheels.

No argument fom me - just making points of information.

I gotcha. :up: Heeter was in fact one of the people that old me that 205/50's would be the best size tire for this rim, and that 225's would be too large.

[Dave]

Josh, see post #387.

205/50 is within the realm of possible sizes for that wheel. And not pushing the fringe like those VW guys who stretch a 195 on 8" or wider wheels.

No argument fom me - just making points of information.

[JGood]

I use 205/45/16 on 16x7. Plenty of tires in that size, I think it looks good, and no problems.

[Borat]

205/50's are slightly stretched on my 16 x 7.5's, 225/45 is a better suited to that width rim. You've got that rim width so use it IMO.

225/45 is an odd size though, most cars running that width rim would be using 225/50.

Now having said that, 205/50 pretty good match for sidewall height, its just the slight stretch that annoys me.