Well after looking at rims on evilbay for the past few days and trying to unsuccsesfully sell my gauges and tires i think i've finally decided what i'm gonna do:
Convert the TC to 5 lug with lincoln rotors on the front and redrilled axles and rotors on the rear.
Go with 18/9 and 18/10 FR500 deepdish rims wrapped in 235/40/18s on the front and 275/35/18s on the rear.
Had quite a few choices in rims for around the same dollar figure off ebay but after looking at the bullits on our cars i wasn't as inthused as seeing the bare rims.
The deep dish cobra r's are nice and where a choice of mine quite some time ago in another thread but i can't get them in 18s and since the 2 tires i can't sell are of the 275/35/18 varity it is the better route.
Plus i have 18's on my supercoupe with the polished lip and black centers and i think there cat's ass.
Here's some pics of the wheels i looked at just to give you guys some ideas of what i'm after.
I think the FR500's look the most intimidating.Those are a wheel you just don't see that often.I wish they had a 17x10 1/2 Cobra R in 4 lug.I just bought the wheels about a month ago (17x9's),but would love to have the deeper wheels on the back.I need a different center cap.I like the Cobras,but they just aren't what i want overall.
Off topic ( sorry) but i'd like to see a Tbird logo on Cobra R wheels, seing as ALOT of people do them on our cars. I do however vote the FR500's in a dark silver wheel. Black if need be if it's what your after
I'm planning on using the Hyper color FR5oo's myself. 18 x 9's w/255's up front and 18 x 10's w/285's in the rear.
I think I'm going to buy an extra set of center caps and have the guy who makes all of my vinyl graphics make a set of Thunderbirds for them.I'll need to find a way to install a clear cap over them to protect them.Hmmmmmm,a new project.Oh,again,FR500's.
Yea the cobra r's aren't made in 4 lug deep dish,this has been my major delema.
I even emailed the guy who sells all these rims(manufacturing plant oe wheel)about possibly making me a set and he said no can do.
This is why unfortunatley i have to go throught he hassle of going 5 lug ,and i'm sure it will be a hassle as i want to keep my abs and my vented rear discs.
No one has come up with a viable and cheap solution to running a TC(keeping the abs) and going 5lug so a redrill is my solution.
There are just no 4 lug options anymore except cobra r's in standard form and if i'm gonna spend the same coin on rims i might as well get what i want.
Vinnie: ever thought of using SVT senter caps, i might go that route later on and get rid of the cobra caps,they look the same size and fitment.
84fila:My bird is black, hence wanting the black centers with polished lip, silver would just not work with those rims on my car or look as mean.
Agreed. Do ya have a photo chop of the car with teh FR500's on it?
Here's a pic of my 91 with rvm 18s with black centers and polished lips, really like how they set off the car.
And a pic of a stang with the them.
No i don't have one but photochops don't always do half the justice to the real thing.
(http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c384/boss3512/paulsstang.jpg)
my buddy's stang with the last set of wheels and i like those, and the ones in the stang you posted
Nice wheels, bit I don't think I like them in black. I wonder if gunmetal gray would look better...
I would go with a gunmetal or silver, myself. But any one of those rims will look good.
I'm not a fan of the black on black rims look. I ran a set of black bullits on my black '87 LX coupe and didn't like 'em. prefered the gray ones.
Any idea if '94-up SN95 axles could be used and just re drill the rotors???? The ABS sensor rings are different, thinking it may be possible just to swap the rings from the TC axles???
What is stock tire size on the 88 Bird?
since I'm in the market for tires I'm looking at the sizes you have doing comparisons using
http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp?action=submit (http://"http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp?action=submit")
and
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html (http://"http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html")
Seems there 215/70/14 but my car’s at home with a flat right now.
heres a pic of the fr500's on a bird, and they wont fit with lincoln rotors unless you take the centercap out and grind the rotor hub down,
Jim stock tire size on my TC was 225/60/16 and was about 26.4" tall,way to tall in my opinion.
The current sizes that i posted are:
275/35/18 25.7" tall
235/40/18 25.4" tall
Currently i'm running 215/55/16s which are the same width as a 225/60/16s just not as tall at 25.1",makes the car look lower and the tires look wider.
Tom the sn95 axles have to big of a center hub and some kind of angle where the rotor meets the hub which interfers with the rotor sitting flat against the axle.
Axle hubs would have to be machined and then the rotors redrilled anyways.
Just got through doing the brakes on my oldmans aerostar today and am keeping his old drums as i think the hub may be the same size as my rear TC rotor hubs.
If so that means that i can match up my rotor and the aerostar drum and center the hubs to perfectly redrill my rotors 5lug.
Now thinking that,if i use a set of aerostar passenger side axles and press on my tc abs rings with my redrilled rotors it would be a mint swap keeping the abs intact(anyone that can confirm this info would be aewsome otherwise i will be the first).
Cougarman thanks for the pic,love those wheels and the way they look,i'll be going deep dish in the rear which should make it even sweeter.
I will also have to do something about the hub as well so i can run the center cap but swapping to sn95 stuff is too expensive and i don't like the changes in suspension geometry that it makes so that's out and the mark rotors are in but thanks for the pic.
i can be done because thats what i did with my cougar, just take the studs out of the rotor and do a little grinding, yeah im going to deep dish too, but all my stuffs in a turbo mustang now
Hey Herb, what springs did you use in the front? That thing is lo-lo. :D
The rings are pressed on, so I don't see why not.
ford racing mustang springs (i think they were C's) with a half coil cut off qa1 k-member with stang arms
Either: The sn95 stuff is a no go for me, the center axle hubs are to big and the bevel has to macined to 45 degrees.
My goal here is to keep my abs and stock rotors and to do the conversion as easy and cheaply as possible.
Cougarman:How much did you have to cut off of the outer hub of the rotor before you got to close to the bearing race???
Did you also have to trim the dustcap???
Any and all info on the front rotor to center cap delema would be greatly appreciated.
Didn't really get close to the bearing races, there is alot of meat on the rotors. I just grind some off, and keep trying in the wheel, grind some more, and try again. :D I didn't have an issue with the center caps with the Mach1 wheels.
heres apic of what im talking about i just ground this down a bit
You know I've looked for new rims myself and thought the dark rims would be the way to go. However looking at them on several cars I wonder what effect they really have? From a lot of angles they make the wheels look centerless. If that's the most desired effect why bother with the extra cost of fancy machining of the spokes? The spokes from a lot of angles disappear, their beauty lost. If the rims are seen to add a serious tone to the car, then the cars need custom paint to jack up the contrasts. In Cougarmans' pic., on my screen, they look like white wall tires with a black hubcap, from most angles. You have to look straight at them almost like you were down on your hunches taking photos to notice the details.
I would like to see these rims pinstriped in the autos color to increase their presence. They do look much better in the night shots though. Is that the real intention? :evilgrin: