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[Barry]

And failed...



Carry on

[Random_Task]

i dont get it, but nice gti   

[101stvet]

it's either the BBS's which look f'ing badass , or not getting the front lip on the ground?.... 

[thf944]

well since you failed you should just give me the car and keep to your 'stang.


actually i like it a lot. usually bbs were silver, black or gold back in the late 80's/early 90's when your car was built, but it was quite common to color match the wheels so it is still period correct. i like it a lot. my only suggestion would be to swap out the center lights with hellas.


on a side note, i drove a new 5.0 mustang. it was quite fun!

[Barry]

Yeah...


The failure actually comes in with the tires and coils.

I ordered Toyo Proxes in 195/45 15's for the wheels, which I had on my last set of 8" RM's. The toyo's were back ordered (and still are to my knowledge nationwide) so I ordered Nexxans in the same size.... no where near the same tire. The Nexxans barely stretched, so I had to raise the rear up considerably to clear the tires. Which brings me to the coilovers... I had a line from a local here on a set of JOM coilovers that are comp to Ultralows in ride height. Picked them up for $150... Should have just bought H&R's (which I did later, and are on the truck now). The JOM's are not very stiff, so setting a static ride height that does not allow alot of movement is not OK...


Oh well... I am not sure if I like the gold bolts enough to keep them on there either... I guess when the Toyo's come in, and the H&R's go on, I will switch to chrome bolts and go from there....

[scurvy_bandit]

I was pretty sad with the stretch on the nexxans as welll, but seeing that my truck is a daily the 340 wear over the toyo 280 is nice. But you really dont put as many miles on your car as I do my truck. Try again when the toyo's come in! Looks good man

[Barry]

Oh absolutely!


Dude at the tire shop says... "these nexxans are prone to premature rot... make sure you check the sidewalls every 5000 miles"


I tell him that would be every 5 or 6 years... probably more like 10...


I was actually trying to source a smaller tire than the 195 45... I want to be low.....

[DutchVDub]

Looks good to me the way it is, and I would keep the gold bolts.  I am running nexan 195/50's on my 15x8 Schmidts and really like them.  The provide good grip and aren't overly noisy at all.  I did have to raise my car up a bit to run them though because the VMaxx coilovers aren't the stiffest.  With my stock 13" steelies and 155/80 rubber I was able to take the front coils all the way down and bring the rears down to match.  I originally had it set 5cm higher than bottomed out for the Schmidts but this time took it up to 6cm above bottomed because I got tired of rubbing everytime I hit dips or make agggressive turns.  Mine is my daily also and the premature tire wear from my fenders was annoying.  Now I don't rub at all and my car is still low enough for the control arms to be pointing upwards.

Again, damned good looking car.  Those big bumpers must hang down lower too because even with my coilovers bottomed out my smal bumper 8v lip sits about an inch or so off the ground.  I need a 16V small bumper lip so I can scrape with the 13's on it.

[greggearhead]

Car looks awesome dude.  Nice job.  When the Toyos come in, just do burnouts on the Nexans until they are gone.  Or I guess you could sell them to someone slightly less baller than you...   

Nice space you got there, too. 

[Barry]

Thanks guys...


I was entertaining the idea of burning the Nexans... but then I figured when I put my stock set of RM's back together, I will have tires for them... guess if they look too much like truck tires, there is always the burn barrel out back 


Garage is nice, but now with the coils, and it being a 4 post lift, I cant really put the GTI on or off of it without taking the front lip / cover off....

[London]

trim out the inner edge of them flares for clearance

[Smokestack]

I'm still jealous so you didn't fail.  Looks good dude.

[Barry]

trim out the inner edge of them flares for clearance

done... probably needs more trimming, but I am already out one rivet on the rear flares...


Once I put the H&R's on that are a little stiffer, and get the right tires on the wheels, I should be good to go.

Mike... know of any tires that stretch out nice, and are smaller than 195 / 45's? I have seen a few tires that are smaller, but have not seen any feedback on how well they stretch out.

I'm still jealous so you didn't fail.  Looks good dude.

Thanks Chris 

[greggearhead]

Aren't Smart Car tires the hot ticket for stretch?  Like 165/50 or something?

I love the look of G60 flares all around with a wheel/tire that fills it up. 

[scurvy_bandit]

Ive seen some rediculous 165 type tires on tyrestretch.co m  

Still looking good man, now you need to get a non-rusted exhaust. That pipe looks garbage. Buy the Supersprint muffler, they look bad ass on MK2's

[Barry]

It's actually a stainless steel tip that comes with the TT exhaust....


Just found out the Toyo's are on the truck... going to order a set of Federal 165/45/15's just in case


so much for being a wheel whore... guess I'll settle for 2nd best, and become a tire whore

[Barry]

I'll tell you what I do need... a new rear bumper...


That black plastic looks like shit! Anyone have any personal, good, experience using back to black, or some other magic shit like that on the big bumpers?

[greggearhead]

I've had good experience with back to black.  Kinda like black shoe polish (actually, I've used that too - with similar results, though not as long lasting. 

The other option is Krylon plastic paint.  Works surprisingly well, avail in gloss, semi, matte and with good prep, actually holds up well (I painted the urethane Dasher bumpers with it eons ago).

[Barry]

for the shoe polish, I'd imagine it is applied just like wax on the paint...


as far as the Kylon paint.... did you scuff the surface of the plastic for the paint to adhere better? I wouldnt want to knock the factory texture down, but would want even, lasting coverage if I were to paint it....

[greggearhead]

I did scuff it, but it says you don't have to.  I would clean it thoroughly, and with a stiff bristle brush, and you should be good. 

[London]

if you have more than a single rivet front and a single rear you have a lot of trimming to do.  As far as tire sizing what are the widths on those wheels?

tunershop.com sells a a shit load of ultra low pros.  I don't think you need a smaller size just a tire that isn't shit.  The JOM's are soft as hell.  I'd trim the hell out of those flares (I'll try to get you a pic of mine), get rid of those JOM's asap.  Falken 512's run significantly smaller but are hard to come by now days, check ebay for the 512's and the Toyos.

and I love Greg Dunn in many ways to include possible homo but.... please for the love of god do not spray paint those bumpers or any other piece of black trim on that car.  There are a million black to black, trim options that will fix that without paint.

btw car looks killer, I see not how this is failure.

[Barry]

I have been leary of paint... I am about to start getting stupid anal with this car, and decided the best fix would just be new bumpers sprayed at the same time I get the cowl area fixed... that way no more bird shit looking rear, and no more holes in the front.

Back to black will have to do for now, although, I hope to have the paint work done by the end of Sept.


I just called OnlineTires.co m, and the Toyo 195/45/15's are on the way. Also... a set of ultralows are inbound as well.

Like I said... I started trimming the flares, but got scared! I guess I just need to pull them off, and trim them out right, and put them back on with fresh 3M trim tape. cutting on things like rear quarter panels makes me nervous... guess I'll have to make a stiff drink for that one  

The wheels are 15 x 8 finished... I thought about running 2.5 or 3" lips in the rear, and I am ALMOST glad I didnt... oh well... I guess the RS' will get the staggered treatment....

I was looking on Tyrestretch.co m and found the 165/45/15's to look like the next step...

http://www.tyrestretch.com/8_165_45_R15/8_165_45_R15_Federal_Formoza.jpg.php


Like Greg mentioned, Smartcar tires are also on there, but I am not a big fan of the gap inbetween the bead, and the actual lip... looks like a rough road would easily equate to a broken seal....

btw car looks killer, I see not how this is failure.

Thanks man... that means alot 

[scurvy_bandit]

Barry, Back to Black works better than Kenya.  I made my pastey front grille look mint with that stuff.

[Barry]

So... what you're saying, is that my bumpers will get deported back to Kenyaaaaaaaaaa aaa.....


Will it make my car as fast as a Kenyan?


Or do I need to pour some powerthirst in the fuel tank?

[101stvet]

Barry , i've been using back to black on my mk1's black plastic off and on for the past 6 years and it works great , i actually need to do some touching up myself but the rabbit goes into the paint booth the begning of OCT..

 and which BBS's are those?

 and the car looks awesome as allways...