Quote:
Originally Posted by chiphead
Lots to talk about. The issue with the cast 18" wheels is that they all have 4.5" backspace. That isn't going to be deep enough to fit a lot of tire under a '67. I assume most of them don't have the spoke clearance for the C5 brakes. From the research I've done, you need a 18x8" wheel with 5" of BS in the front for 245 tires, and a 18x9" wheel with 6-6.5" of BS in the rear to fit 255-275 tires. The only wheels I can find that fit that bill are $750 from Billet Specialists. There may be others, I haven't found them yet.
I spoke with another guy at GW when I ordered the uppers. He road races a '65 GTO. He said I'll be so surprised by the arms, springs and sway bar, I'll likely not need the AFX spindle unless I road race. I didn't ask about the tall ball joints, I assume I'll just add them myself. He did recommend a S20 spring, which is 500 lb/inch. He said it'd be correct, even with the del a lum bushings. I pressed him on it and he said its the right spring, the first guy recommended a BBC chevelle spring. The road race guy recommended the DA shocks on the street.
Will I get the same life and features out of offshore lower arms? Don't want to put all this effort into it and then cheap out.
I looked at the non-adjustable varishock, and it's more than the Viking DAs. I'm looking for that perfect balance of aggressive cruiser without the harshness. Why would I buy a non adjustable shock that's the same price as a DA? I'm out of my depth here, so edumacake me... What's the best non-adjustable shock for a street corner carver?
I did drive the new Borg box around a bit. Very tight, very responsive. I like it, except that it highlights how bad the suspension is. No strange noises or complaining with a stock rock-auto replacement pump. Am I good on pump output?
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Remember that with backspace, you're taking in to account the outer edge of the bead seat. The True width of an 8" wheel is closer to 9" total when measuring outside to outside of the bead seat.
It's really important to actually measure the wheel wells front and rear, then measure both your front and backspacing available. You can then use a calculator to get your offset. More than likely you're offset on an 8" wheel to get it to fit properly is going to be around 5-10mm. Mine came out at 7mm on the fronts for my current wheels.
There are some cast options that are a bit cheaper. You can get into the torq thrust custom line for around 450 per wheel in any color and offset you need. The Rocket Racing Attack also comes in offsets that are designed to get the wheels inside the wheel wells on these cars.
As far as shocks, the Verishocks aren't the cheapest out there, but their valving and construction makes them a top tier shock. Here's the datasheet.
http://www.cachassisworks.com/Attach...324.1702394051
Viking does make a good shock as well and they are known for good ride quality.
What specific shocks did Global West recommend with the pieces you purchases? That's probably the shock I'd go with, whatever it ends up being.