bizzare JDM goodness, it is mine!

Those would be bags. I approve.

fast_eddie_72 wrote: Yeah, that's what I'd do too. Just funnin' ya. Seriously neat car though. I'd leave the paint as is, clean it up, throw some wheels at it and have fun.

That's the plan, most things are the car look like they'll clean up pretty well so I'm just going for preservation rather than too much restoration

patgizz wrote: how about some 16" P71 steelies? 98-02 wheels are traditional rwd style offset. i wish you were hard up for cash because i would offer you 2x what you paid for the car. but that would just get me in trouble and ruin my other plans.

P71 steelies would work. That's probably the route we will go eventually. I have a set of 17" 5 lug mustang wheels with tires here that I'll be using for test fitting during the suspension work. But steelies just seem right on the car.

I'm always hard up for cash :) But this one is for BABE rally and my co-driver has already put to much effort into it to switch cars now :)

mndsm wrote: Those would be bags. I approve.

Yes they would :) Its just a simple system, manual valves, but individual control of each corner. No hopping or dancing, just height adjustment. I still need to get a tank and compressor but the rest of the parts are waiting, I can't design mounts/cups until the car gets here and I can take some measurements though.

Wheel selection has been made :)

Yes!

In reply to JThw8:

I like

Always liked Fords take on Torq-Thrusts. Good call.

Nice...very nice...

I know you picked the wheels already, but a nice set of 14" Magnum 500's, or Shelby Cragar's (or any early 5 lug Mustang) would look cool and "period correct".

JFX001 wrote: Nice...very nice... I know you picked the wheels already, but a nice set of 14" Magnum 500's, or Shelby Cragar's (or any early 5 lug Mustang) would look cool and "period correct".

We went back and forth on it. If I had found the right vintage wheels for the right price I'd have gone with it. The car is getting a few modern touches which will make the wheels work nice.

She arrived at my house today, on one hand the paint should buff out, on the other hand there's just enough needed body work that it would eventually need a repaint. Not sure which way I'll go yet, not going to go to crazy for BABE rally. My partner in crime has her running and driving very well so my punchlist before June is:

Update alternator (I have a collection of GM 140amp cop car alternators) the stocker is only 30a Fix turn signals Install new suspension (she's gettin bagged) General clean up Clean up throttle linkage, it sticks.

He left me in pretty good shape.

if you need spacers i have 1" or 1.25" billet ones that i had on my p71 with the mustang wheels that will never be used again here, so they are cheap if you need them so you won't have to $110 ebay a set.

patgizz wrote: if you need spacers i have 1" or 1.25" billet ones that i had on my p71 with the mustang wheels that will never be used again here, so they are cheap if you need them so you won't have to $110 ebay a set.

Thanks I'll keep that in mind but I think these should work fine. The Crown seems to favor RWD offsets like the mustang wheels should have. The wheels are down in MD right now so its going to be a few weeks before I can get them, its killing me cause I want to see what the look like on there :) (plus I need to know what kind of space I have when I design the airbag mounts)

Where does the line start to buy this if it goes up for sale? This would look great in my garage next to my 280Z. Heck, it would look great towing my 280Z.

jimbob_racing wrote: Where does the line start to buy this if it goes up for sale? This would look great in my garage next to my 280Z. Heck, it would look great towing my 280Z.

LOL..a small line has started over on Japanese Nostalgia Car already. It will most likely be up for sale in the late summer time frame unless I really fall in love between now and then.

Don't get me wrong, I do like it, but I'm running out of space for "keepers" and I still have Wartburg phase 2 to get back to one of these days.

JThw8 wrote:

patgizz wrote: if you need spacers i have 1" or 1.25" billet ones that i had on my p71 with the mustang wheels that will never be used again here, so they are cheap if you need them so you won't have to $110 ebay a set.

Thanks I'll keep that in mind but I think these should work fine. The Crown seems to favor RWD offsets like the mustang wheels should have. The wheels are down in MD right now so its going to be a few weeks before I can get them, its killing me cause I want to see what the look like on there :) (plus I need to know what kind of space I have when I design the airbag mounts)

jim, modern RWD cars don't have "RWD offsets" anymore. Those S197 wheels have about 6" backspace, and would require a 2" spacer to work on the '68 mustang i just finished up. we used SN95 wheels with 1" spacers. if i were you, i'd get those spacers from patgizz.

AngryCorvair wrote:

JThw8 wrote:

patgizz wrote: if you need spacers i have 1" or 1.25" billet ones that i had on my p71 with the mustang wheels that will never be used again here, so they are cheap if you need them so you won't have to $110 ebay a set.

Thanks I'll keep that in mind but I think these should work fine. The Crown seems to favor RWD offsets like the mustang wheels should have. The wheels are down in MD right now so its going to be a few weeks before I can get them, its killing me cause I want to see what the look like on there :) (plus I need to know what kind of space I have when I design the airbag mounts)

jim, modern RWD cars don't have "RWD offsets" anymore. Those S197 wheels have about 6" backspace, and would require a 2" spacer to work on the '68 mustang i just finished up. we used SN95 wheels with 1" spacers. if i were you, i'd get those spacers from patgizz.

Point taken, PM sent :)

But they will support a good deal of backspacing. This one for instance

Bah, this is killing me but I've gone back and forth with the Aussies tonite (since noone in the US know's jack about Crowns so I've been haunting an Aussie forum) and got in touch with a guy that was running tires similar in size to what's on the Bullitt wheels and the verdict is, they fit....if you dont mind rubbing a little rubber off every time you hit a bump... and that's after cutting and rolling the fender lip.

Maybe if all you are doing is cruising to the local burger joint or car show that's cool but 3000 miles on BABE...not so much. I guess I need to hunt something more reasonable in size. Probably something in the 215/225 range on the tire on a 7-8 inch wide wheel.

I think I could make the Bullitt wheels work if I wasn't bagging it also so it was give up one or the other and I've already invested a lot in preparing to bag this car and its something I really want to do.

You'll appreciate the lowered look

JoeyM wrote: You'll appreciate the lowered look

I know I will, just need the right rims to set it off ;) Actually I wouldn't mind the stockers with hubcaps if they were a little wider.

What about widening/banding the stock wheels? I assume they're steelies?

BoxheadTim wrote: What about widening/banding the stock wheels? I assume they're steelies?

Not something Im comfortable doing myself and steelies are plentiful and cheap in this bolt pattern so not worth the effort. I'd like to move up to 15" too most likely.

Its just really a matter of looking for something that will set off the car right...I'll know it when I see it :)

when you say OE size tire, are you talking about the SN95's 245/45-17 or the S197's 235/55-17? the S197 tire is a lot taller; the SN95 has 10mm more section width. you could do a 225/45-17 on the 8" rim no worries. tirerack.com recommends rim widths from 7.0" to 8.5" for a 225 tire.

OTOH, how about some body-colored P71 steelies with contrasting centers?

Amazing how much that car reminds me of a Jeep Wagoneer.

AngryCorvair wrote: when you say OE size tire, are you talking about the SN95's 245/45-17 or the S197's 235/55-17? the S197 tire is a lot taller; the SN95 has 10mm more section width. you could do a 225/45-17 on the 8" rim no worries. tirerack.com recommends rim widths from 7.0" to 8.5" for a 225 tire. OTOH, how about some body-colored P71 steelies with contrasting centers?

I'm being told its the 235/55/17 that's on there now. I also have a set of 235/45/17 tires on a set of SN95 wheels that I could swap over, but the height isnt the only concern. This thing has some narrow wheel wells and becuase its a solid axle with a panhard bar I can't stuff them full. Yes the right answer is to go to a 4 link, but this is a BABE rally car we're talking about here, the wheel swap alone is a bit silly. But as I said before, it needs tires anyway so if I can find a used set of wheels and tires then why not.

Steelies are probably the way we are going to go, I have a nice mint in box set of baby moons that have been looking for a home so I need to go remember what wheels the fit and shop from there.

A nice set of slotted mags would be high on my list too. My teammate veto'd the old school cool Cragar SS 14x7s I found locally, and while I think they would look appropriately vintage on the car I also see his point that they are a pretty overused wheel and we could do something a bit more stylish.

JThw8 wrote: My teammate veto'd the old school cool Cragar SS 14x7s I found locally, and while I think they would look appropriately vintage on the car I also see his point that they are a pretty overused wheel and we could do something a bit more stylish.

i know a guy who's got a set of '68 mustang GT wheels that he'd probably sell. they look like this:

but they're only 14x6.

Those wouldn't be a bad look. And 14x6 might not be terrible, Ive given in to the fact that I'm not getting the steamrollers I want under her. But I think shipping might be cost prohibitive.

Needs MKii Supra wheels.