Fiona: A 1975 2002

[bobbyjones]

this build just keeps getting better and better.

[TinkWithanR]

Made a lot of headway on fitting the wheels and tires today. Started by finishing up the roll center spacers, which let me mount the steering arms on the struts and bolt the front suspension back together.



All bolted together:






In place:





And of course I forgot to take picture of the front completely back together. I'll have to grab some tomorrow. That being said, with everything together I confirmed the fact that I'm going to need to get new inner barrels to clear the strut. I'm going to aim for a total width of 8" or 8.5" which should fit the 225 tires nicely. I may also add a small spacer (~5mm) to fill out the flare a bit better. But I'll wait to get the wheel put together first and see what it looks like.


For the rear I 'mounted' one of the 265's on the 9.5" wheel to test the fitment with the correct hubs on the swingarm. It's going to be a tight fit to say the least, not that I expected anything else.








I still need to add the camber/toe adjustment tabs to the rear subframe, so that will help to dial out some of the excess camber you see in the pic.





Not a lot of clearance on the inner fender, but enough.






Straight on side shot. With the flares properly fit and the wheel tucked in it won't have any rubbing issues at full compression.







Here is the inner clearance with the trailing arm. Pretty much non existent. Considering the whole wheel will be moved in almost another inch when I'm done, the trailing arm will need some custom work done to it.






Here you can see how the wheels fit with the flares as I got them. My plan is to get new barrels and lips for the rear, 1" narrower lip and 1" wider barrel. That should let it tuck into the flares nicely and have full travel with no clearance issues (once I do some more sheet metal work of course).





Once I can confirm the wheel fitment and offsets I can work on making the rear coilover mounts, and then it can be a rolling chassis again!


As always, thanks for looking!

[Anderson Auto]

Wow. This is amazing.

[MommysLittleMonster]

[WICKED WEISS]

That meat...

[aeok18109]

My brain just melted. Is there a part of the car you have NOT fabricated? THIS is a build LOL. Absolute madness and skill.

[TinkWithanR]

Wow. This is amazing.

Thanks Guys!

That meat...

Edit: Note to self, be careful when searching google images for 'lots of meat'.

My brain just melted. Is there a part of the car you have NOT fabricated? THIS is a build LOL. Absolute madness and skill.

The shift knob. Seriously. It's beat up and old, but I will never replace it. A lot has changed on the car, but that will always stay the same. It's how her spirit will live on now matter how many modifications are done.

[TinkWithanR]

Snapped some pictures of the front tonight. First I mounted the front lip and center (since the barrel won't clear the strut tube). Overall the fit is decent with the flare. I could stand to come out another half inch or so, but unless I need to buy new lips I won't worry about it. I may also need to run a small spacer to clear the tire on the strut, so we'll see how that goes.






Plenty of clearance between the rim and the flare:












Then I got really curious, so I seated the bead on outside lip to get an idea of how well it would 'fit'.










I still need to trim the stock fender for the flares, so I couldn't compress the suspension yet. That being said I really wish they offered this tire in a /45 profile as opposed to the /50 that I got. It's gonna be a pain to get these to tuck right and be able to have a halfway decent turning radius. I'm also very concerned about the clutch master cylinder that is on the driver side. I have a bad feeling that it and the tire are going to be fighting over the same real estate. But the next step is to trim the fender and see how bad the clearance is with the footwells.

[TinkWithanR]

Progress on Fiona has been slow. Right now I'm waiting on the new inner barrels for the front wheels to come in. Once I get those I can get the tires mounted and start checking the clearances for the front suspension. In the rear the next step is to take the subframe and trailing arms to the sand blaster (my cabinet isn't big enough) to clean them up so I can weld the camber/toe adjustments on and reinforce everything.

I did get some new front tires in a lower profile. They seem to fit much better in the wheel wells.





That being said I have been busy in the shop. A few weeks ago my dad and I installed this little beauty, a 2-post, 9000lb lift. I've only used it for a couple weeks and I already can't imagine going back. :





At the same time we also got some pallet racking to help get all my extra parts and tools organized and off the floor.




I also made some more progress on the bike, stripped it down to the frame so I can get that and the swing arm sandblasted with Fiona's parts. Once that comes back I can make up the new rear shock mounts and work on forming the new seat. I'd like to have it back on the road to get some fall riding in.





Then the latest distraction is this guy: 1969 Jeep CJ-5





My sister and I bought it for my dad for father's day to replace the one he sold the day before my parents got married. Kind of a full circle thing. The body is in good shape overall but it needs the brakes and steering freshened up.





The 304 V8 really makes this thing move.






Until next time.

[rhoderacer]

Wow, keep up the good work. Looking great!

[TeckniX]

lifts in shop >>>>

It really is a can't go back from it, until you really have to and you **** the job even more then. You've got a lot of projects on hand, should be a busy summer!

[99sil-teg]

Love how this is going and love those wheels!

[Slycas28]

Great build love those headers...

[TinkWithanR]

Wow, keep up the good work. Looking great!

lifts in shop >>>>

It really is a can't go back from it, until you really have to and you **** the job even more then. You've got a lot of projects on hand, should be a busy summer!

Love how this is going and love those wheels!

Great build love those headers...

Thanks guys, hopefully I'll have more exciting updates here shortly.

[TinkWithanR]

Only two pics, it's late and I'm tired. More in depth explanations will come in a day or two.

Long story short:
265/45/16 tires on 9.5" wheels (28 offset)
E30 Rear Subframe (3.25 LSD)
Custom Control Arms - 3.25" Narrow from the diff flange to the wheel hub per side
Stock '02 Body w/Turbo Flare
Minor tubing of the wheel well

When it's all said and done the 265's will have 'extra' space so I can step up to 17" (275 or 295) if/when manufacturers stop making wide 16" tires.






Standard ride height will probably be a little lower than below:




The new control arms also let me use the Z3 hubs as opposed to the e81 hubs, which space the hub flange out from the backing plate an extra 1.5". This gives room for the wilwood calipers to fit between the inner side of the wheel face and the rotor.


More to come.