New Wheels

The rears are 9 1/2 inches wide, I did have the same for the fronts but they were too wide and touched the suspension. So I had to change them for 8 1/2’s. These fit fairly well, with only a small gap between the top edge of the tire and the front suspension.

Although these wheels had a bigger offset than the old ones, +42 mm opposed to +38 mm, to get sufficient clearance I’m having to fit a 5mm spacer. I could’ve got away with a 2 1/2 mm spacer, but this would have allowed for a tiny gnat amount clearance. So either the new or the old front wheels are incorrect in their offset. Or it could be that the tires are just a slightly different shape even though both are 225 3518.

Yes there are vents just in front of the rear wheels, and they do have a purpose. I don’t think I’ve put anything on my car just for show, or bling. This rebuild, in fact the whole car, has cost enough without having to spend extra money on things that I didn’t need.

As this car has a intercooler sitting in front of the radiator this limits the amount of airflow to the radiator. When I was driving it, i was always constantly watching the temperature gauge to make sure he stayed within its limits. I found if you just driving round very quickly it was fine, however it was in traffic or very slow moving and sometimes can see a slight rise in temperature. I have fitted the biggest radiator could find in to fit in the car. Although this is bigger than a standard stags radiator I was still limited to how big I could go due to the fact I had the turbo in the way. I did have a massive radiator where I had to mod the front of the car to fit it in. But unfortunate this radiator leaks like a sieve and took up too much room.

What I did have fitted on the car was a rear heater that sat behind the back seat and I found that if you turn this on it would cool the engine down slightly. So with this in mind I fitted another radiator in behind the back seat along with some electric fans and electronic waterpump. Along with all the plumbing from the front to the rear and back to the engine again, this increased the amount of coolant the system quite Considerably. I thought this would keep the engine nice and cool which it worked but again there was insufficient airflow reach on the rear radiator.

I did look into how I could increase the air flow to the rear radiator and saw a Porsche which had the vents. I thought I could make fit. So I bought a pair of these Porsche boxer engine vents, then went about trying to find a good place to put them. Which was one of those moments where I thought I’ve got a do it or you don’t, but once you’ve done it there’s no going back as you’ve  got two great holes in the side of the car.