R32rennsport's Amazon Thread

[cwdodson88]

They look great! I would be a little concerned with taking material off the wheel at the pin drive thickness, but I guess you'd just need to be sure that there's enough threads on the adapters and nuts to allow it. Might have to turn down the adapters the same amount as you take off the wheel.

I had a guy ask me to swap some knock off wheels on an Austin Healey because he wanted the offset of some Borrani wire wheels. Turns out that the spline was right, but thickness at the bore was less, and his nuts bottomed out before squeezing the wheels into place. Ended up chucking a spare set of hub adapters in the lathe and taking off 6mm to get decent center lock engagement.

Maybe an EPAS and steering rack would solve steering feel, and bumpsteer stresses, but that seems like a more difficult task than milling the wheel to correct offset issues.

That said, I'm running a 17x9.5 et:+5 and with camber set a little more negative, and caster at -6.5* ish, it self centers well, and is pretty easy to handle at speed with minimal wandering/bump steer. At least with the stock steering wheel, but with the little 13.5" grant that I have on there, its a little harder on the forearms than I'd like, but it is doable.

[R32RennSport]

Originally Posted by cwdodson88

They look great! I would be a little concerned with taking material off the wheel at the pin drive thickness, but I guess you'd just need to be sure that there's enough threads on the adapters and nuts to allow it. Might have to turn down the adapters the same amount as you take off the wheel.

I had a guy ask me to swap some knock off wheels on an Austin Healey because he wanted the offset of some Borrani wire wheels. Turns out that the spline was right, but thickness at the bore was less, and his nuts bottomed out before squeezing the wheels into place. Ended up chucking a spare set of hub adapters in the lathe and taking off 6mm to get decent center lock engagement.

Maybe an EPAS and steering rack would solve steering feel, and bumpsteer stresses, but that seems like a more difficult task than milling the wheel to correct offset issues.

That said, I'm running a 17x9.5 et:+5 and with camber set a little more negative, and caster at -6.5* ish, it self centers well, and is pretty easy to handle at speed with minimal wandering/bump steer. At least with the stock steering wheel, but with the little 13.5" grant that I have on there, its a little harder on the forearms than I'd like, but it is doable.

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, I've taken a million measurements and spoken directly with the manufacturer. These wheels are designed for a variety of reproduction car applications so they purposefully designed the mounting pads on the thick side to be machined up to 1/2 inch depending on application.

In my opinion anything wider then 7 inches, especially at the front of the car, is excessive without complete steering and suspension geometry redesign. At 7.5 inches I'm really pushing the balance of looks over performance which is not my motivation. Go drive your favorite road, take off your 9.5 wheels and bolt on a set of even 6 inch wheels and you'll probably ask yourself if you really want to bolt the old set back on. The idea here is to stay as far inside the fenders as possible to retain proper handling characteristics, you really start changing vehicle dynamics by changing a number of alignment planes and adding leverage to both springs and wheel bearings the further past center (0 offset) you go.

The new brake disc and brake drum toolings from VP are much stronger and in my opinion can also take up to 5-8mm off the hats by milling due to their one piece design over the old two piece pressed hubs which was another way to attack the issue as well.

[cwdodson88]

Originally Posted by R32RennSport

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, I've taken a million measurements and spoken directly with the manufacturer. These wheels are designed for a variety of reproduction car applications so they purposefully designed the mounting pads on the thick side to be machined up to 1/2 inch depending on application.

In my opinion anything wider then 7 inches, especially at the front of the car, is excessive without complete steering and suspension geometry redesign. At 7.5 inches I'm really pushing the balance of looks over performance which is not my motivation. Go drive your favorite road, take off your 9.5 wheels and bolt on a set of even 6 inch wheels and you'll probably ask yourself if you really want to bolt the old set back on. The idea here is to stay as far inside the fenders as possible to retain proper handling characteristics, you really start changing vehicle dynamics by changing a number of alignment planes and adding leverage to both springs and wheel bearings the further past center (0 offset) you go.

The new brake disc and brake drum toolings from VP are much stronger and in my opinion can also take up to 5-8mm off the hats by milling due to their one piece design over the old two piece pressed hubs which was another way to attack the issue as well.

I dont disagree at all. My setup is way too wide for anything but looks, when I intend to drive it hard, I've got a set of 15x7.5 et25 with a nice 225x55 R compound tire, but its still heavy on the autocross course, and a little too many turns lock>lock. Winter is coming soon, so the car will be back in the garage for some new things. Most likely to include some weight and structure changes up front. Plus, I just found myself a nice prius carcass to dismember and sweet quick ratio rack.

[R32RennSport]

More fitting and measuring. This is definitely not a straight forward bolt on, pretty much fighting me every step of the way. Hope it looks as good as I envisioned it when it's all done.

[Coupid]

Oh my word! Are you going to come to the Slorolling drive on the 26th? If so, will you be sporting these?

[R32RennSport]

Originally Posted by Coupid

Oh my word! Are you going to come to the Slorolling drive on the 26th? If so, will you be sporting these?

Unfortunately, most likely no on both accounts. I'm waiting for a second pair of matching wheels to arrive next week. Once I have those all four need to go to my machinist to have the offset corrected. After that I'm considering having them fully powder coated.

I have a family trip planned for Monterey that day. Even if I could come my gold steel wheels wont balance and are awful on the freeway.

[R32RennSport]

Finally mounted up. Boy that was a process! These are definitely not direct bolt on items. I doubt anyone will try to follow in my footsteps due to the modification and cost. Overall I'm happy with the new arrangement but I will continue to adjust a few things and I'm heavily leaning toward painting them a solid color as I feel, like the Torq Thrust before them, the polished lip makes the wheel look small. If anyone has questions about them I'll be happy to provide answers.

[matt b]

Nicely done, they look great and I'm really happy someone finally spent the time and effort (and $$$$$$$) to make it work. Looks killer.

[R32RennSport]

Originally Posted by matt b

Nicely done, they look great and I'm really happy someone finally spent the time and effort (and $$$$$$$) to make it work. Looks killer.

Thanks Matt. I can't claim to be the first though, I was actually inspired by David Greenlee's beautiful P1800 hill climb car who assisted me with lots of answers to questions I had. He had less to contend with though as the wheels I'm using were not dimensionally favorable and required the extra effort of machining multiple surfaces among other items. Overall I'm pretty happy with the whole setup. You are correct though, at the end of the day this was $$$$ and no performance gain, in fact the the corner weights went up a few pounds. At least I'm pretty confident no else will try this anytime soon

[R32RennSport]

Enjoying a drive along the coast last weekend, escaping the 100+ degree inland heat!

[R32RennSport]

Most recent project was installing matching rear locking reel seat belts in the rear so for the first time since owner this car in over 10 years the whole family can ride along. Time to start making memories. First trip was to the coast for dinner by the ocean.

[spock345]

Originally Posted by R32RennSport

Most recent project was installing matching rear locking reel seat belts in the rear so for the first time since owner this car in over 10 years the whole family can ride along. Time to start making memories. First trip was to the coast for dinner by the ocean.

Nice, after my recent road trip where I had to put some people in the back seat with static three point belts I think retractable ones is the way to go (or maybe just lap belts for ease of use. What did you do to reinforce the wheel wells back there?

[R32RennSport]

Originally Posted by spock345

Nice, after my recent road trip where I had to put some people in the back seat with static three point belts I think retractable ones is the way to go (or maybe just lap belts for ease of use. What did you do to reinforce the wheel wells back there?

Nothing to crazy, just tacked in a 4 in x 4 in 1/8 in thick backing plate, seam sealed it and then undercoated it. It's a bit of work to make it both safe, functional and good looking. The belt tails and buckles just use the huge fender washers that come in seatbelt conversion kits, I doubled up on them though,

[R32RennSport]

Happy bright leaf season y'all!

[R32RennSport]

The only recent project as of late was ditching the mechanical fuel pump for a Pierburg electric pump (from an early carbureted Porsche 911) and all the wiring and plumping that goes along with that. Two things have been noticeable with that upgrade, one cold starts after the car has been sitting is much less of a fuss and secondly idle seems more stable and I was able to drop down one idle jet size. I've been careful to monitor fuel pressure as the Weber sidedrafts like low pressure, no more then 3psi. I mounted the pump under the driver rear seat pan and the fuel pump controller is mounted next to the fuse box. It's a little noisy for my taste at start up and idle so I'll look into a better way to isolate it in the future, but when the car is running I can't hear it over the carbs/exhaust/wind noise.

In the meantime I've just been enjoying the car. Recently tagged along with a group of rallyist last Saturday and met up with another Amazon owner. The car handled 4 hours of continuous hard driving with plenty of torque for the canyons and plenty of top end for high speed flat land driving (thank goodness for overdrive!). I think I surprised more then a few drivers on some of my local backroads with what the car is capable of

Photo dump:

[OttoB]

Originally Posted by R32RennSport

Ooh dear God how Sweet it is!

[R32RennSport]

Originally Posted by OttoB

Ooh dear God how Sweet it is!

Thanks! It ended up turning out pretty well but not without quite a bit of time and money allotted to the process. If I had to do it over again I wouldn't though, the cost of trying something new didn't afford me any more performance or convenience.

[Scaramanga]

Great car, I love it

[R32RennSport]

Oh man, guys I had an epic Saturday drive putting the Volvo through it's paces on a 10 mile portion of mining/ranch roads in some of the most beautiful parts in my county. Not shown was my good friend in a stock height Datsun 510 that was right there with me hanging it all out. Nothing like sawing the steering wheel in second gear keeping the RPMs up around hairpin after hairpin! We had split off from the main group of about a dozen other drivers to take the optional gravel route, so glad we did! Over 150 miles of hard back road driving and it didn't skip a beat!

[Coupid]

Good for you! That scenery looks incredible and I know the roads were out of this world since Frank out the route together.

[R32RennSport]

Originally Posted by Coupid

Good for you! That scenery looks incredible and I know the roads were out of this world since Frank out the route together.

The awesome part was I had just driven the first third and last third of his route with my family on New Year's day so I had recent first hand knowledge of the road and conditions which made things that much more enjoyable.

[Ronaw]

What a beauty! It's incredible what you've done with this car. The story's so catchy, and your work indeed deserves applause. I don't see here any place for "constructive criticism." And I assure you no one could say a bad word. Hats down! In the last couple of months, I worked at Amazon selling goods like these scales (https://www.amazon.com/Vont-Smart-Bo...dp/B08XYX8RDR/), but I guess after reading your thread, I've completely changed my visions about my plans. I'd reprofile my job in the field where my heart lies at the first opportunity given.

[R32RennSport]

A little photo dump of the past couple of months. Mechanically, upgraded to a cog drive belt system to alleviate belt slip and save the bearing life of the water pump and alternator, makes a distinct supercharger whine which is silly but I like it. Carbs are currently off for a few changes due to some broken hardware, good excuse to clean them up.

[R32RennSport]

For the past few years I've been fighting two things, Weber DCOE's carburetors and GM alternators. I think the carburetors are fairly well sorted at this point and have been fairly trouble free over the past few thousand miles. The alternators on the other hand have been a real thon in my side. I'd like to preface this with a glowing review of Ron Kwas' kit, it's quality and the installation instructions and customer support are top notch. Sorry Ron that I cut up your bracket. I feel like my situation seems to be somewhat uncommon as I haven't run into another enthusiast with this issue. My speculation all along though is the GM style alternator for this kit has a very small and poorly lubricated rear shaft needle bearing. That coupled with it's proximity to the the #1 primary header tube leads to an untimely death that might otherwise be avoided with a standard exhaust manifold. Also, in their original application these alternators are further away from direct heat sources than this application. Now on my 4th alternator in two years, not crummy rebuilds mind you, name brand, new alternators, I've decided to relocate the alternator to the cold side with a simple fabricated bracket utilizing the bosses in the late B20 block usually used for the AC bracket mounting. The belt length increases substantially and curved adjustment bracket using a boss on the other side of the head needs to be utilized. Wiring is simple especially since the harness doesn't need to be as long as original. I'm hoping the arrangement might afford me some better cooling on the hot side as now there isn't an obstruction to the carb/ under header area! I will put this arrangement to the test with multiple hundreds of miles planned in the next month including my first every trip to Davis. Hopefully see some of you there!

[R32RennSport]

A little photo dump from over the past couple of months. I was really bummed I missed Davis this year, my whole family got sick the weekend before and I ended up getting sick a few days before. Looking forward to next year! I also connected with a media group in southern California that filmed me and the Volvo recently, that content should be coming out soon, very excited for it as it has me driving on some of my favorite back roads including a gravel section!