They aren't really visible behind the wheels

And should stay that way, IMHO.

 

If any stray light would make it to that area, black would keep the car & wheels looking the cleanest. If you look at wheel advertisements they always completely black out the area underneath the car and behind the wheels (unnaturally, of course). Because this keeps the car looking the best with whatever wheels are on it. I try to follow this on my cars, but unfortunately in real life the turbo legacy has big shiny disks (brake rotors) behind all the wheels.

 

But I can completely understand having the inboard rotors white or red or whatever engine scheme you choose to go with. That should look pretty cool when its done. And this is all just my opinion of course.

Although you have to admit, they are rather pretty for drums

 

The wheel options I have all pretty much block out whats behind there. So a silver or black color (whether being polished or painted) wouldnt show.

 

I also need to paint the backing plates, and i'm not sure if I should match the drum or just paint it black as well... (that goes for the rear AND the front brakes, I plan on keeping the front/rear backing plates and drums the same since they will be worked on at the same time)

lookin great so far

Progress from this vacation-shorted week

 

So I'm borrowing a set of 13" enkeis with 185/75/R13 tires from Subarujunkie (supposedly they are actually Jibs wheels/Tires? No big deal though, i'm just borrowing 2 of them for a couple weeks ) for the test fit of the wheels on the suspension at the shop, and decided to check and see how they fit on the suspension...

 

I was surprised to find out that they BARELY cleared the suspension!

 

Here are a few pics:

 

 

I was pretty shocked how close these were... The offset is actually lower than stock (+38 vs. +51) but the width of the wheels are indeed wider (5.5" vs. 4.5") and the tires are 185's instead of the stock 155's, but the Pugeot 15" wheels with 205 tires had about the same inside clearance than these did (Probably due to the very low Pugeot +24 offset).

 

So it looks like 205's are out of the question, as are stock wheel offsets... I'll probably have to go with custom made wheels, or run narrower tires/smaller wheels than I want to (although the 15" superlites might work with a 185 tire?)

just use some 1/2 inch spacers with longer studs, problem solved

just use some 1/2 inch spacers with longer studs, problem solved

This is true.

 

However, I still have X amount of space between the suspension and the fender... And I'm still not sure what we will about modifying the rear fender yet for more tire clearance, or at least not until tomorrow when we test fit everything on the car and take a closer look.

well If the wheels stick out of the fenders just a little bit and they rub, I think it would look sweet if your bodyshop guys bulge out the fenders a little to fit over the wheels, like on Prerunners and off road racing trucks. Not much, only like an inch max, kinda like this:

 

 

Only nicer and on the front and rear.

I kind of wanted to keep the sides of the car flat, since well, the whole side of the car is basically flat... but if I do need to go with significantly wider fenders, there is always the option fender flares.

 

BTW, my Impreza has "bulges" to fit the 225's I have on it, so I know what you are getting at.

oh ok. I guess the flares would fit the style and era of the car a bit better than bulges, since thats kinda the way youre going with this project. Either way it will still look killer

Alright, time to get this thread caught up after being offline for that period of time...

 

Pics from a week ago:

 

 

Pics from today:

 

Continuing from previous discussion, I test fitted the rear tires (185/70/13's) with the Enkei rims under the rear fenders. As you can see, they don't clear the fenders! It does tuck in there, but I had to SQUEEZE them in.

 

 

So i'm going to raise the fenders for sure, It will just make life easier, and look a hell of a lot better.

 

I was talking with the shop about the fenders today, its basically the last thing to do minus some minor dent touch-up, alignments and such. We will be doing the fronts and rears in the same style, and it won't be stock. Probably a small flare, but nothing drastic.

 

I've got to mockup the front suspension so we can test ride height and such too... I'm going to ask if they can do some front bushings for me, since the rear ones they made turned out so DAMN GOOD!

 

This thing is going to be friggin amazing when you get it done! I wish I had gotten that ff-1 back in the day now...:banghead:

Went and install the front suspension so they could start working on all four fenders.

 

Plus, I mentioned the front suspension bushings, and he says he can do those in urethane no problemo

So I stopped by the shop again today to approve the fenders...

 

I have to say, they exceeded my expectations! I can now fit a larger tire no problemo in the rear We are going to roll the front fenders too for room. I should even be able to run a shorter shock and get the car REALLY low if I wanted to!

 

Pics from today:

 

 

Now here is the opposite side, which isn't complete yet, but it gives you an idea of the work that they are doing to the car.

 

 

 

I should be taking the car home next weekend.

 

Does anyone in the Sacramento area have a spare set of 4x140 wheels/tires I can borrow?

 

I have to give these wheels back to subjunkies so he can give them back to Jibs next weekend, and the guys at Roseville Rod volunteered to drop the car off at my house (since I'm close by) but they'd like to just roll it in rather than take the car back apart. I went to the pick n' pulls in the area, and there were some OK wheels but not many usable tires...

Just to show you guys, heres a pic I just made showing the shock travel with the new fenders:

 

 

Now since shocks work best in the MIDDLE of their travel length, i'm thinking now maybe I should run a shorter rear shock, like maybe one that has a .5"-1" shorter minimum height?

 

I might risk rubbing the tire over bumps and such, but it might be able to sit lower and be in the "proper" range. What do you think?

Steve, if you need a set of rollers i got the rims on my brat that have new tires. The tires are big though, i havent had a chance to check the size but they will be available when you come to drop off those two.

Steve, if you need a set of rollers i got the rims on my brat that have new tires. The tires are big though, i havent had a chance to check the size but they will be available when you come to drop off those two.

Alright, thanks.

 

I'm still not sure what i'm going to do about transporting the car back, I don't really want to roll the car around with no steering rack and nothing holding the suspension together. I'll know for sure later this week.

Roseville Rod & Custom had their 3rd annual open house today, I took a few pics...

 

 

And yes, my car was there

 

I guess I should probably update this...

 

I got the car back a couple weeks ago, and i've been doing a few little things with it (mostly dealing with the stock chassis seam sealer that i'm trying to clean up).

 

Here are the pics i've yet to post here:

 

 

So right now, i'm working on making mounting locations for things like the new battery, MSD ignition, coil pack, etc. I still need to buy the carter fuel pump I plan on using so I can mount that. After that, i'll be taking the suspension back in to have the bushings made for the front, and then i'll be doing some bondo/filler work to clean up the body before paint.

 

HOWEVER, there are a couple other things i'm considering...

 

Anyone want to do some seam welding?

 

I've found a few spots while removing the exess seam sealer that would probably strenghten up the car if they were welded.

 

PLUS, i'm also contiplating doing some of that "chassis strengthening foam" in the rocker panel space. I think it would both help with chassis strength, saftey and noise. Any thoughts on that?

 

Oh, and right now, I think a roll cage might be out of the picture... It would take me a couple extra months to save the money for it. I also discovered that the hood needs more reinforcement since it bends when you try to support it from the support location, so that will cost a little extra to fix.

 

More bad news, I discovered that the single-port EA63 won't clear the engine mounts OR the engine/suspension crossmember I have to go with 4-port heads, so I need either EA63 4-port heads, a whole EA63 4-port motor, or to rebuild the EA61. Subieguy did post a link for a EA63 4-port motor for $100, ill probably just get that (maybe throw a EA71 shortblock on it later).

 

On a positive note, I found some wheels 14" JDM enkeis that are on the way from Japan right now. They will require some repair, but we've seen pics of these on FF-1's before so I know they will fit, and they will work with the 195/45/14 tires I plan on running. Ill post pics when they arrive...

What are you going to do with the rims that are on it now? Are they yours? Love to have those!

Richard

Dude that car is lookin killer, I cant wait to see it in person. As far as the motor, why not build the EA71 with 1400 heads now while its out? If you need a block I have a couple, I will let one go cheap, but I dont know how to get it to you...

-Bill

What are you going to do with the rims that are on it now? Are they yours? Love to have those!

Richard

Sorry, they are not my wheels. They are on loan.

Dude that car is lookin killer, I cant wait to see it in person. As far as the motor, why not build the EA71 with 1400 heads now while its out? If you need a block I have a couple, I will let one go cheap, but I dont know how to get it to you...

-Bill

Ya, i'd do the EA71 shortblock with the 1400 4-port heads if I could. I would have to switch out the cam though. I'd probably do a full rebuild on the block just to be safe, and send the heads out for porting too. But thats not something I have to do right away, so no rush...

Really cool to hear good progress! Nice car for sure.

My new (used) wheels just arrived from Japan

 

 

Yes, those are 14x6" JDM Enkei's with the correct offset

 

Special thanks to kiernna on NASIOC for purchasing these from a Japanese Yahoo auction and shipping them to me!

 

And yes, i'm going to have them repaired/repainted ASAP, should be perfect!