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I loved my American Racing wheels (ARE), but since they came out nearly 17 years ago, finding matching wider wheels for the back was not an option. In fact, it seemed that finding beautiful wheels (in general) with the following criteria was a difficult task: -matching 16-inch diameter by 7" width for the front and 16" x 8" or 9" for the back -4x100 bolt pattern In my opinion, 17-inch wheels increase the ride height and look too big on the 1988 car especially if white in color. I also did not want to spend thousands of dollars getting them made from scratch. The answer came after a year of searching; I was given a tip about an excellent local rim repair specialist that was able to widen the rears to a nice fat 8.5-inch width. I found a good set of donor aluminum rims for $30 from an aluminum scrapper, and then Len from Intech Industries went to work. They balanced beautifully too. Then it was off to the powdercoat shop. Here are the results:
For the rear wheels to fit nicely in the wheel well, I had custom (locally) machined aluminum 17mm-wide hubcentric spacers made:
Longer studs are required to safely run a spacer, in this case about 17mm longer. I just had to make sure the studs easily fit inside a tuner lug since they are "closed"-type. I discovered that the studs from a late 50's to the 70's Chevy Truck are around 60mm long, have a .555 diameter knurl, but uses a 1/2 by 20 thread. The knurl and the head needed to be machined down a touch. The studs were available from Napa Auto Parts for about $20 Can. I already have some matching tuner lugs in both 1/2 inch x 20 (back) and 12 x 1.5 (front), so I was set.
Using big washers and 5/8" nuts for spacers, I pulled the studs through with my wrenches and sockets, adding spacers so that I would not run out of thread, using an open 1/2 x 20 nut. I also used a plank with a hole drilled through it so as to brace the wheel from turning. Release-all or another lubricant is a must. Moroso also makes a stud in a decent length, although it is only 7/16 " wide thread, and a .561 - .563 knurl. Toyota's replacement stud for the MKI MR2, and for most Toyotas, is 4 or 5 mm longer than the original, and expensive, so these Chevy ones were a good find.
The look is fairly sleeper for a wide rim, which still fits nicely in the well:
I also made some center-caps out of PVC:
I am going with (RAM-style) BC coilovers. The local roads are very good, and the car is only summer-driven, so I think I can risk going with inverted coilovers for some performance advantages. The spring rates I chose are 5 kg/mm (280 lbs/in) for the fronts, and 8 kg/mm (448 lbs/in) for the rears:
Tubular 7/8" front anti-roll bar, Prothane bushings and custom spacers to help tune the suspension:
Big brakes all around. For the front, Celica ST185 discs (Porterfield), single-pot calipers/brackets, and R4/R4E pads:
For the back, Opel Corsa *front* discs with MR2 MKII Turbo 22V (1993+) rear calipers/brackets. I had these discs machined down from 260mm to 254mm diameter to give a bit more clearance, the fact that they are a bit thicker at 24mm works out fine since 1mm goes inwards and 1mm goes outwards:
It also required a spigot centering ring to get the 60mm bore to match the MR2 54mm:
The 22V (1993+ Turbo) calipers, will go with R4 pads:
Made up these lightweight front and rear brake ducts, which clamp onto the suspension arms, scoop air from under the car and funnel it onto the discs. Simple but very effective:
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Wide Wheels, Brakes, and Suspension |
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