narrowing a chrome wheel

[SLVRBOY]

i am going to do something like BIG-MAC did on his 68. can i use the
9" wheels in the front if they have 5.95 backspacing or do i have to use the 6.42 backspacing and narrow them??
i am using chrome wheels so if i narrowed them would they have to be rechromed or would it not be noticable because its the back of the wheel that gets narrowed.

 

[mustang6tee8]

I have chrome 18x9" wheels on the front (and back) of my 68 (with 25mm backspacing). I was thinking about narrowing them up front, but decided not to because it doesnt rub. however, it is pretty damn close to the upper control arm (about 2 mm gap). could you post a link to whatever bigmac did to his?

 

[SLVRBOY]

you have the +25mm offset what size tires are you running and are you using spacers. im guessing you had to roll the fender lips, how low is your car. if i can get buy with 18x9 in the front that would be great. ive been having trouble finding the BIG-MAC thread but he narrowed the front to 18x8 or 8.5 on a +36mm offset and 6.42 backspacing rim and is running 245/40/18 in the front, and +24mm offset and 5.95 backspacing rim in the back with 275/40/18. but his car is pretty low, from the ground to the top of the wheel opening is 23.75" front 24.50 rear. this is all the info i had from his thread. try typing in BIG-MAC in the search on the classic mustang page maybe youll have better luck than i did.

 

[mustang6tee8]

-245/40 tires all around for now (need 275s in back for sure).
-I have 1" spacers in front and none in rear (but 1/4" spacers in back would be more aesthetically pleasing- need longer wheel studs though)
-rolled fender lips in front (maybe in rear with wider tires)
-620#/1" lowering springs in front (but NPD sent me wrong ones, maybe for a 6 cyl?), 5 leafs/1" lowering in back and 1" drop blocks
-ground to fender lip: 24 1/4" front; 24 3/4" rear

the car is pretty dang low, but looks incredible! I could email you some pictures if you like, let me know.

 

[ron67fb]

I just searched for "18x9 backspace"
http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=649588&highlight=18x9+backspace

 

[ForceFed70]

You won't need to have them re-chromed.

Up front I was able to fit 18x9's with 245/40 rubber in my 70. The '70 is lowered about 3" and I did have to roll the fender lips.

I ended up getting them narrowed to 18x8's. Not because of fitment problems, but because I didn't like the look of 245 rubber on a 9" wheel. The wheel lip will be the widest part of the wheel (wider than the rubber). It looked funny, and with no rubber in the way, a slight rub up against a curb would have damaged the chrome badly.

 

[mustang6tee8]

I ended up getting them narrowed to 18x8's. Not because of fitment problems, but because I didn't like the look of 245 rubber on a 9" wheel. The wheel lip will be the widest part of the wheel (wider than the rubber). It looked funny, and with no rubber in the way, a slight rub up against a curb would have damaged the chrome badly.

which tires do you have? i actually have 2 different brand tires, though both are 245/40. 1 is nankang and the other are nitto nt555's. the nittos fit much wider (over the wheel lip) and the nankangs are skinny.

 

[ForceFed70]

which tires do you have? i actually have 2 different brand tires, though both are 245/40. 1 is nankang and the other are nitto nt555's. the nittos fit much wider (over the wheel lip) and the nankangs are skinny.

Sumatro or something like that... they came with the wheels, so I hardly even looked at them. I'll check tonight.

 

[00redGT]

You won't need to have them re-chromed.

Why is that? I'm in the same boat...I have 18x9.5 wheels that I was going to have 1.5" cut out so they fit on the front of my '70. I am dreading the price of having them re-chromed. Is it just not that noticeable? Can you post pictures of yours? I'm really interested in seeing what the look like after this, not having been re-chromed.

Who, by the way, did the narrowing for you? I was going to go with the shop that did Big-Mac's wheels.

Thanks!

 

[ForceFed70]

Why is that? I'm in the same boat...I have 18x9.5 wheels that I was going to have 1.5" cut out so they fit on the front of my '70. I am dreading the price of having them re-chromed. Is it just not that noticeable? Can you post pictures of yours? I'm really interested in seeing what the look like after this, not having been re-chromed.

Who, by the way, did the narrowing for you? I was going to go with the shop that did Big-Mac's wheels.

Thanks!

Usually you can only narrow these wheels by taking out a 1" section on the back side of the wheel and welding the wheel halves back together. The area around the cut and weld is not visable, and usually isn't even chromed in the 1st place.

I got my wheels shorted by "Green's Automotive". They are located in Canada tho, I doubt you will want to ship all the way up here.

 

[SLVRBOY]

mustang6tee8 if you could e-mail me some pics that would be great
send them to. [email protected]
so i should be able to go with 24mm offset and 5.95 backspacing on the front and not have to narrow them. im still on the bodywork stage but i need the wheels and tires to see if i have to modify anything. the guy at the shop said he would send me one wheel so i could see what it looked like and if i didnt like it i can send it back without a restocking charge.