35mm offset wheel on 69 firebird; what size spacer?

[maroon88iroc]

ok i am about to order some wheels that are 18x8.5 front and 18x9.5 rear. they have 35mm offset on the front and rear. i was wondering what size spacer i will need to make these work on my 69 firebird. these wheels are supposed to fit 93-02 f-bodies so i assume a 2" spacer should work since that is was everyone uses when they put 4th gen wheels on older cars. i DO NOT want the wheels to stick outside of the fender. i am also going to be converting from drum in the front to disc so i dont know if that affects anything.

[dhutton]

That's a 6.6 inch backspacing on the rear so I think a 2 inch spacer will be too much for the back. Probably more like 1 inch.

The front backspacing is 6.1 inches so maybe a 1.25 to 1.5 inch spacer.

Let's see what the experts say.

Don

[Apogee]

On a '73/4 Nova, we're running a 45mm wheel adapter with a 18x8.5 wheel with 56mm offset. Thus, accounting for the 21mm [56-35=21] difference in offsets, I would think that a 24mm adapter should work in your scenario up front. Depending on how low your car sits and how centered your wheel is, it's fairly close to everything...the frame, the fender lip...everything.

In the rear, we're running a 54mm wheel adapter with a 19x10 wheel with 79mm offset [79-35=44]. If you were to position your wheel similar to ours, it would require merely a 10mm spacer due the huge difference in offsets. With 1/2" less wheel width it's still going to be critical that you get your backspacing spot on, but it should be doable.

What disc brakes are you converting to? Up front, the kit you use will determine your track width, as will the rear, but the front tends to vary more. In the back, the only variable that matters with respect to track width is going to be the thickness of the hat of the rotor relative to the OE drums (~.105"). HTH.

Tobin
KORE3

[maroon88iroc]

i wish there was a way i could try some different spacers. i have a buddy that has a set of 2" that i am going to try.

is there anywhere online that could tell me exactly what i need or a very knowledgable wheel company that i could call and ask?

[dhutton]

i wish there was a way i could try some different spacers. i have a buddy that has a set of 2" that i am going to try.

is there anywhere online that could tell me exactly what i need or a very knowledgable wheel company that i could call and ask?

Check with Frank at Prodigy Customs. He knows the backspacing requirements for the Firebirds which are a little different from the Camaros (the "Wide Tracking" difference).

Don

[maroon88iroc]

i just talked to the company with the wheel spacers. and i went ahead and ordered 1" spacers. they told me i could use 1" or 1.25" spacers so i went for the 1" and figured if i really needed the extra 1/4" i could use a small 1/4" adaptor. but the company also said if i wasnt happy with the 1" i could ship them back and get a different set.

i also ordered the wheels today so my 69 firebird should be sitting on new wheels next week sometime

heres a sneak peak of the wheels i ordered.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/08/wheelchoicetwo2-1.jpg

and the 275/40/18 goodyear eagle f1's for the rear

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2008/08/DSCF1970-1.jpg

going with a bfg g-force kdw in the front 235/40/18

[maroon88iroc]

heres the car they are going on

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

getting painted in a couple weeks, i am trying to decide on a color. i am getting it ready for turkey rod run in november.

the 5-speed should be here today for it. keeping it INLINE!