Chad's 1981 Trans Am

[Justin@EntropyRad]

Those CCWs look tough on there...a much better home than the Hondas and VWs I see them on around here

[Chadman27]

Here is a few weeks before transporting to its tomb, I mean storage.

[Chadman27]

Thanks Justin! Yes, I like them on 2nd Gen T/As too, they have that "Snowflake" feel to them without being 1K+ a piece like the YearOnes (also are 3 piece and you can change backspacing/offsets easier that way if ever needed). I would bet much lighter too, but I don't know that.

[Justin@EntropyRad]

Helped a friend build an aggressive set for his car

[Chadman27]

I got a soft spot for the 300 ZX, love those cars. His stance looks nice with those CCWs.

[Onebad78ta]

Hey chad it looks like we have a lot of the same style stuff on our cars,,,I was wondering if you could shoot me a pic of the clearance of the inside of your front wheels to the arms and the tie rod ends,,I have global west a arms and my wheel is 18x9.5 and I think it was 6.5 backspace,,,I've worried about any interference issues and it looks like your fits ...

[Chadman27]

I don't have any readily available, but next time I'm at the storage locker I will try and get some shots for you. I don't have steering linkage or tie-rods etc. mounted, but it may still give you a good idea, ill try and get some different angles. I'll go through my photos and see if I have anything somewhat close in the meantime.

[Chadman27]

Maybe these will help some??? (ignore the tiny Vette LS1 in the subframe on the second pic )

[Onebad78ta]

How much backspace do you have,,,,looks like it clears easy on yours I sure hope mine does here's a pic of mine,,,it has it's old runners on the front now until the new spindle and brake package shows up,,,I must say yours looks awesome. And makes me way more excited.It funny your story is a lot like mine I've had my car since high school too/ first car,,,it's been a rough rode but through thick and thin I've kept it and put it through a few different looks through the years,,this is by far the biggest build it's gone through and prolly the last ,,,,too much money

[Chadman27]

Well... mine I believe were 5.75" backspacing, I know you said yours were 6.5", but I swear mine look much tighter to the spindle than yours. That being said, I can't tell if that's an illusion since obviously my springs have no weight on them... or we have different spindles... or maybe one of our rim manufacturers hosed up the backspacing (I never actually checked mine now that I think about it). Maybe someone else has some thoughts or see something I'm not. The biggest backspace I've heard of is 5.75" on the front, but you may be fine with the 6.5" as it very dependent on your combination, especially when a stack-up of aftermarket parts are thrown at it. I think the best thing you could do for yourself is to mock all your suspension up, set the car down, and then then turn the wheel lock to lock and see if there are any interferences. Also keep in mind that as the suspension articulates there is a vertical component that when the spring is compressed, wheel locked, you may drive the tire edge into the radius/curved section of the wheel well. When I get all mine back together I can let you know how it went on my end, but I think that may be quite some time away LOL.


EDIT: In that first pic, is that wheel sitting on the ground or bolted to the studs. I guess I assumed it was bolted up... if not then maybe that's why I'm seeing what I'm seeing.

[Chadman27]

Your car is lookin kick ass by the way, I was actually looking at your thread earlier today before I even realized it was you. I may have some questions for you in the near future about that beautiful motor you got sitting between the fenders.

[Onebad78ta]

actually Im thinking my wheel is 6" backspace,,,im almost wishing I would have went with baer brakes because they have the spindle setup already and I wouldnt be waiting around wondering,,,Ialready bought the rear wilwood setup 12.88,,yea Butler is a great company I was vrey happy with there service,,,Expensive but you get what you pay for,,,mine made 655hp 670 torque.

[Onebad78ta]

Hey chad,so I just had an idea,,,what about just putting the 14" wildwood kit on my stock spindles,of course have them cleaned up,,with my coil over setup I'm thinking I can just drop the car down to where I want it,,and it will even save some money,and I'm not going to be using any wheel wells so that should allow for more clearance too...are your spindles stock or dropped ?

[Chadman27]

The Baer kit is a modified stock spindle, so the height is stock, but the caliper mounting location I believe is machined clean and cut to accept their caliper. Hope that helps. I would think with what you mentioned above the coil-over would get you to the ride height you want. I know Wilwood also makes great stuff, but I'm not too familiar with how their setup is. Probably running that by their Tech Line would be a good idea for some peace of mind.

Also, if you are at a 6" BS, you may be just fine, especially considering the variability in tire widths. I've experienced it on a lot of different drag radials and all weather tires on my 2000 in the 315/35 sizes. Maybe someone with a 6" BS front can chime in here on what their setup is and pros/cons.

[Onebad78ta]

I'm thinking it will work and actually allow to bring the car up for more header clearance ,,,I'm wanting 1" between the fenders and tires at all 4 corners.

[Onebad78ta]

They work ok,thank god.

[Chadman27]

Glad to hear Justin! What did you end up doing brakes/spindles? Good thing about an oversized BS is you can always throw a 1/4 spacer or something in there you wanted to push it outboard (assuming thread engagement on studs is SAT).

[Rick M]

Very nice build!

[Chadman27]

Had some free time, decided to upload some of the previous progress. Here is the rear seat delete for panels, two trays (not shown) and the recess for the nitrous bottles.

[Chadman27]

Drilling, cutting, removing, and re-welding holes for factory door bars (safety replaced by cage door bars.