550 Spyder good times heading my way

Are you sticking with staggered tire widths?

adapters will push the wheels out too far, so either run 5x130 or change the brakes to 5x205 discs.

@Jon T I am sure we will be cruising together soon. I just want to see How it looks when i get it.

@chines1 Thank you the input.  I will probably run the 5x130 just to keep my life simple.

@ford356outlaw congrats on scoring on a 550 Spyder. Hopefully when you get that bad-boy we can scare up a few local SOCers for a cruise through Mulholland (or wherever).

Would also like to follow the progress on your 78SC Targa. I had a  78 Targa years ago and had blast with it. Broken head studs was one of the common problems for these particular 911s. A few of the upgrades on ours was an airbox with pop-off valve (cracked one when backfire on a cold start), significantly improved shifting with WEVO parts and upgraded to hydraulic cam chain tensioners. Logged 200K fun-filled miles on that car before selling.

Road trip ...PCA autocross...

Anyway, hope our paths cross at one of our local SOC cruises.  

@MusbJim posted:

@ford356outlaw congrats on scoring on a 550 Spyder. Hopefully when you get that bad-boy we can scare up a few local SOCers for a cruise through Mulholland (or wherever).

Would also like to follow the progress on your 78SC Targa. I had a  78 Targa years ago and had blast with it. Broken head studs was one of the common problems for these particular 911s. A few of the upgrades on ours was an airbox with pop-off valve (cracked one when backfire on a cold start), significantly improved shifting with WEVO parts and upgraded to hydraulic cam chain tensioners. Logged 200K fun-filled miles on that car before selling.

Road trip ...PCA autocross...

Anyway, hope our paths cross at one of our local SOC cruises.  

@MusbJim love the pictures and crazy curls 🏄‍♂️👍😎

@MusbJim Very nice targa.  Great pics and wow you put some miles on it.  I bet it was a blast to drive.  We will definitely need to go cruising we are relatively close to each other and i am sure we can get a few more guys to join in on the fun.  

Here is the targa progression. And a few Manx's and my 67 mustang.  

Love the wheels on the Targa!

@DannyP posted:

Love the wheels on the Targa!

I do too, but I REALLY love the wheels on the 'stang.

@Stan Galat posted:

I do too, but I REALLY love the wheels on the 'stang.

Redneck hick.

Just kidding, I really like those too.

@DannyP posted:

Redneck hick.

Busted.

Maybe i will just put the targa wheels on the spyder.

@ford356outlaw

Dude, I like the way you roll!

I really like those ATS wheels on the Targa.  6X15" might fit if you run a narrowed beam.  Also, the 'Stang wheels are hot. American Racing Mags have been the beans since the 60's. Nothing looks better on a muscle car.

for the targa and the Mustang.

A man of your taste will want wide-5s on his Spyder, as they are correct.*

That said, one of the most photographed and coveted 550s—chassis 0090—wore 5 x130 wheels for a significant part of its life in the 1960s and early '70s (per Road & Track's 1971 feature on it).

In the early days of Porsche disc brakes they were considered a major upgrade to the older cars, back when guys were still club racing them. And they don't look bad at all, imho.

*You may or may not want to spring for the unobtanium 16-inch versions.

FYI, @ford356outlaw Replica Spyders usually have staggered wheels. 4.5" wide in the front and 5.5" out back. You will not be able to fit 5.5s in the front, so if you choose to run 4.5s all around, you might use some spacers in the rear.

The offset on the fronts on the steel wheels are not deep enough and you could get some fender rub in hard corners. Especially the front right. I don't know about the 130 spaced wheels.

The Vintage 190 aluminum 4.5s have a little deeper offset that helps with this, and they look pretty good, and are about 12lbs lighter per wheel than the steel wheels. A lot of us Spyder owners have gone to them. I still do get a rub here and there, but I'm a little more aggressive in the turns though, and I live in the mountains with very tight, twisty, and not so smooth roads.

Tire selection is very limited to none in our size. At least for anything that might be considered performance tires. A few of us were lucky enough to get hold of the last Vredestein Sportracs in the country. They are sticky, cheap, and fantastic. Vredestein does make a tire that might be worthy if you were running 4.5s all around, but that tire doesn't come in staggered sizes.

I used to get an occasional rub with spirited driving and the factory(skinny) front anti-sway.

I don't get any rub now either solo or with my wife as passenger. I've got a custom 16mm bar that I made. But in NC, I did get a couple rubs(on the right front, sorry, but that's the truth) with Stan riding shotgun.

You can run 4.5" Vintage 190 all around, but you'd really need a LONG swing axle for the back. It's much more common to have a short swing axle and 5.5" wheel in the back.

Usual tires are 185/65R15 or 165/80R15 F and 195 or 205/60R15 in the back. I run 22F/25R pressure.

Thank you all for the great info.  @edsnova you could be right i do really think the wide 5's are the best way to do it.

@Carlos G I think the vintage 190's are probably going to be the best wheel for the car.

@DannyP Thanks for what tire size to run.

Its always better to do it right the first time.  Any info on how easy or hard it is to swap the system to a wide 5 around all corners?

@DannyP The Vintage 190 alloys are wider than the steels (+10mm per wheel IIRC).  Greg once told me he runs  narrowed front beam to offset this, although that fact is not advertised anywhere that I've seen.  Is your front beam narrowed?

@chines1 posted:

@DannyP The Vintage 190 alloys are wider than the steels (+10mm per wheel IIRC).  Greg once told me he runs  narrowed front beam to offset this, although that fact is not advertised anywhere that I've seen.  Is your front beam narrowed?

That makes, sense, as the aluminum needs to be a little thicker than steel.

Yes, my beam is 2" narrowed. Mine was the first car to have this, but it's MOSTLY due to the Airkewld brakes which add about 3/4" per side.

I would think Greg only does 1" narrowed for most guys for the aluminum wheels, I am pretty sure that the usual cast-iron EMPI barbell brakes don't add any(maybe 3/8"?) width. This would set the track very nicely I'd think.

If my brakes were narrower(like stock) my wheels would be set too far in for my liking.

I'm very pleased with my setup, it really works well.

@ford356outlaw posted:

Its always better to do it right the first time.  Any info on how easy or hard it is to swap the system to a wide 5 around all corners?

The front is easier than the rear. In front, you usually need ball joint drum brake spindles. There are two different ones: small and large tie-rod holes. You don't want drop spindles either.

The rear depends on whether you want disc or drum and if you have long or short axles. If you stay with rear drum, all you need to swap is the drum itself to get wide5.

If you go discs it gets a little more complicated.

Let us know EXACTLY what you have and what you want to end up with and we can help.

I'm the only wacko who wants extreme braking. I drive the car VERY hard sometimes and even track it. I have 4 piston front calipers, single piston rear w/ebrake, and solid drilled rotors all around. I have regular pads on the rear and track/street on the front. They do not fade, they just work. EVERY SINGLE TIME. No drama, just brakes. Sometimes they make a little noise, but I can live with that.

If I know my client is using the alloys I suggest a 1" narrowed beam also, so that would make sense.  It makes torsion leaves a PITA but the improvement on tire rub is nice.

The EMPI/AC steel discs are zero offset.

@edsnova posted:

for the targa and the Mustang.

A man of your taste will want wide-5s on his Spyder, as they are correct.*

That said, one of the most photographed and coveted 550s—chassis 0090—wore 5 x130 wheels for a significant part of its life in the 1960s and early '70s (per Road & Track's 1971 feature on it).

In the early days of Porsche disc brakes they were considered a major upgrade to the older cars, back when guys were still club racing them. And they don't look bad at all, imho.

*You may or may not want to spring for the unobtanium 16-inch versions.

cool, I never noticed that before.
0090 also has had different side mirrors and steering wheels..

Thread drift . .

Well i was planning on getting the car this weekend but my friends at UPS turned 1 day shipping into 5 days.  So i will be getting my spyder next thursday.  It gives me time to play musical cars.

@DannyP The car has disc brakes on all 4 corners already, which is nice.  But i want to run the vintage 190's as of now.  Or maybe the 5x130 steelies which are for disc brakes from what i have read.

@DannyP posted:

Love the wheels on the Targa!

Me, too. Those Campy’s are my favorite aftermarket 911 wheels.

@dlearl476 They are my favorite as well.  Ordered them from a company in England called group4wheels.

Here is what she looks like so you guys can see.  I am not a big fan of red on red interior so i will mostly change the carpet to black and reupholster the seats with classic porsche plaid or houndstooth(red/black/white).  Add red darts in the rear and accent the rear side louvers with red to match. And remove the roll bar and maybe passenger helmet fairing.

Oh its a 550A i think i forgot to mention.

Cool 550! It looks to me like a Thunder Ranch with the wide body option. So all those hints about tire and wheel size? Throw them out the window. You've got wider than what a "normal" Spyder can run.

Let us know what wheel/tire sizes are when you get it.

As you know, these are replicas, so you get to do whatever you want. But think hard about interior and upholstery options, as the entire interior gets exposed to the elements. The seats sometimes get stepped on getting in and out. Cloth may not be a good choice. But you'll figure it out once you actually get the car.

Cheers.

I can understand the excitement, @ford356outlaw (Bob, isn't it?) - if you can fit in a Sypder, it's a much more "raw" experience.

I suspected it was you who had purchased this car, and it's a beauty. Some of the stuff you're doing wouldn't be on my list, but most of it would - and that's what makes these cars pretty cool. They're paperdolls for grown men, as Terry Nuckels used to say.

Congratulations.

I entertained the thought of painted louvers, but then decided not to.

Roll bars just don't look very good on Spyders. They might have some function if tall enough, but just look wrong. Two helmet fairings are also in the same boat. The passenger one might even give you a terrible blind spot.

I agree with Danny, your wheel game is totally different now.

Whatever you do, let us check it out too. We love to see each other's paper dolls.

"Paper dolls for grown men..." Terry Nuckels

Perfect. Get out the expensive scissors and the good glue.

I agree Carlos. That rollbar is useless, and will fold instantly in a rollover since it has ZERO help staying vertical. Might as well just remove it.

The red on your clamshell slits really doesn't look bad, but it's not for me either.

Yup, just as Danny said, everything we told you about wheels/tires/offset applies to 99% of the replicas, but not yours. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of the wide body TR 550s on this site, and the one lady that knew more about them than the manufacturer passed away during Covid.

Thanks for the info guys.  Yes it is a thunder ranch build.  I should have no problems fitting inside.  Im only 5'5 and 140.  I guess i have to wait a little bit longer to see exactly what i need, but i believe the wheels are 16's.  

I don't think i have mentioned it but my name is Raffi.  I have had the pleasure of meeting a couple of the socal guys already when i had my speedster and hopefully i can make more friends.  This is definitely one of the better forums i am a part of.  The knowledge and desire to help one another is unparalleled.

Raffi

Raffi is the kind gentleman who allowed me to drive his speedster back in early 2021 which helped me decide to take the plunge and order my own.  His speedster was the super wide body originally owned by Marty.  I can’t wait to go for a spin trying to keep up with him in his Spyder.

@Jon T Thanks Jon.  I just got back from cars and coffee. But i think you were at moorpark yesterday.

I took delivery of the spyder the other day and there are a few issues i need to address before i can start driving it.  1.  Install all new fuel lines. I don't trust 20 year old lines.  2 Grease leaking at the rear wheel hubs.  The disc brakes are coated with grease.  3. Get better seats and with a slider.  My feet barely reach the pedals. lol.   4. The wheels.  Either convert the discs to 5 wide so i can get period correct wheels or just get the factory disc brake wheels off a 912/356 car.  6. Fix an oil leak at the external oil cooler and one from the oil pan.  7.  the shifting mechanism sucks.  Can't even find 3rd gear.  The old school linkage system is crap.  Its like a stick in mud.  So any suggestions on cable shifters would be great or if anyone in the LA area has a spyder i can check out in person i would love too.

On the positive side the wheels are real Fuchs.  16x6 and 16x7.

The engine sounds amazing.  It Purrs perfectly.

All the issues can be fixed by me and a pro, just very frustrating that I can't drive it right away.  

Par for the course. Almost every one of these cars needs a little fettling on delivery.

They usually need a bit every year. NBD.

PBS shifter is the consensus hot setup. My car is a Thunder Ranch and came with a Brandwood which is also pretty good.

If you already have a cable shifter you should be able to adjust it so it works very well. If you have a long rod shifter it can also be made to work but it might be easier and cheaper to replace with a cable setup.

Post some photos of your car, shifter, engine bay showing shift rod, etc...  Not a ton of TR owners on the site, but it isn't too far off from the others in many regards so you'll have good help/suggestings here and a photo can tell a LOT.

As mentioned above, you can't beat the PBS shifter which both Greg and I use as our standard, however a retro fit is less than ideal as it requires removing your engine and trans plus a bit of fabrication that will be specific to your own build...  Brandwood is a much easier install, but considered a distant 2nd to the PBS.  A properly set up rod shifter can be awesome, but there are a LOT of "attempts" at a rod shifter than are terrible as well...

THAT RIGHT THERE^^^^

My old Jamar-based rod shifter worked very well. My PBS in the new car works outstanding.

I worked on a few Spyders. One had a Fibersteel. It was the worst.

None of them shifted as well as either of my two Spyders.