IM Wide body Speedster ground clearance.

kabar1967

Newbie … continued

Since purchasing my IM wide-body last year, I have been using SOC as my “goto” resource to answer most of my Newbie questions that have cropped up. My Speedster has been a joy to get to know and is humming along beyond my expectations. It, HOWEVER, was built to be driven and enjoyed in California BUT …. the roads in Wisconsin are designed for pick-up trucks. I have bottomed out several times and I thank Gene Berg for designing such a great SUMP. I run with my Hiway Flyer on the nicer roads at 70 MPH and have no cooling issues because of the 1.5 qt SUMP, 911 cooling shroud system and an electric oil cooler (and of course 5 quarts of oil).

Do not want to fix something that is not broken BUT the clearance at the sump plate is only 3.5” and 4” at the pipes.

Digging through the SOC archives I think I understand my options at this point:

1) increase circumference of wheel tire set up 2) adjust the suspension and/or modify the suspension 3) remove the Gene Berg sump.

Need HELP in deciding which option(s) is best or find a better one..

My common sense approach is to start with the tires.

Replacing my rear Michelin 225/40 16R with Michelin 225/50 16R increase the circumference by .88582 inches.

Replacing my rear Michelin 225/40 16R with Michelin 225/55 16R increase the circumference by 1.3307 inches.

Replacing my rear Michelin 225/40 16R with Michelin 225/60 16R increase the circumference by 1.7716 inches.

I understand replacement of the front Michelin 215/40 16R with larger circumferences with be where the main clearance issues will be more complicated.

Also another major variable would be to also change rims but …. I'm trying the "keep it simple stupid approach" first.

Any advice or guidance would greatly appreciated.

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9/5/1911:53 AM

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WNGD

Move to better roads

9/5/193:32 PM

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Gordon NicholsMassachusetts 1993 CMC Supporting Member

Why bother messing with tires at all? At best, from your calculations you’ll gain .8” at a cost of at least $150 per tire?

Why not just reset your rear suspension by adjusting the rear torsion bars to raise it up 1/2” x 3/4” at a cost well below that level?

https://www.speedsterowners.co...rear-ride-height--vw

9/5/193:48 PM

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edsnovaBaltimore - BCW 52 MG TD Supporting Member

X2. You've got to go up a little bit if your low point is 3.5 inches.

I was going to suggest swapping out the Gene Berg sump for a CB. But Gene's is 2.5 inches deep and the CB is 2 inches. So you won't gain enough. You want to have 5 inches clearance under the sump...

There is another option, which is an oil accumulator. You take off the extra sump and run the car with the stock oil capacity, but put one of these off to one side to inject oil into the engine on the off chance the pickup gets uncovered. Sort of a poor man's dry sump, with the added advantage of allowing you to pre-oil the engine before starting (which a dry sump can't do).

But you'd still be a 4 inches on the exhaust. Which is too low for a non track car.

Just adjust your rear torsion bars 1.5 inches up (and the fronts about the same) and call it a day. If you have adjustable spring plates this could take you a half hour. If not, it's a bit of a fettle, but you just gotta do it.

The car will still look plenny low and cool.

9/5/196:43 PM