Just finished the conversion to wide 5 bolt drums in the back and discs in the front. I used the "CB Performance" kit for the front. Awesome stuff, however, it is only available with a 2" drop spindle. Great for Bugs and Speedsters (with lots of room for tire clearance), not so great for us Spyder owners.
I used the 2" drop kit from CB to get some of my suspension back (car was too stiff in the front). I now have my front beam adjusters up to the maximum adjustment, have a great ride, but the front tires rub with a 3/4 full tank. Did the alignment and put in some more camber, no luck.
The problem is with wide 5 wheels. Most 4 1/2" 4-bolt wheels have excessive (4 3/4") back spacing which means the edge of the rim is as far outward as the face of the front discs. The problem is that no one makes an off-the-shelf wide five wheel with the same backspacing. All of the wide 5 wheels I found (including original 356 wheels) have a back spacing of about 3 1/2". This puts the front tire outward at about 1".
This means that a custom offset wheel has to be built. Usually by cutting out the center wheel welds and relocating the center to the desired offset...Bummer.
If anybody has a different solution please let me know. I ordered a pair of new rims from CIP today. There is a two week turnaround to have them re-dished by a specialty shop here in Bolton, Ontario.
What other wide-5 disc brake set ups have people used?
I posted some revised pictures of my Beck with the new brakes, rims and tires. Any advice would be appreciated since my car is not usable until my new re-dished rims are done.
Thanks all,
Heiko
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