These came in today, 18x8 and 18x9, new on the market

They're going to look great on there!

Ooooh, those do look nice. Which brand? Year one?

Nope, they're US Mag model U109. They cost a few bucks less than the Year One versions. I went with them because they had 18's and everything I read about the 17" year one's said no good with big brakes.

Thanks!

Very nice! I just might have to give them a call.

I got them through a guy on e-bay that goes by RonsRims. Had them to my door in less than a week :thumbsup:

I wasnt a fan of the new big inch Rally II wheels

but I think those pictures are starting to sway my opinion

They look great I dig the wheels big time! I was really thinking of the yearone ones but these look clean! do you remember whathe BS is on them? Any side profile shot to see clearance in the back? Will they clear the rear fender with i.e. 275's on?

Thanks and the bird is coming sweet!!

Gui

Hope you do not mind just photo"chopped" them on my project bird

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps1795c9af.jpg

Thanks! I went with 18's and took a shot hoping that they will clear C5 brakes; I printed out the template and just need to check. The fronts are 18x8 with 4.5 backspace. The rears are 18x9 with 5.25 backspace. The rears fit with the stock rear end setup, but looks pretty close to the outer edge. A bunch of lowering might cause rubbing issues. I've already cut and rolled back the outer edge on the rear wheel housings so it should clear my setup. No tires yet, so I can't provide any feedback on that yet. My goal is at least a 275, maybe a 285.

Awesome info thanks! If you get a chance and could take some profile (i.e. rear shots) or even a bottom up straight shot or shot of a ruler across up that woudl be a huge help! I am running Boss wheels 9.5 in the rear, but they are very much on the edge with the 275's even rolled up so a bit of room but not too much room for more drop. That is with the stock bird rear wich I believe is about .5 inch or so wider than a Camaro rear from what I heard?

Thanks again!

Gui

I've heard the same, problem is that I have no idea if the rear I have is original or not. I'm building a 9" for it, so I'm using what's in there as a base for measuring and cutting the other rear end. I'm planning on going 1/4" shorter on each end of my 9".

I measured with a straight edge from the outer edges of the rear wheels and came up with 1.25" on the inside and .75 on the outside. Of course, there will be variances due to where you take the measurement on the inside and because I cut and rolled the outer lip. I'll take some pictures for you, but I'm not sure how much it will help.

Looks Great!!

A little measuring on the C5 brakes question, thought this might be useful for others looking at doing the same:

To Recap- the front wheels are 18x8 with 4.5 backspacing and 1mm offset

I printed out the C5/C6 template on the Kore 3 website and took some pictures today. The total distance across the inside of the wheel is 16 inches, so the 12.8" rotors and calipers should fit fine. The protrusion of the caliper looks really close, but I believe it will fit. I will know for sure once I get everything, but at least this gives an idea. The only concern I see is at the point where the caliper gets close to the hub. The template has something there, but it's not the caliper (PAB??). Here are the pics, hope it helps:

I completely forgot to take pictures, sorry. I removed the rear end this weekend so I can narrow the other setup. Will the stock size rear-end length help you any (to compare to yours)? I took a measurement to the outside of each axle flange, drum brakes and backing plates removed, and I am at 60 inches. With the 18x9 and 5.25 backspace, I would be on that edge if I had not rolled back the metal underneath. I'm actually going to see if I can cut the new rear end about 1/4" extra on each side to move the wheels in just a hair. Like I said in a previous post, with my 18x9, I had a little more room to the inside when compared to the outside. If there's any other measurements I can take for you, let me know.

Here's just a little update, rear end is out and set up next to the new 9:

Well, started on the narrowing process and I could use some advice here. This is the first time I've done this; I've measured a bunch of times and have the length where it needs to be. The main issues I ran into is that the new ends do not seem to line up that great with the axle tubes. They are off a little bit, almost like the housing tubes are a bit out of alignment.

As it sits right now, the new ends are lined up with the alignment slugs in the center chunk, so basically the rod going through the 4 slugs is straight while the new ends are tacked on slightly off. Is it ok to weld them on like this?

I assume the axles being centered to the carrier is the most important thing?

Thanks

Here are a few pics:

Hi was the rear end a truck or car 9 inch originally?

I believe it was a truck rear end

I got the assembly mocked with the 4 link and tacked on the upper brackets. I'm planning on having a friend weld it solid for me tonight. I don't have the skill or correct setup to feel good about welding together such a critical component.

I went a little bit narrower than I needed on the rear end to try and center the tires in the wheelwell just a bit. I figured it's easier to adjust out just a little bit with wheel spacers to get them just perfect; at least I hope it is. More pics soon.

Here it is, welded together. Just needs some clean-up and paint

Update Time :G-Dub:

Finally got the rear end installed after figuring out all the measurements (with help from forum members, of course :thankyou: )

So here is what I have done:

Ford 9", narrowed it myself, had a buddy do final welding

Ridetech 4 link installed, I used nuts and bolts instead of the cheesy self tappers for the majority of the connections. A piece of wire welded to the nut worked out great to get the nuts in place inside the frame rails.

98-02 F-body rear brakes installed; figured out a 2.5" offset works well for them. I should have used the flush mount GM ends from Moser instead of the standard ones, but removing .105 from the rear of the backing plates solved that issue.

On to the pics:

A few more:

Awesome work!! what glanges did you use and what shafts? Thanks!

Thanks!

I ordered the axle shafts from Quick Performance - extreme series axles, 31 spline

Did you mean flanges? To hold in the axles? If so, then the brake backing plates act as the retainer in this setup. I had to slide the backing plate on first, then the seal, followed by the bearing and bearing retainer.

It looks great!! Nice job. Slick idea using the wire to get the nut where you needed them.

Ops yeah flanges :)

Thanks! It was kind of a pain getting it there when I first tried, but then I switched to a much more flexible wire (coat hangers :lol: )
I was able to break off the wire after I tightened down the nut. I did manage to get two pieces stuck in there though.

Updates........been slow going here, life getting in the way again. I started gathering my paint supplies and plan to continue on bodywork. Getting my door to fender and fender to hood gap lines better and better. I also stripped the many layers of paint off of the doors.
2014 Plan - Paint, I hope :)

any updates?

Sorry for the very delayed response......Nothing new going on at the moment due to moving into a new house and some work related stuff. I am looking into building a 2 car detached work space hopefully pretty soon so the updates will continue as soon as I can get everything back in order :)

getting all the lines and gaps to look good takes so much fineness... Great progress so far! I need to start a build report on my 68 firebird.

I hear that - it's been one of the more difficult tasks and I want to make sure I get it as perfect as possible before the paint goes on. Get that build report up! I could use some motivation :D

In the meantime - here's a pic I drew up of what I'm thinking of doing when this new shop is up. I've been checking out those portable scissor lifts and want to recess it into the floor. I lose a little access under the car (mainly transmission stuff) with this style, but I can get it completely hidden and the height works out well for a 9 foot ceiling.

Here's a link to the style of lift:
http://www.bendpak.com/car-lifts/spe...ts/md-6xp.aspx

Yes, please do! We need more Firebird representation on this Camaro-G.net site, ha ha


That's going to be awesome!

Been thinking about this for awhile - the car will have to wait a little longer, but it'll be nice having my own separate workspace not attached to the house :)

Totally understood. My one requirement when we bought our house was that the garage was detached in back. I was flexible on everything else.

Ha ha, great minds think alike. That's the most important part of any house,lol

Yea, I'm still here.................lol
Just trying to finish up this shop so I can get back on the Firebird. Here are a few pics:

A few from earlier in the process