16 inch wheels for the '77 280Z...more cowbell

[daddz]

Thanks to the recent wheel and tire upgrade by 240ztt I was also in the search for more cowbell for my '77 280Z. I had purchased a set of Enkei type 92 16x7 wheels for the '77 280Z. The wheels were in 'as new' condition and had never been installed on a car from the previous owner. He had purchased the wheels for his 240Z and never got around to having them installed and sold them. I figured they would go well with the new set of Bilstein struts that I had sourced about six months ago. I ordered the tires and had them installed on the wheels only to find that the bolt pattern was incorrect!

I then set about to research the wheelspacer subject and after stumbling across a great thread over at grassroots motorsports I decided to have a set built. In my case I used a fellow who advertises via ebay and will produce a custom set for $140 out of T6061 aluminum. In about a weeks time I had the new wheel spacers which bolt onto the existing hub and with the Nissan 12x1.25 thread the new studs protrude from the spacer to accept the wheel. The minimum thickness has to be one inch and with the wheels measuring 7 inches wide from the inner bead and eight inches from the outer bead I figured it would be close for clearance purposes.

The front valence panels where they meet the wheel house had to have the lips 'rolled' so that when reversing and turning at the same time there would be no rubbing of the tires. Beyond that the car runs and drives just fine and in the near future the motorsport non ducted front air dam will be installed and paint matched.

Enclosed are a few before and after pics:

[240Zdragon72]

I like them. Makes a huge difference in the apperance. Have you had her at speed with the new meats?

[daddz]

Brian,

I have done two things since the addition of the new tires:

1) drove past a portable speed detector to check the speedometer error and it reads about 5mph too fast up to about 60mph--the posted speed limit is 45mph in that particular zone but, it was after midnight and no one was around.

2) it has been north of 85-90mph and it is smooth and free of vibrations and the steering tracks nice and straight.

[Alfadog]

You could use maths to see how much error there is on the speedo... anyway, my question is what is "cowbell" and why would you want more of it??? :|

[littlefireryone]

hehehe, more cowbell. Its from a saturday night live sketch or something about a certain rock group who had a cowbell in their song. Yay first post (and visit of the forums) since I joined like 4 m,onths ago or something

[dogma420]

it was blue oyster cult recording 'don't fear the reaper'...(the skit on Sat night live)...hilarious

It was Wil Ferrill at his dummest--I think Wil was the cow bell performer of the band (could be wrong) but they kept starting up the reaper and the cow bell wasn't loud enough and they got into an argument about 'more cowbell' and such...if you listen to dont fear the reaper, there is a prominent cow bell through the song and its a play on that...'more cowbell dude'.

[Alfadog]

haha thanks - yes actually I think I've seen that skit on the net somewhere. Will Farrell is great

[AWC]

And Christopher Walken.

[andrewg3300]

cowbel rocks. everyone needs a little more cowbell in their life.