Question about wheels for 72 240

[Oiluj]

I'm considering replacing the wheels on my newly aquired 1972 series 1 Z.

Like the look of the 8 spoke panasports and (knockoff) roti's. Read somewhere that moving to the 15" rims and 60 series tires improves handling. I'm thinking of moving to 15x7 wheels w/ 60 series tires 195 or 205 wide.

Questions:

1) Any major issues with this change? Will these fit without hitting the wheel well when cornering, (club autocross), or if the suspension bottoms out?

2) Will a (maybe future) 4 piston totyota front brake upgrade fit with these wheels?

3) Will a (maybe future) rear wheel disc brake upgrade fit with these wheels?

Thanks!

JP

[DougN]

You should have no issues with 15" panasports, they are very popular with Z owers. As for tires, I run a 195/65/15 tire with no issues at all. They will tuck up in the rear wells under hard cornering or bumps without rubbing. Speedo is accurate as well. I beleive they should fit over the Toyota brakes, I have them and although I don't have panasports, my 15" slots fit just fine. Can't help you with the rear, as I don't have that upgrade.

[Oiluj]

Thanks for the info. It makes me much more comfortable spending the $ on the upgrade.

Do you have a side-view pic of your car so I can get a feel for how the 15" wheels / tires look?

Thanks!

JP

[Go240Zags]

Snip

I'm considering replacing the wheels on my newly aquired 1972 series 1 Z. JP

Just a little info - Series I 240Zs were actually built late 1969 to about 1971.5. Your car at 1972 would not be a Series 1, but rather a first generation car which covers 1969 built thru 1978 280Zs. Some people, at least in N. America, refer to the 1972 as Series II because the fresh air vents were moved from the rear hatch to the sides of the car, the console was changed and some other differences, there is a good break down on Zhome with the design changes and even the labels Series III and Series IV here: http://zhome.com/History/DesignChanges.htm. For most purposes we usually just refer to Series I and Series II, but the 240Z evolved several times even over the short three years it was in production.

[WingZr0]

Just a little info - Series I 240Zs were actually built late 1969 to about 1971.5. Your car at 1972 would not be a Series 1, but rather a first generation car which covers 1969 built thru 1978 280Zs. Some people, at least in N. America, refer to the 1972 as Series II because the fresh air vents were moved from the rear hatch to the sides of the car, the console was changed and some other differences, there is a good break down on Zhome with the design changes and even the labels Series III and Series IV here: http://zhome.com/History/DesignChanges.htm. For most purposes we usually just refer to Series I and Series II, but the 240Z evolved several times even over the short three years it was in production.

Good question from the newbie and welcom aboard!

But don't you mean 4 years ZAG?,( '70 '71 '72 '73 ).

or 5 if you wanna get technical and count '69

[Go240Zags]

Right you are, bad math on my part. I just got caught up in trying not to sound too preachy and botched the math. I was also wondering whether to add the 69 in there and decided not to make it too confusing -- in general the cars were registered as 70, 71, 72 and 73 so I didn't add in the 69. Of course if I had written it out like that in the first place I probably wouldn't have goofed.

[DougN]

Thanks for the info. It makes me much more comfortable spending the $ on the upgrade.

Do you have a side-view pic of your car so I can get a feel for how the 15" wheels / tires look?

Thanks!

JP

There are more in my gallery, but here are a couple shots with old 195/60/15 tires (before I replaced with 195/65/15):

[Oiluj]

I appreciate all the input and the pics. It really helped.

Thanks!

Oiluj

[Carl Beck]

Snip

Just a little info - Series I 240Zs were actually built late 1969 to about 1971.5.

Hi Gary:

Oct. 69 into Jan. 71 - - Series I aka 70 and 71 Model Year ie Vents on Rear Hatch

Jan.71 into Oct. 71 - - Series II aka "Late Model Year 1971" ie Vents moved to Rear Quarter

Oct. 71 into Sep. 72 - - Series III aka 72 Model Year

Sept. 72 into Sep. 73 - -Series IV aka 73 Model Year

Each of these Series have specific starting points within the overall Series of chassis numbers assigned.

Series I Regular Production started at HLS30 00013 released to the public

Series II Regular Production started at HLS30 21000

Series III Regular Production started at HLS30 46000

Series IV Regular Production started at HLS30 120000

Highest VIN we have recorded for each Series so far:

Series I = 20438

Series II = 43496

Series III = 100262

Series IV = 172767

FWIW,

Carl B.

Carl Beck

Clearwater, FL USA

http://ZHome.com

[ktm]

Read somewhere that moving to the 15" rims and 60 series tires improves handling. I'm thinking of moving to 15x7 wheels w/ 60 series tires 195 or 205 wide.

Increasing your tire diameter will not help with handling; increasing your contact patch or tire width will help with handling. You will not really feel a difference in handling going with 195 tires on a 15x7 wheel. The lower ratio (60 series) will improve handling slightly as the sidewall is not as high.

If you are going to go with a 15x7 wheel, I would run 205s at a minimum. I am running 14x7 Western turbines with 225/60s.

[gjfx1]

225's clear ok?

I've got 215/60/14's on my 78,which looks great. The clearance at the struts is tight though.

[ktm]

My 225s clear fine except at full lock, where the tires hit the lower valence. However, after switching to a Kaminari air dam, my tires no longer hit anything.