spaced

Upon test fitting the wheels for the first time I quickly realized that the fronts would need some adjustment. The tires grazed the spring depending on how the coil fell next to it. That's close.

I bought several m12 washers from the local hardware store and measuring their average thickness with a mic I narrowed down the required spacer thickness. I was also looking at the wheels position relative to the car and found that a 1o mm spacer would provide enough room for the inside of the wheel to clear the spring but not push the outside of the wheel past the fender line.

If I was going to spend money on spacers I wanted a sturdy and accurate setup, so I ordered a set of hub and wheel centric spacers to my dimensions from Wheel Adapters. I sent Fred my rendition of a 240z hub, a generic picture, and all the measurements, inferences, and requirements I could make. This actually conflicted with some of the information he had based on past spacers, but we made them to my dimensions and it worked. After I provided him with the one dimension not on the picture, the thickness (height) of hub diameter from the mounting face, he was able to make a great set of spacers. To be thorough, I responded "less than a few hundred thou" only because I had neither the car nor a measuring device on hand when asked, but knew it wasn't more than a lip's worth.

 
To justify the spacer with more than "I wanted the best", the exposed hub on the 240z was next to nothing, so any spacer width would eliminate the wheels' ability to center itself on the rotational axis. It would be centered on the studs which may not be enough to keep it from vibrating at speed. This would require either hub centric rings or a hub centric spacer to correct.

For hub centric wheel centric spacers, the inner face of the spacers had an id machined to the spec's of the 240z hub's od while the outer face of the spacers had an od machined to the spec's of the wheel's id. This would center the wheel where it needed to be without the use of any additional hub centric rings. What would be the point of getting normal spacers only to add yet another piece or lose hub centric characteristics? Most of the spacers sold didn't give exact measurements for id or od if it wasn't hub centric, so it was difficult to determine if it would work with my setup, and even if it would, which hub centric rings I would need. I talked to several companies about the od car side dimensions of their rings to match an as yet to be determined id spacer dimension. After learning I was intending to use spacers or rings not as intended (note: read as not on the car it was designed for), anyone I talked to would instantly hang up.

With this, added to the fact that getting spacers and rings would cost more than just getting a custom set built, Fred easily won. Due to a stack up in tolerances on the wheels, I lost. The wheel id measured 73 mm, but had a runout and a tolerance associated with it that isn't measured on the box or accounted for in 1 bore measurement prior to ordering spacers. Thanks to Haydn I was able to commandeer his neighbor's time (and lathe) for an hour as he turned down the od of the wheel side of the spacer just enough to snugly fit into the wheel with ample amounts of assembly lube. It all still measures 73 mm.

After "polishing" the fit dimension, the spacers installed perfectly into the wheels with the aid of several taps from an orange, non-marring mallet.

The wheel fitment looks great with the fender line and clears the spring. Even more importantly, the spacers fit perfectly over the 240z' less than a few hundred thou lip of a hub. I can't wait to get her outside to take some assembled pictures in the sunlight.

While getting the spacers machined, I stole a few snapshots of the inside of a car behind his garage. Enjoy. Special thanks to old school hot rodders that paved the way with huge slicks and tube frames.