Finally new 17 inchers for my GT4

Wow, I have been waiting a long time for this. About 17 years ago I went to Yoko AVS intermediates in 225 60 14 size, which were a dramatic improvement over the old tres & they looked great too, lowered the car around an inch or so & with the fat tread, made the car look great. unfortunately I should have seen the writing on the wall back in 96 when Yoko scoured the earth for a set for me. No other v rated is available in that size. so the search was on for another set of rims. I love my stock dino rims very much & they are in perfect shape, but running around on tires that old scare me. I refuse to pay the outlandish price for the repro tires that sucked so bad back when.

I was thrilled when Superformance started making Dino wheels in 16 but the quality is less than perfect & the price is high. so I started to search for a resonable priced wheel that was more modern & still retro. I think I found it. I have been waiting for 6 months for the shipment to come in from germany & they finaly are here. Mounted them up today & they look perfect. I was concerned with going to an 8 inch rim all around but Boni @ Ronal assured me that they would fit,
He suggested 225 45 17 all around or 215 45 & 235 40 if I wanted to stagger the size. I didnt think the 225 would fit , so I just monted on on the front & put it on & was fine. The tires are general uhp w rated 225 45. I chose them from prior experiance & the fact that they have quite a rounded shoulder, less likely to catch the fenders.
Pm me for the price BTW they came complete with spacers attached & all mounting hardware for less than 3 of the repro tires.

 

Uhm my pics didnt post ??
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some more pics
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some different views
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My drivers seat was shot , so I was looking for a suitable replacement while I get it fixed & had a feeling it was going to be a bear, so instead of chopping up a 1000$ seat I bought one from Summit racing to see how hard it would be. It was a PIA . All the seats I researched are about the same size. I am 6f3 so my head hitsthe headliner when i tried to mount it on the sliders,I fabricated an aluminum direct mount & cut 1/2 inch out of the seat bottem to make it fit , I have to say I love it.
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Thanks Mark, i was tring to stay with a retro style but modernize it @ the same time without making it pimp daddy!

 

I have been wanting to update the lil dino for a few years now , but my racing has gotten in the way. Unfortunately i have been sidelined with illness this year & it has given me a chance to spend some time with my dino projects. New stereo, new seat, new shoes, & some new colling fans to install next....
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Thanks , they are Ronal R 41 17 X 8 all around. http://www.ronalusa.com/
I found the Ronalusa site a year or 2 ago, at the time they kept trying to sell me 3 piece 18 or 19 inchers (which were not my style& cost too much) or the 16 inch model that I dont like, they were out of the R41 at that time. I kept checking from time to time , then got ahold of a new rep named Boni. he said they were out of the R41 in the GT4 size but he was expecting a container from Germany in a few months, he kept his word & called me when they came in.
Ronal makes oem approved wheels & are of a great quality.I am very impressed, as was the tire store who mounted & sells a lot of rims. They came with spacers attached & the fronts have attachements that center the rim, the rear spacers are machined to fit snugly against the hub. also included were the 20 extended lug bolts. the total package including shipping was $1040.00

as I just monted them today & we got some of the first rain all year(we are in huge drought in ga this year look @ my lawn!) rite after i took these pics, so I havent done any extended driving. But ther is no rubbing at all & the effort feels the same as the 225 x 14 that i had on ther allready. in fact these tires are very close to OEM height so the ride is much the same.

They HAD horsey caps but they said they are no longer alowed to sell them. Any suggestions? dino scrits would be cool too.

 

Thanks,
This car was m daily driver for many years, I just did a major service & have been finally doing some of the stuff i have been thinking about. Getting ready for some summer cruising, next project after the updated coling fans is Birmans fuse blocks!

 

thanks for your opinion,

I thought the brakes would look goofy too, but much to my surprise you can barely see them, the wheel is much beefier than most 17's, much more like an oem wheel, so the area around the rim itself is pretty wide & hides the little brakes.The 225 x 45 has a decent sidewall & rides really well.

The original wheels with the plus zero tires still look great. I love the original look. I was looking for a makeover for short $$. I like it.

 

The harness is a Schroth, It has a Y type shoulder harness. At the junction of the Y is a latch , It latches into another Y harness that ties into the rear factory seat belt mounts, forming an X. You could disconect them to use the back seat. the lap belts mount on top of the factory belts. So you can still use the factory belts,very nice set up.

Now the seat. The factory seat mounts will mount up to most aftermarket seats, the problem is the stock bolt holes are too far up to the front. the stock seat has much more adjustment. I tried mounting the stock sliders on the new seat, But my head kept hitting the roof. Since I drive with the seat almost to the end of the travel anyways , i mounted the seat directly to some aluminum angle iorn, I bolted that directly to the seat , then to the stock mounts. better, but still a little tight, so out agin & i took the seat apart, ground down some spacers , & cut the foam in the seat , & it made a huge difference. i can wear a helmet & have as much room as stock.
BUT if you want to cut out the stock mount, you could mount a barcalounger in there! unfortunately the stock mount is welded in & I really didnt want to start hacking it up. I am sure with a prper cutter you could remove it with not much damage & just weld it back in if need be.

If you want to mount a real racing seat, like an ultrushield or butler type seat, you can bolt those up to the stock mounts & you would probably need spacers to raise the seat.

 

Thanks for your opinion