juanone 289 carbuild 17

[juanone]

http://www.uniquecobra.com/uploaded/juanone/top and carpet_03.JPG

The top and carpeting go in. It is really, really close now.

http://www.uniquecobra.com/uploaded/juanone/top and carpet_01.JPG

http://www.uniquecobra.com/uploaded/juanone/top and carpet_02.JPG

http://www.uniquecobra.com/uploaded/juanone/top and carpet_04.JPG

Juan Lopez-Bonilla
Kentucky Cobra Club
2432 Crittenden Drive
Suite 201
Louisville, KY 40217
502-635-5711
juanlb@lbrllc.net

http://www.kentuckycobraclub.com

[Slither]

Good Juan, they didn't cover the cup holder with the carpet :D! Soooooooooo close... you have got to be droolin' now [:P][:P]


Paul

289 FIA

2899464

408 Windsor

Toploader (wide)

3.07 rear

[juanone]

Paul:

It is soooo close. I am drooling all over myself. This is almost beyond my control.

Will post the finish pictures as soon as Alan is done.

Juan

Juan Lopez-Bonilla
Kentucky Cobra Club
2432 Crittenden Drive
Suite 201
Louisville, KY 40217
502-635-5711
juanlb@lbrllc.net

http://www.kentuckycobraclub.com

[bomelia]

Is that the 1900 top from Unique? How do they work? Are the windows glass or plexi?

Mike

[juanone]

Mike:

The windows are plexiglass.

Juan

Juan Lopez-Bonilla
Kentucky Cobra Club
2432 Crittenden Drive
Suite 201
Louisville, KY 40217
502-635-5711
juanlb@lbrllc.net

http://www.kentuckycobraclub.com

[gasman]

Mike, the top doesn't fold back if that is what you are asking. It is either on or off. The support frame is something you could leave in place if you wanted. The top will fold up and fit in the trunk.

Steve Foushee
Unique #4279389

[ralphscott]

Lookin' good Juan -- having a hard time sleeping??:D

See you soon
Ralph

[juanone]

Hi Ralph:

Yes, I am having a hard time waiting until next Sunday. Rick and I will be heading down to pick it up then at Butch Capp's place.

I am looking forward to seeing it and sharing it with all of you. Sorry I will not be able to go to Pigeon Forge, my daughter is getting married that weekend.

See you next time you are near Louisville.

Juan

Juan Lopez-Bonilla
Kentucky Cobra Club
2432 Crittenden Drive
Suite 201
Louisville, KY 40217
502-635-5711
juanlb@lbrllc.net

http://www.kentuckycobraclub.com

[Slither]

Juan,

Why is it going to Butch's, or is it just for convenience [?]

Paul

289 FIA

2899464

408 Windsor

Toploader (wide)

3.07 rear

[juanone]

Paul:

Butch is picking the car up at Unique because he is the dealer I purchased the car through. We are meeting him half way.

Juan

Juan Lopez-Bonilla
Kentucky Cobra Club
2432 Crittenden Drive
Suite 201
Louisville, KY 40217
502-635-5711
juanlb@lbrllc.net

http://www.kentuckycobraclub.com

[Slither]

OK, that makes sense. Will you have temporary wheels/tires or are you putting the FIA knock-offs on it? Refresh my memory, what size rubber are you planning to run?

Paul

289 FIA

2899464

408 Windsor

Toploader (wide)

3.07 rear

[juanone]

Hi Paul:

I am having Trigos and Yokohama tires. The fronts are 235 60 15 and the rears are 255 60 15's.

Juan


Juan Lopez-Bonilla
Kentucky Cobra Club
2432 Crittenden Drive
Suite 201
Louisville, KY 40217
502-635-5711
juanlb@lbrllc.net

http://www.kentuckycobraclub.com

[Slither]

Juan,

The P255/60R15 is only approved for up to a 9-inch wide rim. If I remember correctly, the Trigo FIA rear rim is 9.5 inches wide, which would put it outside Yokohama's recommended range :(. Will this be an issue? Can a bead come undone on a hard corner if the rim is not wide enough [8][xx(]? Anyone having knowledge of whether this is a problem please comment. How do you know if it is "close enough?"

Paul

289 FIA

2899464

408 Windsor

Toploader (wide)

3.07 rear

[juanone]

Paul:

I will have to check with Alan on this. Way out of my league of knowledge.

Thanks for the heads up.

Juan

Juan Lopez-Bonilla
Kentucky Cobra Club
2432 Crittenden Drive
Suite 201
Louisville, KY 40217
502-635-5711
juanlb@lbrllc.net

http://www.kentuckycobraclub.com

[Slither]

Juan,

In case you want to look at it, that info is available on the Yokohama website at

http://www.yokohamatire.com/pdf/AvidSTBull.pdf

See page two...

Paul

289 FIA

2899464

408 Windsor

Toploader (wide)

3.07 rear

[nolastyankee]

Paul,
I haven't heard of the sizing recommendation as you refer to, but the 235 front and 255 rear combination on Trigo wheels is pretty standard for FIA bodied Cobras, and is recommended by Alan and Maurice. Butch runs this size, and that's the size I ended up with too. Much more tire won't fit into the wells.

One other potential question...Where is the 9.5" dimension taken on the Trigo rims? If it is casting centerline-casting centerline, then the actual space between the flanges would be much closer to your maximum spec.

Brian Carlson

Unique 9122 - 289 FIA Cobra - The Legendary "Spence" Car

[Slither]

Brian,

Check out the .pdf document on the link in my post above. Their recommendation is in one of the columns in the chart on page two. The BF Goodrich Radial TA spec is the same, and that can be checked on their web page.

As for the width measurement, I got that info from the Trigo website and directly from Lynn Park in discussion. Also, I got it empirically by taking a tape measure to the wheel to examine the offsets and width.

I measured the width at 9.5 inches between the two outside flanges where the tire bead sits. It is hard to measure, since there is no clear demarcation to measure from that delineates the actual width, since that area is machined with a large fillet to accept the tire bead. However, it appears to be 9.5 inches where the tire bead sits on the rim between the vertical part of the flanges.

Keep in mind that I am not saying this won't work. That is for the mechanical engineers to recommend, not for the computer engineers to recommend ;)! However, unless I can get clear information from the tire makers or some experts I will not likely use that size on my car. I will be checking to see if I can fit the 275 or 295 on the back end of it.

Paul

289 FIA

2899464

408 Windsor

Toploader (wide)

3.07 rear

[eliminator]

Paul,

I for one will be intrested in seeing you put those 275's on the back of a FIA car. Then I will REALLY be intrested in seeing you put the 295's on there, (60 series of course).:):)
You have a lot of clearance issues and shock geometry issues back there especially when you go to pin drive wheels, shorting axles, shorter shocks, ect., ect.:(
So far mouting a 255 on the 9 1/2" rim this has been a non - issue. I for one don't see the 1/2" as a major issue. We don't know how the 9" maximum number came about, Product Liability, or engineering??. If 9 1/2" would work but publish 9" for safety sake.

Rick
#4279405

[nolastyankee]

Paul,
I don't doubt the measurement or the spec. Perhaps I was too excited when I got my wheels to notice any such warnings! Assuming the worst case from a pure numbers standpoint, I take comfort in knowing that the majority of FIA cars out there run the 255's on the rear. In the interest of full disclosure...I'll tell you that the Goodyear guys who mounted my tires had a bugger of a time seating the bead on the rim in back. Like Rick says though, I don't think that 275's would fit. Our rear end is narrowed more than standard and we may get away with it, but it would be close.

Brian Carlson

Unique 9122 - 289 FIA Cobra - The Legendary "Spence" Car

[ralphscott]

Juan or Rick when are you going to be at Butch's on the 31st I'll run over.

Ralph

[juanone]

Hi Ralph:

Rick and I will leave Louisville at about 7:15 on Sunday and however long it takes to get there. I will talk to Rick tomorrow.

Juan

Juan Lopez-Bonilla
Kentucky Cobra Club
2432 Crittenden Drive
Suite 201
Louisville, KY 40217
502-635-5711
juanlb@lbrllc.net

http://www.kentuckycobraclub.com

[ralphscott]

Juan, Pulling a trailer I'll figure on 10:30 -- 11:00 Look forward to seeing you hope I can make it and nothing comes up.

Ralph

[Slither]

Rick,

Great points, but as I mentioned, "I will be checking to see if" they fit, and I would use 295/50s not 295/60s (are 295/60s available?). Interestingly, I suspect that the 295/50s, though wider, will fit better than the 275/60s, due to their smaller diameter. However, I realize that either just might not fit...

If it is an engineering issue, then they likely have put that spec in place with some amount of "safety factor," but the question is, "How much?" You point out the empirical evidence that points to it working for many FIA cars. No question about that. Though, as an engineer I just have to wonder how close it is to tolerance. I have worked in "life-safety" situations in the past, and I can tell you that it can keep you awake at night :( wondering if you've crossed every T and dotted every I.

I asked Maurice about wider tires on the FIA car, and if I recall correctly, he said that wider tires will fit in the rear, though I cannot remember exactly what size he mentioned. Thoughts Alan?

Also, Lynn Park suggested the 275/60s for the rear (is that what he has on his original?)

It seems that I recall, somewhere on this site, a discussion about someone running 295/50s on the FIA car without issue. This would be a great time for anyone with first-hand knowledge of this to speak up ;).




Paul

289 FIA

2899464

408 Windsor

Toploader (wide)

3.07 rear

[nolastyankee]

Paul,
Above when I mentioned that 275's wouldn't "fit" I was referring to keeping the tire inside the line of the fenderwell. A 295 tire will physically work on the car, but you'll get that low rider look with the tire outside the well.



Brian Carlson

Unique 9122 - 289 FIA Cobra - The Legendary "Spence" Car

[Slither]

Sorry for such a long post[8D]!

I called and spoke to an engineering guy at Yokohama, and while he could not tell me exactly why it was bad practice, he indicated that both performance and safety would suffer. He admittedly was unable to indicate how much. He asked me to submit the query through a written question via email to provide time for him to do some research on the subject. I will post his response when I receive it.

In the meantime, I have been examining the Yokohama document I referenced above for some indication of the way they are determining the rim width range specs. It appears that on the 60 series tires they are pretty consistent with the width range of 1/2" less and 1.5" more than the measuring rim width to get the range spec (see below for an explanation of measuring rim), though there is some variation to this.




Here is what Tire Rack says about rim width range (By the way, the measuring rim is a standardized rim width that comes from the Tire and Rim manufacurer's ASsociation, or TPA, for a specific tire size. Each tire size has a standardized measuring rim.):

Rim Width Range
Because tires have flexible sidewalls, a single tire size will fit on a variety of rim widths. A tire's rim width range identifies the narrowest to the widest rim widths that the tire is designed to fit. The width of the rim will influence the width of the tire. A tire mounted on a narrow rim would be "narrower" than if the same size tire was mounted on a wide rim. NOTE: Because the overall diameter of a steel belted radial is determined by the steel belts, there is little, if any, change to the overall diameter of the tire due to differences in rim width.

The industry rule of thumb is that for every 1/2" change in rim width, the tire's section width will correspondingly change by approximately 2/10".

For example: a tire in the P205/60R15 size is measured on a 6.0" wide wheel and this size tire has an approved rim width range from 5.5" to 7.5" wide. The tire has a section width of 8.23" (209mm) when mounted on a 6.0" wide wheel. If that tire were mounted on all of the rims within its range, the tire's approximate section width would change as follows:

Difference from---|--Rim Width--|---Approximate Tire
Measuring Rim----|-------------|----section width
__________________________________________________ ______
0.5" narrower-----|---5.5"------|-------8.03"
Measuring Rim----|---6.0"------|-------8.23"
0.5" wider--------|---6.5"------|-------8.43"
1.0" wider--------|---7.0"------|-------8.63"
1.5" wider--------|---7.5"------|-------8.83"

Because of the different wheel widths used in the above example, there is a 8/10" projected difference in tire section width when comparing a tire mounted on the narrowest rim to the widest rim within its range. This may affect fenderwell and frame clearances when selecting optional aftermarket wheel and tire packages

Additionally, some vehicle manufacturers and tire companies have permitted rim widths that are not within the tire's original approved rim width range. For example: BMW has combined 235/40R17 sized tires on 17x7.5" rims (which are 0.5" less than the narrowest 8.0" wide rim listed for the size) on certain M3 models; and Chevrolet has combined P255/50R16 sized tires on optional 16x9.5" rims (which are 0.5" wider than the 9.0" wide rim now listed for the size) on certain Corvette models. While these applications have received the approval of the vehicle and tire manufacturers, staying within the approved rim width range helps assure that the tire's internal stresses are within its design parameters.


Back to me... it appears that the change from the 9" to the 9.5" rim on the 255/60s would only increase the section width of the tire from 11.1" to 11.3", which hardly seems it would be an issue. We'll need to hear from Yokohama on this.

Anymore thoughts?

Anyone running larger tires on the back of the FIA?


Paul

289 FIA

2899464

408 Windsor

Toploader (wide)

3.07 rear