Wayne With A '61 EK Holden

[EK283]

Hi Wayne,

The lowering of the car doesn't affect the wishbone to wheel clearance normally, its just the rim offset. Put a spacer between the drum and wheel and the problem will be solved, looks as if 5mm will be enough.

Regards Greg

[WayneXG95]

Hi Wayne,

The lowering of the car doesn't affect the wishbone to wheel clearance normally, its just the rim offset. Put a spacer between the drum and wheel and the problem will be solved, looks as if 5mm will be enough.

Regards Greg

Have a 5mm on already.

[Craig Allardyce]

Hi Wayne,
Blueberry is looking great. Love the colour!
What rims are you running on the front? I'm thinking that they are wider than standard which is causing dramas with the King pin touching.
I'm not a fan of spacers for various reasons one being that they cock up your scrub radius with respect to tyre to ground contact.
Simply the centre line of the wheel and tyre must meet at the centre line of the king pin at the point the tyre touches the ground. Pushing the wheel out further makes for extra tyre wear and heavier steering. This is one reason why wheel offset is so important on the front relative to steering geometry.

steering_axis.gif (9.28 KiB) Viewed 3005 times

Cheap way around for you would be go to a narrower rim (standard) or maybe 14" rims to give clearance.
The other costly option would be to ditch the front end for a HR/HD with standard springs and fit dropped stubs. This will position the wheel higher and still retain correct suspension travel and bump clearance.
One other I have seen in trucks is to have the king pin re-bent i.e. increase the angle between king pin center line and the top pivot. Hopefully after that you would be able to compensate for adjustment by reducing the camber angle.
I'm not sure that I would be increasing spacers due to the lack of wheel stud length and increased loading placed on them.
I forgot to ask, is the king pin touching or the wishbone? If its the wishbone touching, what was your camber angle set to? You may have some adjustment there to push the rim away from the wishbone depending on your camber angle.

[WayneXG95]

Hi Wayne,
Blueberry is looking great. Love the colour!
What rims are you running on the front? I'm thinking that they are wider than standard which is causing dramas with the King pin touching.
I'm not a fan of spacers for various reasons one being that they cock up your scrub radius with respect to tyre to ground contact.
Simply the centre line of the wheel and tyre must meet at the centre line of the king pin at the point the tyre touches the ground. Pushing the wheel out further makes for extra tyre wear and heavier steering. This is one reason why wheel offset is so important on the front relative to steering geometry.

steering_axis.gif

Cheap way around for you would be go to a narrower rim (standard) or maybe 14" rims to give clearance.
The other costly option would be to ditch the front end for a HR/HD with standard springs and fit dropped stubs. This will position the wheel higher and still retain correct suspension travel and bump clearance.
One other I have seen in trucks is to have the king pin re-bent i.e. increase the angle between king pin center line and the top pivot. Hopefully after that you would be able to compensate for adjustment by reducing the camber angle.
I'm not sure that I would be increasing spacers due to the lack of wheel stud length and increased loading placed on them.
I forgot to ask, is the king pin touching or the wishbone? If its the wishbone touching, what was your camber angle set to? You may have some adjustment there to push the rim away from the wishbone depending on your camber angle.

I'm thinking it might be easier to run standaed rims after that explanation.

[Harv]

Shouldn't be wheel offset if those are standard EH rims - FE through HR are all +6mm AFAIK, then changed to +30mm at HK.

I'm with Craig though, not a fan of spacers. Although used on many vehicles for many years with no dramas, they are illegal in NSW if not OEM fitted.

Cheers,
Harv

[WayneXG95]

I'm with Craig though, not a fan of spacers. Although used on many vehicles for many years with no dramas, they are illegal in NSW if not OEM fitted.

Cheers,
Harv

[WayneXG95]

Another problem, the EK hubcaps wont fit on one of the rim centres either

[Craig Allardyce]

Any luck with you rim problem Wayne???

[WayneXG95]

Was over that the trimmer today and he had my front seat almost finished.
I asked him about prices for the material and he indicated it was
around $60 a metre for the plain blue, $90 a metre for the blue patterned insert
and I forget about the star white heavy weight, sorry.

Other people seem to have a problem with the time in getting the product landed, mine took about 3 months
from SMS Interiors in the states but my trimmer now has a contact he works with
and has no problems.

My trimmer is
Daniel Misfsud
A Stich In Time in Sydney
Mobile 0416 119 224

If you want to contact him. I can't help other than that.
It's up to you if you want to contact SMS direct but as you can see the products perfect!

[Craig Allardyce]

Was over that the trimmer today and he had my front seat almost finished.
I asked him about prices for the material and he indicated it was
around $60 a metre for the plain blue, $90 a metre for the blue patterned insert
and I forget about the star white heavy weight, sorry.

Other people seem to have a problem with the time in getting the product landed, mine took about 3 months
from SMS Interiors in the states but my trimmer now has a contact he works with
and has no problems.

My trimmer is
Daniel Misfsud
A Stich In Time in Sydney
Mobile 0416 119 224

If you want to contact him. I can't help other than that.
It's up to you if you want to contact SMS direct but as you can see the products perfect!

I'm real happy for you Wayne, you must be wrapped with your trim.
I feeling a bit disappointed with the whole affair regarding my trim as I'm dealing with the same mob.
I thought what the hell when it started, I'll go the guinea pig and see if I can get these trims reproduced so everyone can benefit. I don't mind saying it hurt to cut up samples and send originals overseas in the hope that they don't disappear into the black ether.
Well its been over a year for me now, I placed my order on the 1st of May 2013! and I'm still waiting. My headlining came reasonably quick but that was the end of it. I only got my red fleck just before the nationals, but too late for my wedding last year. I was so lucky that Rusty helped out with some seats/trim from a donor car. I'm still waiting for my seat bolsters (they cocked them up first time around) and as of last month they had forgotten all about my door trims. I was even queried on what the pattern should be for the door trims when they have my original samples!
I don't know what it is, maybe I'm a prick to deal with, or they only deal with companies direct, or Wayne has just been dead set lucky, but please people, do your research on this mob. They have a facebook page that reveals some pretty bad comments about them. SMS has also been referred to the Better Business Bureau (USA consumer affairs) for various issues. One thing they are really good at is charging your credit card! Don't get me wrong, the head lining I got back was perfect, the red fleck looks to be spot on, but all that's no good without the rest and its taking a long time, which they don't elude to on their website.
This is one reason why I did not want to refer them to anyone until I was done with my trim and I knew what the outcome was. If I had my time again I would not use them.
Sorry Wayne, I didn't mean to steal you thread but I thought I better warn others of what might happen to them.

[WayneXG95]

Craig
Can you post the link to their facebook I can't find it?

[Craig Allardyce]

Here it is.
Check under "reviews"

https://www.facebook.com/SMSAutoFabrics

[parisian62]

Ditto that Tim. Certainly a watershed moment when it comes to FB EK interior trim and not just for authentic restorers either. I think interior trim is often overlooked or the last thing on the list to do when dollars have sometimes dried up. When I was trying to sort the front seat for Old Timer I was chasing all sorts of bits of trim to cobble together.

Well done Wayne and looking forward to seeing the results of Mr Mifsud.

I hope your trim comes through real soon Craig....fingers crossed.

[Mick Jagger]

Wouldn't the trim used on aussie gmh vehicles be used on gm vehicles in the states at the time aswell, or previous?
ditto what Tim said

[WayneXG95]

Blueberry's on the road, I'll post more pic's after I clean her up a bit...
Check out those number plates!