Suspension help needed

[Mike B GTE]

I need some advise, ive got 16? rims on my GTE, which are 7? wide with 195/40 rubber. They?re an ET45 offset, on 3mm spacers ? which I guess makes them ET42. I need to start thinking about what sort of suspension to go for, can anyone make any suggestions? How low would I get away with? 40mm? I fancied going a bit lower but im not sure where I stand with the 7? wide wheels. Should I go for Bilstein dampers and shorter springs? Or coilovers? Ive heard various stories about them not fitting on the rear. Help! :confused:

[craig green]

Coilovers usually need some extra clearance at the rear. You can bash the inner wheel house with a big hammer to make room or cut in & weld turrets to house the coilover body with lots of room to spare. Dont forget to reinforce/remanufacture the lower shock mount on the beam if choosing coilovers.

Tbh you will struggle with 7" wide wheels on a nova & not being 49mm offset will add to the clearance problems.

Why are you using the 16"s? Because you only have these, or another reason?

15"s or 14"s will give the best steering feel & range of available tyres, aswell as better acceleration & lower centre of gravity. Obviously if using budget/std GM brakes you will want the biggest wheels to fit the discs in.

[craig green]

To answer your questions.... if you are doing track work then you will want coilovers eventually. Try GAZ or AVO.

[Mike B GTE]

Yeah i already had the wheel mate, im trying to get this car built without throwing a ton of money at it, if i cant get the 7x16s to work then obviously i'll swap them for something else, i just wanted to to make every effort to use what i already have.

cheers for the help!!

ooooh 10 posts - pics soon!! haha

[craig green]

Swap the wheels or sale them & use some OE Vauxhall 15"s.

They will go on but the clearance will be tight. Dar has a set of 7x16"s on his track car at times.

The cheaper tyres on 15"s will cover any cost differential in a short time, esp on track.