Appearance & Detailing Interior & Exterior Appearance Modifications

Experimental Lowering Technique, does this look good?

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Old 01-06-2008, 08:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Detoxx03
I wouldn't do it.
Do what?
Old 01-06-2008, 08:40 PM
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Originally Posted by JasonWW
You mean curve the fender bottoms around like this?



or like this?


You can only wrap them so much before they rub the tire.

Actually, it may not be a good idea to do that. It's fine if the car is at a single height, but I will be dropping it down when parked and lifting it when driving. One way or the other it will look out of place.
I'm talking more like the first one. I really think that makes it look sporty. I do agree that it won't work with an air setup. Everything really needs to be pretty dead on with something like that; even on a normal suspension you would have to limit how far it could travel down so you don't take off the fender (depending how far in the wheel tucks).

As far as moving the wheel towards the front - I think it makes it look like a Ferrari. It's a bit too far forward in those pics IMO though. For all of the work that would take, not worth it unless you really love the way that looks. I can almost guarantee not a single person (that doesn't own a Firebird) would pick up on that.
Old 01-06-2008, 09:43 PM
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Take a good look at this mustang.





Did they rework the body or the wheel wells, or is it just lowered by the air suspension? Something looks strange about it. What ever they did, it works. That's kind of the look I'm going for.
Old 01-07-2008, 12:21 AM
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You are going for a Jada Toys look then? Are you keeping the rims on it now?

To me it looks like the body was widened at the wheel arches to accommodate that beast of a wheel. I admit that Mustang looks sick!

The amount of work needed for that to work on a 4th gen TA is very complex. If you start cutting without a very good plan it you could end up with a useless irreparable vehicle.

As I said Im keeping my eye on this one. Who knows it could damn work at the end!
Old 01-07-2008, 12:34 AM
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Originally Posted by chaman
You are going for a Jada Toys look then? Are you keeping the rims on it now?
I've never heard of that look. I'm going to have to google it.

About 4 years ago when I installed my GC kit I had the ride height 25" at the fender lips. It was too low, but it looked awesome.








I had it like this for a whole day. What I might do is lower it back to this height. With the wheel tubs and my other suspension mods I will have the proper amount of wheel travel so it will ride nice and smooth. How does that sound?
Old 01-07-2008, 12:49 AM
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I meant like this look...



Old 01-07-2008, 01:56 AM
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Originally Posted by chaman
I meant like this look.
Yeah, I like that look, but without the lips on the rims. I've bent my share of lips, that's why I went with a one piece rim without a lip. If I wanted to I could sell my rear 19's and go up to some 20's. Mickey Thompson makes a 29x15x20 tire. I could widen the rim to get it to fit. These are the tires you see on a lot of new street rods. They might be too tall for my tastes.

About that black Mustang, the front fender shape looks stock, but the rears look higher. The quarter window looks smaller as well.

Here's a stock car with 22's.





Did they raise the rear fender and enlarge the opening? It looks like maybe it's flared out some as well. I guess I need to research that pic and get some details. I unofficially hear those are 24's.

Last edited by JasonWW; 01-07-2008 at 02:07 AM.
Old 01-07-2008, 03:41 AM
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What I might could do is get a 20" rear with a taller tire like a 305/35/20 which is 28.4" tall then enlarge and maybe raise the wheel well opening to match it. It's not as big as the GT570R Mustang, but it might look pretty good. I'll do a PS of it later.
Old 01-07-2008, 07:34 AM
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they took a 1/4 panel off of an older mustang and putt it on that one so that they can run a wider wheel
that wheel is 24x13 or maybe 14 if i remember right
Old 01-07-2008, 10:09 AM
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Your very first pic looks the best...if you are going to do it, do it like that. But you are looking at a TON of work to re-do the quarter panels. Front fenders won't be that bad. As far as scraping, if you converted to a dry sump oiling and custom made headers you wouldn't have to worry about them scraping. My thirdgen was that low (wheel wells looked like your second pic though), but I had to raise it when I did the LS1 t56 swap. The spohn trans crossmember is designed kind of dumb so I had to raise it a little. Now I just put 19x11s out back, and the tires are about an inch too tall so I had to raise it a little for that...but it's still slammed.
Old 01-07-2008, 05:24 PM
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your car is low as hell already. damn kids and there lowering
Old 01-07-2008, 06:28 PM
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lol hows about shortening the rear axle. stick some fat 325s back their tucked in under the weel wells like a pro street car but with street rubber on 19's or 20's. tub it out and bag it. This car a daily driver? Are u gonna go for performance at all?
Old 01-07-2008, 09:42 PM
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Originally Posted by roadhog_113
lol hows about shortening the rear axle. stick some fat 325s back their tucked in under the weel wells like a pro street car but with street rubber on 19's or 20's. tub it out and bag it. This car a daily driver? Are u gonna go for performance at all?
It's getting an IRS with a ford 8.8. I don't need to narrow it. I was planning ahead with the tubbing to make room for widening the rims and running a 345/30/19 Nitto Invo tire. That's in the future possibly, right now I want to stick to my current rims and tires. It used to be a daily driver, but I have another car now. I'll probably drive it everday and then park it for the time I need to mod it then go back to driving it. I have a used long block coming with heads, cam, etc... for about 430rwhp. So it should move OK.
Old 01-07-2008, 11:09 PM
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Tip of the hat from me to anyone who has the ***** to take an F-body that low and drive it.
Old 01-08-2008, 12:49 AM
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Originally Posted by bricez28
damn kids and there lowering
I'm old enough to be your dad.

I just have to wait for the motor to get here before I can start buying my air ride stuff. I do have a few ideas for skid plates. You know how a lot of SFC's hang down a little? I could make some from boxed tubing so it hangs down just enough to keep the trans from touching on a steep driveway. Once I get the ability to lift the car when I need to, I wonder if I would even need to have skid plates? Hmmm. I guess I'll just have to wait and see about that.

Another shape I like is the Cadillac XLR.



It's actually decieving that the 4 wheels are identical in size. It must be the wedge shape. It's got some really nice lines.
Old 01-08-2008, 05:21 AM
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I did a PS of my car with a 20" rear wheel just by enlarging the current tire and you can't really tell much difference. I did about a 22" rim and it looked like a big wagon wheel. It could be the rim style or it could be the car shape. All the cars I've seen with that Jada look were boxy.



Even the cars that aren't very boxy, they add a front spoiler and somehow make them look boxy.


Even this vette is somewhat boxy looking. I wonder why?

Maybe they tweak the body proportions? It doesn't look that great in my opinion. The real car looks lower and longer.

I see Jada doesn't make a 4th gen TA model. I'd sure like to see what that would look like.
Old 01-08-2008, 01:18 PM
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looks kinda cool slammed to the ground.
Old 01-08-2008, 04:02 PM
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if your ideas and plans work out, this is gonna be one sweet ride! Nice body lines, big tires and huge power are the three things i freakin love and your car will have them all. U gonna put taller rubber in the back?
Old 01-08-2008, 04:20 PM
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I think it looks sick. The body work on the fenders and quarters would be fairly involved, but IMO worth it in the end. The only thing I don't like about your plan is the air ride. I'm a fan of fixed low suspensions that handle well and that are engineered to be free of issues with turning and driving. But that's subjective... if you like air ride, it's your car!
Old 01-08-2008, 07:49 PM
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Originally Posted by roadhog_113
looks great as it is imo

I agree, any lower will be cheesy and I'd laugh... Sorry.


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