I got home yesterday and my 2 new front wheels were stuck inside the front door.

Centerline Competition Series Split Spokes. 17X4" with 1.75" backspace.

I promptly jacked the car up, then pulled a front wheel to see how they fit. As usual everything I buy for this freaking car fits with "some small amount of modification"....

The spokes are really thick and barley hit the raised lettering on my C5 ZO6 front brake calipers. Now for some reason Centerline chose not to fully machine the backside of the spokes leaving them thicker than the rest of the spoke in the sames spot as the caliper.... I needed a day to think about what I was going to do.

Rather than send the wheels back I decided to grind the back side of the wheel to get the clearance. It's just a small area and I didn't make the spokes any thinner in that area than the rest of the wheel so I don't think it will break or anything. I'm going to make a phone call to Centerline tomorrow and let them know they need to fully machne the back of these wheels if they intend to sell them to C5, C6 and C4 people with big brakes.

I finished one tonight but have to get a new 4" grinding disk as my old one is pretty trashed from a year+ of odd regular use and now todays alum wheel grinding work.

So here are some pics.

You can see how close the spoke is to the caliper lettering. It didn't take much grinding to get it to fit.

[IMG]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f303/rklessdriver/Corvette/DSC00041.jpg[/IMG]

Here is the side view of them on the car. They look off in the pic like they stick out of the fender but they do not. They are slightly less than flush with the edge of the fender like I thought they would be. With the tire on and the suspension settled at ride height the tire should be dead even with the top of the fender.

[IMG]http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f303/rklessdriver/Corvette/DSC00040.jpg[/IMG]

Centerline says 16lbs each but that must be for a 10" wide wheel because these are around 9LBS each. It's going to be a huge weight loss compared to my 275's and replica A mold wheels.

I'll get some more pics up when the tires come in and I get everything mounted. 16 March is opening day at the track and I'm cutting it close.
Will

nice

What, no powdercoat? Mick did his.....jk.

I'd like to see them mounted with tires. They look good so far, though!

Will, those are real good looking rims, way better than the typical prostar or 'a mold' thing (MO of course). Did you get rears as well ?
I think the front caliper clearance is pretty much the same with any of the fronts. I elected no cutting and am using a 1/4" hub centric spacer. The rears on mine however needed nothing.

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No money for the rear wheels right now but I do plan to get them at a later date.

Got to see how far past the end of the month my job is going to last and what's going to happen after this closes down. Spending $$$ might be tight for a while.

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Thanks for the kind words guys.

I am real excited to get out to the track this year. The car is fast... even with so many things not 100%. There is just so much left to do/try. However I knew if I kept waiting on the tune to be perfect, better exhaust system, 4.10 gear to get fixed, ect It'd never get to the track.

Of course my few attempts at the track last season added a few new things I need to fix/repair and really highlighted the one's I've always needed to finish.

As long as I can keep the rear end under it, I think it has the potential to be one really impressive C4 Corvette.
Will

Where do you run.Will? I used to spend time at 75 & 80 Dragway.

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I run at Old Dominion Dragway in Manassas, VA. It's about 10-15 miles from the house if I drive the shortest route. 1/8th mile, good surface, good track prep and the people know who I am there so if something breaks I usually have some help.

75 80 closed down for a few years and reopend the year before last - It's the closest 1/4 mile track but it's too far for me to take my car without a trailer. If I broke something I think the tow bill would be more than the repair bill.
Will