Tight Lines - 2011 GT500

Tight Lines

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Figured I'd make one of these. In addition to the below I upgraded all the suspension as well as lowered. Corsa axle backs installed. MGW shifter and SS Clutch line. On to the most recent that was completed this winter through today.

Did a little under the hood stuff, I did everything myself and it may have taken awhile but it was done and done right. My first pulley change was a success. Forgive my excitement as it was a little stressful when it popped, thought I fucked it up.



Also, went with a one step colder plug, 170 t-stat and went from a 110mm to a 123mm JLT Big Air kit all with a VMP Tune. Looking forward to getting her Dynoed. I am told I should be around 550-575 RWHP.
Made some changes to the rear wheel housing making more room for more tire. Removed the bumpstop bracket and relocated the actual bumpstop.






Now to the appearance upgrades. I am a big fan of the 2013+ cars as far as the front end and rear end. I took off the front end clip and changed out to the 2013 grilles. Had to do some modifications to make the lower grille fit but I am very happy how it turned out.

Before:


After:


I headed to the back as my wife bought me a set of 2013 tails (got a deal) for quitting smoking Jan. 5th (Still smoke free). I put just the tails in and noticed it didn't look right so I went the extra step and added the gap fillers and was able to customize a GT decklid to make it a Shelby decklid. Looks much better now.

Before:


Didn't like just the lights stage:


Finished:


Now to my wheel choice, first off, I did like my previous setup (Forgestar) but when I was purchasing those I looked for a polished or brushed setup and found that I would have to step up to a whole new price range and purchase a Forged wheel. Really think the stripes and wheels have to be close, black stripes the Forgestars would have been fine but not with white stripes. Well, I was able to sell my Forgestar to fellow CMC'er and I got a nice bonus at the beginning of the year. Decided to step up and get what I originally wanted. Placed a call to True Forge wheels and discussed my options with Steve the owner. After looking at wheels and finishes all winter and the first three months of the year a decided on a set of wheels. I went with a dished look with full polished barrels and the SS inner wheel in a brushed finish. I went with the hidden hardware option as I didn't want the headache of cleaning all that shit. I also decided to have the entire wheel cleared for protection. After 9 long weeks they came in Wednesday or at least three did. SMH. I am going to keep this story short and just say the 4th wheel showed up Friday. Steve at TF had a set of Nitto 555r rears and 555 fronts from a display setup and they were the exact tires and sizes I wanted so he sold them to me. It worked out as he would install them before shipping too. Only issue when I received them one rear tire was installed backwards, another SMH moment. Had this issue fixed last night. The last SMH moment is my custom center caps weren't included. Found out they weren't made, now I have to wait 2-3 weeks for those, however TF sent me the standard ones for now. Even though I had these SMH moments, lots of swearing and at one point my crossbar lug wrench was heaved and ended up sticking out of the drywall (tire installed and noticed tire was backwards) it's all good now. I am not a pat myself on the back guy nor am I look at me guy but I couldn't be happier with my wheel choice and wanted to show. Btw, my first experience with DR's and I finally have traction in 3rd gear and some of 2nd. :dance:





 

Tight Lines

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Looks great. Can you add the 13/14 3 piece splitter or is the 11 lower different? You may be too low anyway.

It would fit but I am already low enough.

Man, I really like that wheel choice. What are the specs on those? They fit very nice. I just flat out can't decide on what style/size I like. Someone needs to make my mind up for me lol.

Appreciate the comments. Tire and wheel sizes are as follows:
Fronts - Nitto 555 - 265/35/20 (20x9)
Rears - Nitto 555R - 305/35/20 (20x10.5)

I will have to look through my notes for the offsets.
 

Tight Lines

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20's look to be the perfect size on these cars. Do you feel like there is still enough tire for a decent ride quality?

I had 19's before (RTR's) and they were good, I had a 275/40 on those. Ride was great and looked decent. I decided on 20's sincE I decided I probably was going to stay away from the track from now on since I didn't pass inspection at 66.
I am completely happy with the ride on these so far with the tires and suspension I have. I have rode in shorter sidewalls and different suspension setups that were quite a bit rougher.

If you are looking for wheels I am very happy with filament and style of these but you can also check out Velgen and Forgestar, just for other options.
 

SleeperLS

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Forgestar is really appealing to me because of lower weight, but there are a couple of different Velgens that I like a lot as far as style.

Specifically the forgestar cf5 wheels were the ones I was set on for a while, then I decided I wanted more than 5 spoke wheels. I like the Velgen vmb5 and vmb7. Mainly the 7's. I was hesitant to go 20's in fear there wouldn't be enough rubber on them to keep it a comfortable ride.
 

ChiLAX

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Mar 11, 2013
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Chicago
Forgestar is really appealing to me because of lower weight, but there are a couple of different Velgens that I like a lot as far as style.

Specifically the forgestar cf5 wheels were the ones I was set on for a while, then I decided I wanted more than 5 spoke wheels. I like the Velgen vmb5 and vmb7. Mainly the 7's. I was hesitant to go 20's in fear there wouldn't be enough rubber on them to keep it a comfortable ride.

I went with the CF5's in an 18", I think that style looks better in a smaller rim. The more spoke heavy ones I was looking at 19's. 20 just looks too big to me.
 

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