Hey guys, so I was browsing through here, looking at that chart in the sticky thread, can't quite figure it out though. What Im looking for is what specs I will need to use to buy a new set of wheels for my car. As well as your opinions on what will look good in general. So what Ive got is an all stock 67 Special freshly rebuilt suspension throughout, with the addition of an SSBC disk brake conversion on the front, with stock height spindles. So obviously the 14's are no good any more. I am thinking of 16's but a buddy is trying to convince me 17/18"s. Thoughts? I am leaning towards something from the Torque Thrust family but still not 100% decided. This car is meant to be a Sunday driver with a bit of a showy flair to it but not to extreme. What do you all think? Actual rim size? width front and back? backspacing? how much tire? I appreciate the help guys, I'm really not up on rims/tires so it really does mean a lot to me, okay, thanks again :3gears: .......hopefully by next June!!!!
Backspacing is a major factor on these cars. To get anything wider than a 225 tire on an 8" wide rim in the rear you'll need at least 4.5" of backspacing but 5" is preferable. I wouldn't go wider than a 7" rim in the front with 4" of b/s. I too have an SSBC disk brake conversion on my '64 convertible (front and rear) and the mounting surface is actually a little further out than the original drums. Not much but enough to cause potential issues with rubbing the fenders. I went with AR TT D's that are 16x8 with 4"b/s all around. I cannot get anything wider than 225 in the rear and the 225's in the front will hit the center bolt that holds the inner fender to the outer fender when I hit a speed bump. From a fitment standpoint this combo is not ideal but I really like the classic look of the anthracite finish. Personally, I wouldn't go larger than a 16" diameter but that's only because I like proportion between the size of the disc brake rotor and the wheel. Here are a few pics of my combo.
You might want to call SSBC and ask them for recommended wheel design and size - article in the March '10 PHR showed a conversion they did on a '65 Cutlass and the talked about the wheels. Baer (their kit was from Baer) spec'd 17" wheels but they had to go to 18" with a spacer for their wheels. Said it depends on the design of the wheel. See if SSBC offers a template, too. - Bill
I have a 67 Skylark, and I actually swapped to a narrower rearend out of a 81 Cutlass because of the backspacing issue with these 64-67 a-bodies. The 81 Cutlass rearend is 4 inches narrower than the 67 skylark rear, allowing more common back-spaced wheels to be used. I run 17 x 7 front rims with 205/50/r15 tires and 17 x 8 rear rims with 255/45/r17 tires. I believe the rear rim backspacing is either 3 1/2 inches or 4 inches. -Josh
