I want to thank everyone for their thoughtful and helpful input on this topic. One thing I had not even considered was stagger front to rear and now that this has been mentioned I do believe it is a solid approach to one of things I wanted to address. Luckily enough my Corvette shares the same bolt pattern and I have 255's on the front and 285's on the rear so I can do some test fitting to see how things work. All this great input has given me a lot to ponder and ultimately decide on so I very much appreciate the posts from everyone.
I've seen more "old iron" on the streets in the past number of weeks, than I've seen in the past several years. Traffic is light and I firmly believe the current conditions lend heavily to draw them out for a ride. (If it wasn't illegal and somewhat dangerous, I could have numerous phone pics from simple, short errand runs this week.)
73SC wrote:
Luckily enough my Corvette shares the same bolt pattern and I have 255's on the front and 285's on the rear so I can do some test fitting to see how things work.
There ya go! I'll look forward to your decision and results, whatever they might be....
Wow... you guys don't even imagine what a fun time I just had reading through the complete tread.
Ray, just my opinion from the most lowsy decission taker on stuff like this.. (I haven't even been able to decide wheels for my own car yet, so....), anyhow, when I looked at the pictures, and despite the fact that I've always loved the looks of the Rallye II wheels, that '73 in the Baby Moon caps... oooh boy... that car sure looks a mean sleeper to me. I mean, the '73 in the rally II's looks good, classic, it has that good-old american car look. But the moon caps and wider tires would give it a more muscular look in my opinion.
One thing that might make the wheel even a little bit better could be the chrome ring around it. Have you considered that one?
Claudio
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Claudio
Trying to make some history with a '65 Acadian Beaumont SD south of the Equator line...
Ray, you could do what 427Carl used to do with his cars- have a couple of sets of tires with rims so you can swap as your mood dictates. Have your cake and eat it too!
Ray here's the image I was seeing in my mind in my previous post. Hope you like the look.
This is Bill Markowski`s car from just near Buffalo NY. This car is factory with moons and rings and was the original model for Johnny Lightning model. My car is pictured with Bills below. The press photos release by Pontiac in 1973 for the GTO all seem to have this setup of rings around moons. The black car below is one of the more pristine examples in the GTOAA member roster, no rings.
-- Edited by 73SC on Monday 8th of June 2020 11:08:51 AM
Got some advice from stateside on another forum that I like, its from Keith Seymour, he's a very knowledgeable guy, both he and his Dad worked at GM and Raced, his Dad was given Royal Bobcat cars by Pontiac and Keith has a killer 1974 454 Chevelle. He says 10" tires on 15x8 rims for rear so that's a 255x60x15, Front will be 235x60x15. This is similar advice that a few of you have given and I do like the stagger idea.
I think its time to muscle and toughen up so I will go steelies, I'll try the Pontiac moons first as this seems to be a fan favourite here of the two poverty styles. Nothing is permanent and like Todd suggested, I could have a few sets.
This photo has 11.5 tires on 10" rims in rear for racing.
-- Edited by 73SC on Saturday 13th of June 2020 12:48:57 AM
Wheels are 15x7 4.25 backspace on 5x4.75 bolt pattern TOP and 15X8 4.25 backspace on 5x4.75 bolt pattern BOTTOM. The photo doesn't really show it but the 8's are considerably deeper dished. Grey primed and ready for colour shot which I am still pondering.
Tires are on order and it transit 235x60xR15 front and 255x60xR15 rear. I bought BF Goodrich Radial T/As. I sourced tires from a fairly new startup named Blackcircles out of Brossard Quebec and BF Goodrich is offering $70 rebate on purchase of 4 tires right now. For those interested in cost PM me but this isn't falling into the Costco Cheap category. Stock on these Radial T/As is very low country wide and mine are being shipped from Kelowna to Toronto.
Still trying to figure out what cap I will use I've even started to consider no cap and chrome nuts. I set each style on just to get an idea, So Project Tire Change is moving along slowly.
-- Edited by 73SC on Friday 26th of June 2020 12:48:25 PM
Can't say the size in the photo, but I just had a 255 60 15 dropped off by FedEx and its pretty darn huge looking. Getting closer to starting this project.
-- Edited by 73SC on Thursday 2nd of July 2020 09:52:13 AM
I was leaning to standard cap but this latest one with the moon is excellent. I got one tire today and looks like the other three are on delivery from Kelowna for Monday. I ordered them in a week with two holidays, June 24th in Quebec and then July 1st so patience is needed on my part.
I was leaning to standard cap but this latest one with the moon is excellent. I got one tire today and looks like the other three are on delivery from Kelowna for Monday. I ordered them in a week with two holidays, June 24th in Quebec and then July 1st so patience is needed on my part.
The beauty is that you could put moons on one side and standard caps on the other... pick the one you like the best.
Or, just leave it that way for variety - you can only see one side at a time!
Looks good Ray, great choice. I have 255/60-15 at all four corners on my Can Am. 255's at the back are almost a minimum, the wheelwells are huge.
I guess the other option beyond the T/A is a Cooper Cobra, they're about 20 or 30% cheaper. For some reason, BFG is able to charge a premium now that almost no one is making a decent 14" or 15" tire for classic cars.
