New Wheels and Tires Time. NEED HELP!

[esfireman32]

Just wanted to update everyone on the status of the wheels and tires... My neighbor has stated he is interested in purchasing my wheels and tires I currently have have on my car for a 1955 BelAir project he is doing. Interestingly enough, he has a stock set of original 15x5 steels on the car. So we have come to an agreement, his wheels plus cash. I am going to see the wheels on the car where he has it at the body shop. Hopefully soon, I will have them modified by a company in Fontana California.

As for the rear tires, I have narrowed my choice down to the American Racer L-60-15, Hurst cheater slick 30x10x15, or the Hoosier Quick Time Pro. I'm still not quite sure what I am going to decide on however I am leaning toward the American Racer.

The front tires are a whole other story. I have not been able to find a suitable radial that gives the traditional look of a bias-ply tire I am after. I have been all over the internet and asked so many of our kind members. I may go with a 205/70-15 or a 215/75-15 in a BFG radial t/a and sand down some of the writing to give it a smoother look, thanks to MileHiSS. I will either keep the front a 5" wheel or go up to a 6".

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far, I really appreciate the help. I welcome any and all info and I am looking forward to the final outcome. I will surely post some pics when it is complete. bang

Evan

 

[esfireman32]

Got the 15x5 donor wheels for the car today. I got them off my neighbors '55 Chevy BelAir project car. I installed the 11" disc brakes that are on the stock spindle and they clear the wheels no problem. The rear was a whole other story. My rear disc brake calipers rub the inside of the wheel. I had to grind a small amount of the caliper where necessary to make them fit. I am going to take the two rears and have them widened to 8" and leave the front at 5".

I probably will go with a blackwall 215/70-15 radial in the front. I love the look of a bias-ply tire but I drive the car too much and need something a little safer. After the rears have been widened, off to the body shop to have them color matched and sprayed.

 

[esfireman32]

Purchased the front tires today from Coker Tire. They should arrive by December 2nd or 3rd, an early Merry Xmas present. They are a 710-15 black-wall Firestone and I will run them on the 5" front.

 

[esfireman32]

A friend of mine loaned me his rear wheels to test fit in the rear. The tires are Firestone Nostalgia Drag Slicks 1000-15. They fit no problem due to the fact that my rear wheel wells have been opened slightly before I bought the car, so I was able to fit the 30" tall tire. The car is still lowered in the rear 1 1/2" and I am going to wait to get my wheels and tires on it front and rear to determine if I like the rake. I'm leaning toward raising it back up. Just thought I would give you guys a quick update. Evan

 

[mark johnson]

Man.......that really looks sharp on there Evan, with the "piecrust" slick and Cragars! Tuff Enuff! I seen your post last week about a few of your tire choices and you mentioned the "American Racer" L-60/15's. Those are made from the famous, old McCreary molds and work fantastic on a hard-running street/strip car. Not only that, but they are also very reasonably priced for such a great tire. I've had a lot of experience running them on a 468-powered Malibu that would run 11.40's just run after run like clockwork. They drive very nice to and from the track and then you'd air them down in the staging lanes and yank 8-10 wheelies a few minutes later. They have a little stiffer sidewall than most DOT-slicks and drive nice on the street and when you air them down, that sidewall will still flex a bit but not as radically as a slick or even a DOT-approved cheater slick. On the above-mentioned Malibu, sticky rear tires (and intake manifolds) were a fetish of mine and I tried every one that you could possibly imagine and the McCreary/American Racers were a favorite.

 

[esfireman32]

Man.......that really looks sharp on there Evan, with the "piecrust" slick and Cragars! Tuff Enuff! I seen your post last week about a few of your tire choices and you mentioned the "American Racer" L-60/15's. Those are made from the famous, old McCreary molds and work fantastic on a hard-running street/strip car. Not only that, but they are also very reasonably priced for such a great tire. I've had a lot of experience running them on a 468-powered Malibu that would run 11.40's just run after run like clockwork. They drive very nice to and from the track and then you'd air them down in the staging lanes and yank 8-10 wheelies a few minutes later. They have a little stiffer sidewall than most DOT-slicks and drive nice on the street and when you air them down, that sidewall will still flex a bit but not as radically as a slick or even a DOT-approved cheater slick. On the above-mentioned Malibu, sticky rear tires (and intake manifolds) were a fetish of mine and I tried every one that you could possibly imagine and the McCreary/American Racers were a favorite.

Thanks for the feedback. I really like the American Racer tire, but I decided to go with the Firestone. Because they are so reasonably priced, I may get a set and put them on another rim and switch them every once in awhile. Unfortunately, the Cragers are not mine, but I would love to find a set of original American Racing wheels for the front and run the steels in the rear. Thanks for the info, I'm glad to hear someone has used the AR's. Take Care.

 

[esfireman32]

Got the wheels Bead blasted yesterday and they came out great. I received the tires a few days ago and had the front tires mounted on the front to check for clearances. The front doesn't have any fitment issues so I'll take them back off and wait for paint.

Next step is to have the rear wheels widened which should happen in a week or so. After that, its time to get the wheels painted and the tires mounted and balanced for good.

I also got a set of original license plates with the 1962 YOM sticker on them. They are DMV clear so I shouldn't have a problem, although it is the DMV.

I purchased a set of two original '61-'62 dogdish hubcaps and need to find two more.

Well, thats the latest for all those who have been following. More info and photos to come.

 

[DonSSDD]

They look good, are the fronts and rears radials?

Don

 

[esfireman32]

They look good, are the fronts and rears radials?

Don

The fronts and rears are both bias-ply. I just love the look of the bias-ply even though I am sacrificing performance.

 

[yellow wagon]

Those fronts look good what size are the tires you decided to go with?

 

[esfireman32]

Those fronts look good what size are the tires you decided to go with?

Firestone 710-15. When they got shipped to my house, I got a little freaked out because they looked sooo tall when they weren't mounted. They really fill the well nicely.

 

[Mr.1961]

I've looked at M&H and Hoosier, they didn't look like what I remember, which had a single zig zag pattern tread in the middle. My memory may be bad too.

Don

Don, are you you sure you're not referring to the Firestone Gum Dipped "Cheater Drag Slicks?" These are offered by Coker.

 

[esfireman32]

Don, are you you sure you're not referring to the Firestone Gum Dipped "Cheater Drag Slicks?" These are offered by Coker.

Those are the same tires I am putting in the rear, 1000-15. They look great!!

 

[DonSSDD]

Not what I remember, but it easily could be a brain defect.

Don

 

[mark johnson]

I had the Radir "Piecrust" 10.00x15 slicks on the rear of my '55 ex-C/Gasser just a few years back. This car was the original Braun Bros. '55 Gasser and still had it's original American Racing 5-Spoke Magnesium wheels that were put on back in 1964-65! After MUCH research into everybody's "retro" slicks, I decided that the Radirs were the best ones out there. Expensive.......but worth it in the long run because they are 100% brand new and are NOT re-caps like a few other "retro" slicks that are on the market. I was really excited to that car with the Whitewalls mounted to the outside thinking they kinda match up and go with the white-painted roof on the car. Should look nice. Man....was I wrong! I mounted them up, pushed the car outside.......and absolutely HATED how it looked with those Whitewalls! I pushed the car back in the garage and had the rear wheels back at the tire store in the morning to re-mount the tires.......BLACKWALLS OUT. Man, what a difference that made. I was very happy with their appearance then. Anyway, they actually drive pretty nice on the street because of their stiff sidewall construction compared to a modern day wrinkle-wall slick. I gotta admit though that on the Dragstrip it took me a few nights to finally get them dialed in but I was finally able to get some 11.40's out of 'em. These things like about 32 lbs. of air in them compared to the 12-13 that I was used to with a regular slick. It took that much air pressure before they finally started laying down a nice footprint! Then the car proceeded to rip it's leaf spring perches from the housing tubes and chuck the driveshaft into the ground! Oh yes.......the carnage of drag racing!

 

[esfireman32]

Just a quick update:

The wheels have been at the body shop since the 10th of December and I still don't have them. I am supposed to pick them up today, so we will see. Imagine living in so cal and a body shop giving me an excuse that the weather has been too bad to finish the wheels. They screwed them up the first time because he tried to rush them. Anyway, I will stop venting about the body shop. For those of you who have been following, I'll post pics soon.

Evan

 

[esfireman32]

Well, here is what I ended up going with. I'm going to take some better photos when I have better light but I thought I would post these in the meantime. Thanks to everyone who was forthcoming with valuable info. so I could complete the project. I've got a set of original 409 dog dish hubcaps that I will probably run.

 

[BSL409]

Looks Good

 

[droptop62ss]

Sweet ,looks good !!!!!!!!!!

 

[sam 15]

Looks great....dog dish caps will complete this nicely!!