70 Chevelle on 18" Wheels
 

Hey all,

Tried to do a poor-man's manual photoshop for my '70 Chevelle build. Car is completely apart now, so I "borrowed" a photo from Google of another Shadow Gray '70 Chevelle, printed it out with a picture of the Jarvis '68 Chevelle as close to scale as possible, and cut & pasted the wheel setup onto the '70 stocker photo.

What do you think? I know the front wheel scale is a hair off (smaller than real life), but I think we have a winner - now if only I can find out from Team III if the wheels will clear my 14" Baer Pro-Plus brakes that are soon to arrive.

Stock
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...stocksmall.jpg

Jarvis' 68 with 18X11 305/35 & 18X9.5 275/35
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...arvis68_BW.jpg

My proposal:
http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/...mIIIwheels.jpg

I know the image quality is crappy, but I don't have photoshop or the skills to clip the wheels & alter the stance of the car digitally.

Think these will work? In reality, I was thinking that I'll probably step back to a 18X10 305/40 on the rear (18X11 in a stock wheel house might be pushing it & I like a little more sidewall on my tire...)

That looks awesome. :thumbsup:

An 11inch wheel will work fine,Just Order a BFH:lol: when you place your wheel order.

I've got to replace the outer wheelhouses, but the inners are stock & staying in place. How much "work" is it to squeeze 18X11 305/40's in there without making it look like a hammer-hack job?

If you get the correct backspacing you should not have to hammer it out, you will probably have to roll the fender lip only. I was talking to Frank at Prodigy customs last week about wheels and tires for my 72 Chevelle. he was telling me they had just finished a customers 70 in the shop and they were able to fit a 20x11 in the rear with a 305/30 tire without doing and modifications to the wheel well.

I would suggest you give frank a call and he can probably give you the offsets they used for that customers car.

Problem to me is even @ 11" wide (12" actually from edge-to-edge),those wheels still have no dish to them.
I realize those are step-lipped.

My 18x10 rears by comparison:
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...1004101563.jpg

Well, today I went and picked up the car from media blasting and it looks like WIDER wheels are definitely feasible, as the inner wheel houses turned out to be swiss cheese, along with the 1" of trunk floorpan nearest the wheelhouses (will post pics of the cancer when I download the pics). So my thought is this: install the new stock inner wheel houses inward 1-1.5" of their stock location (over the top of the frame at this point) and then weld in a strip between the inner & outer wheelhouses to give me some extra room. I've got a good bodyman/welder who said it would be no sweat to do this, as the inner wheelhouses need replacement anyway. 18X11 rims should fit with minimal issues then, right? Any idea on backspacing? I've read that 6.5" will cause the inside of the wheel/tire to hit the frame, and 5.5" BS seems to be recommended for 10" wide wheels, so will 18X11 with 6.0" BS be best in the rear? Tires - is a 305/40 or 315/35 best for a lightly lowered chevelle PT car?

As for the fronts, it looks like I should go 18X9.5, 5.5" BS with a 275/35 or 275/40 tire (I like a little more sidewall, but I realize it has to fit in with the size/sidewall ratio of the rear wheels, too.

What do you all think?

Rob

Here's my 70 Chevelle with a 2" strip in the inner fenderwells. But while your in there, go ahead and notch the frame in case you really want to go bigger, say a 345 series. And before I went this route, I had 17 x 11 wheels and a 315/35/17 with no modifications at all.
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...c/IM000788.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...c/IM000794.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...c/IM000801.jpg
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...c/IM000787.jpg

Not sure if I want to get into notching/narrowing the frame (tempting, though). I seem to be stuck in a real "chicken or the egg" quandary - everyone seems to say measure the car before you order to get the right backspace. Car is ripped apart and body work is about to commence along with frame work (fix a crack and box the main rails) & then chassis assembly. My rearend builder is telling me that he can narrow the new rear end he's building up to 1" each side with no significant cost and I should get the wheels in hand, slide them into the wheelhouses (see previous post), measure what I have to work with and he'll narrow as needed.

So it seems like I need to get off my duff and buy the wheels & tires in what I think is the best potential size & backspace and get 'em here so I can tell the rearend guy the right dimensions.

From what I can tell, it sounds like 18X10 with 5.5" BS and a 305/40 tire in the rear is the safest way to go (assuming stock '70 rear end width on the S60). Since the wheel houses are going to be opened up a smidge, I COULD go with 18X11 with 6.25" BS and a 305/40 or 315/35 and clear the frame.

Sound right or am I all mixed up? (seems to a running theme with me lately)

What is the best course of action with the car apart and the rear end yet to be ordered? (S60 w/ 13" Baer Pro Plus rears, BTW)

Rob