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
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