[Pecosbill]

Andre: <sigh> Yep, you're right. I need to scout out some originals to keep this "all 1964" thing going. Surely someone on this board has a set collecting dust somewhere. Bob Vidan to the rescue?

[Andre]

I sold 2 or 3 nos ones to someone on here, some years back.

[Pecosbill]

Man, Andre, you're killin' me!

[64woodwheel]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1964-GTO-ORI...edf7f5&vxp=mtr

These look like the real deal to me. From what I understand there were at least two suppliers for the 14 x 6 GTO wheels. Norris Technologies, and Kelsey Hays. These are NT with "A" by the valve stem. These might be for a 66? I see an "L 5" on the inside. I'm surprised there are only 4 watchers and no bids!

[Pecosbill]

Originally Posted by 64woodwheel

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1964-GTO-ORI...edf7f5&vxp=mtr

These look like the real deal to me. From what I understand there were at least two suppliers for the 14 x 6 GTO wheels. Norris Technologies, and Kelsey Hays. These are NT with "A" by the valve stem. These might be for a 66? I see an "L 5" on the inside. I'm surprised there are only 4 watchers and no bids!

Thanks! I don't know how I missed those.

[Pecosbill]

64Woodwheel: got 'em! Thanks for letting me know they were for sale. Spent more than what the Wheel Vintiques OEM steel wheels would have cost, but I've been as faithful as possible to keeping this car "all 1964" and there's no sense is stopping now if an original is available.

Now, to figure out the best tire size. 215/70R 14 or 205/75R 14? The RWL tires with the Cragars are 225/75R 14 and the Cragars have 3 3/4" of backspacing and they do rub on the fender when I take a right turn. With the original style 6.00" steel rims, what is the widest tire I can get away with, keeping in mind that I would like the speedometer to be reasonably close? I believe the rims have 4.00" of backspacing.

[ron cozzo]

225/70 will fit the 14x6 wheel without rubbing. 215 is as narrow as i'd consider, 205 will definitely look skinny.

[Pecosbill]

That's good info, Ron. This is one area where if you mess up a lotta money goes down the drain. I want the widest tire I can put on these rims without worrying about it rubbing.

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by Pecosbill

64Woodwheel: got 'em! Thanks for letting me know they were for sale. Spent more than what the Wheel Vintiques OEM steel wheels would have cost, but I've been as faithful as possible to keeping this car "all 1964" and there's no sense is stopping now if an original is available.

Now, to figure out the best tire size. 215/70R 14 or 205/75R 14? The RWL tires with the Cragars are 225/75R 14 and the Cragars have 3 3/4" of backspacing and they do rub on the fender when I take a right turn. With the original style 6.00" steel rims, what is the widest tire I can get away with, keeping in mind that I would like the speedometer to be reasonably close? I believe the rims have 4.00" of backspacing.

Based on your desire to keep this as close to "all 1964" as possible, you want a 215/75/14.

Why?

The original 7.50x14's were 26.9" tall - the 215/75/14 is 26.7" tall. The tread width of the original tires was 4.25" - the 215/75/14 is 5.6", which does give you a lot more rubber on the road than the original bias ply tires.

This is the size I was running on stock 14" rims prior to getting my 15" redlines. Fitment will be fine.

A 215/70/14 is only 25.9" tall - way too short IMHO. A 225/70/14 is closer at 26.4" tall. Tread width on the 225 is 6.3".

[Pecosbill]

Thanks, Champ, for the info. I'm guessing that the 225/70R/14 might work with the 26.4" height, but I'm running the chance that the extra width may present a problem, possibly the same scraping I'm getting with the 225/75R/14's (27.3" high) I have now with the Cragars, although the stock rims would have more backspacing than the Cragars (3.75"). The 215/75R/14 sounds like a good choice. Nice to talk to someone who has run that setup before I spring the $$ for the tires.

[The Champ]

No problem - glad to help.

I'm sure the 225/70's would fit without rubbing. But with your stated goals of trying to keep the car more original looking and attempting to keep the speedometer accurate - the 215/75's are what I'd go with.

My grandson is looking to enlist in the Air Force and would be taking basic in San Antonio. If we come down for graduation - I'll expect a ride in your Goat! But only if you put redlines on...

[John V.]

In the FWIW dept., back around '73/'74 I put GR70-14 tires up front (I think I had HR70-14 and air shocks in the rear).

'64 convert with about 70K miles on it. Original rims AFAIK with Deluxe wheel covers.

Why I mention this, I recall getting a rub up front on occasion, no longer remember the circumstances but I'll guess on slow speed turns, vaguely think it was just from one side, most likely driver side on right turns but kinda guessing, too many years ago.

Never seemed to bother anything, I never tried to fix it. Sears HD shocks if that matters.

Any thought as to why that tire would have rubbed? I think I believed it was because of the wider profile but no idea what it was rubbing on.

[The Champ]

John

Size wise, the GR70 (26.8" tall) was somewhere between a 225/70 (26.4") and a 235/70 (27").

The slight diameter difference (vs. a 225/70) and possibly a slightly wider profile probably caused the rub.

[Pecosbill]

Originally Posted by The Champ

But only if you put redlines on...

That's the next decision point. The photos I posted were of the car without a roof. The roof is ready to install, and it is "old GM white." I'm thinking that the. Redlines might be a nice offset to the blue car, spinners and white roof. Plus, that's pretty darn period-correct.

[Andre]

I run the 225 70 14 with no problems. For some reason I thought the 185's were the ones that most closely matched the original.

Bill- you should be a daredevil and consider the light blue top. My friend Larry Steele who is the original owner of his '64 droptop. White, blue gut and light blue top still has the blue top on his. It is a sight to see...

[The Champ]

Andre

White with the light blue top does look good. I've seen a '65 GTO with that combo.

But the light blue/light blue does not. I had a '64 GTO convertible parked next to me at the '96 POCI show and it just didn't look good. The blues don't match or complement each other.

As to the 185 tire - a 185/80/14 would only be 25.7" tall - a full inch shorter than the 7.50x14. The 185 tire would have a tread width that was about the same as a 7.50 though.

[Pecosbill]

Andre/Champ: When the car was new it had a light blue top with the Skyline Blue paint. The original top was on it when I bought it in 1975. Of course it was older then, but the color combination looked kind of weird to me. My first car was a 64 Lemans, the same skyline blue, convertible, with a white top. Looked much better.

Plus, I've already bought the top from Kee. Now I just need to get the damage on the driver's side fixed before I can get the top installed, as the door won't open. Makes me sick everytime I think about it.

[rohrt]

Originally Posted by The Champ

Based on your desire to keep this as close to "all 1964" as possible, you want a 215/75/14.

Why?

The original 7.50x14's were 26.9" tall - the 215/75/14 is 26.7" tall. The tread width of the original tires was 4.25" - the 215/75/14 is 5.6", which does give you a lot more rubber on the road than the original bias ply tires.

This is the size I was running on stock 14" rims prior to getting my 15" redlines. Fitment will be fine.

A 215/70/14 is only 25.9" tall - way too short IMHO. A 225/70/14 is closer at 26.4" tall. Tread width on the 225 is 6.3".

Isn't this all dependent on the tire manufacture? Those are pretty exact measurements just curious as to where your getting them? I thought that if you compared two tires from that spec'd the same from different manufactures that could have vastly different heights?

[Andre]

Its probably why I didn't go with the tan top on my saddle car.... but then again, I am no daredevil

[Pecosbill]

I was looking on the websites of various tire dealers and it looks like the Diamondback II is a pretty good tire with a UTOG rating of 640AB. They carry the redlines in 215/75R14 for $229. Coker has the BF Goodrich redline in a 225/70R/14 for $233 but the rating is only 540BB. The Diamondback is actually a Toyo tire. Considering shipping, the Diamondback tires will cost about $100 more than the BFG's from Coker, and $400 more than a set of American Classic whitewalls from Summit. My head's spinning.