I forgot you had manual steering on this car. What is the standard manual box ratio, something like 20.1?
Nope, mine has a power box, you can see the pump in this pic. Standard manual ratio 24:1, quick-manual 20:1, power was 17.5:1.
With 5-1/2 or 5-3/4" backspace, do you think the 17 x 9's would fit in the front as well?
Highly doubt it. Again, interference between the outer tie rod end and upper ball joint is a problem as well as the tire hitting the sway bar.
Put 2 bare 15X7 Rally IIs on the front of the car, they have 4-1/2" of backspace. Measure outward by 1" (tells you where a 17" rim will be) and inward by 1" to 1-1/4" (tells you where 5-1/2" to 5-3/4" of backspace will be).
Turn the wheels to full lock (wood blocks under the rims, full weight on the suspension) and check your clearances both inside and out. You'll probably find out that a 9" wheel is too big, but maybe not.
If a 9" wide wheel does fit you'll have to run a 255/40-17 on at most it so the tire sidewall is no wider than the rim itself. I'm betting an 8-1/2" wide wheel with 5" to 5-1/4" of backspace will be the max and very tight with a 245/45 or 245/40 tire.
