[Anselcop]

I'm trying to dress up my 1963 Lemans convertible by adding a set of chrome rims. Can anybody tell me or give me suggestions on what type, brand and size of rims would look the best and fit my Lemans??? Thanks

[Anselcop]

I'm trying to dress up my 1963 Lemans convertible by adding a set of chrome rims. Can anybody tell me or give me suggestions on what type, brand and size of rims would look the best and fit my Lemans??? Thanks

[tom s]

ford or mopars,factory are 15in

[Skip Fix]

My friend Joe Parish has some Hurst Ford patterns on one of his Tempests that were polished and look great! They are cheaper to find than the GM Hursts!

[Joe Bohannon]

What year would I be looking for on these Ford and Mopar rims, what model of car ?? Thanks,

['ol Pinion head]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jobo:
What year would I be looking for on these Ford and Mopar rims, what model of car ?? Thanks,<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


That is a good question.
On my own '63 LeMans, ran into similiar problem
when 2 of the original wheels were rusted due to original tires being dryrotted & beads being deeply rustpitted. When I bought the car, ended up chunking the two rusted wheels & installed two Ford wheels with tires that the 63's previous owner had laying behind his shop. Tried fitting one of these on the front...no luck, the 15" Ford wheels rubbed the front suspension Ended up putting the Ford wheels on the rear & swapped the 2 original LeMans wheels on the front.

After loading the car on my trailer, went by wholesaler buddy....has thousands of steel wheels, most from the 70's & 80's. Ended up going through stacks & stacks of stacks of 4 1/2" bolt pattern steel wheels & found nothing that would fit perfectly in 5" wide 4 1/2" bolt pattern. Finally found one that fit better than the two Fords that were on the rear, but it took running the old stock yards for a few months (while working) to actually find two more '63 LeMans wheels that were in good shape. Real PITA, just for a set of wheels so the car could be rolled around while awaiting modifications. Today, would have broke the original wheels/tires down, rotary wire brushed the beads, fired up the MIG, & the grinder, & made the beads decent enough to put some POR 15 on & hold air

[axle]

call mooneyes at 1-800-547-5422
ask for gary or chico and make sure you tell them axle sent ya!
tell them you want the "smoothy's" chrome wheels with baby moon center caps...... 15" ,5 x 4 1/2...standard offset. these will run you around $250 delivered to your front doorstep.
axle

[Anselcop]

Thanks Axel......I will call in the next few days. Any Idea where I might be able to get a picture of these rims??? Like to see what they look like before I commit.

[axle]

www.mooneyes.com
if you dont see it there email them or call the 1 800 number and ask them to email you a picture.
axle

[bonneville Joe]

So a '63 Lemans has a 5x4 1/2" bolt pattern?? WTF?

Foolproof and Sucka free since 1979.

[Motornoggin]

Yup, 5 on 4 1/2" pattern. They have a strange offset too. I have a set of American Racing Salt Flat Specials in 15x6, 3 3/8" b/s. They fit nicely.

Never trust a fart. They sometimes suprise you.
http://community.webshots.com/user/motornoggin

[bonneville Joe]

Man, if I end up with that '63 Ive had my eye on, you just saved me alot of grief.

Foolproof and Sucka free since 1979.

[Motornoggin]

No problemo! Happy to help once in a while.

Never trust a fart. They sometimes suprise you.
http://community.webshots.com/user/motornoggin

[Joe Bohannon]

Will any of the old mag type after market wheels work. Does anybody make them now ?

[Anselcop]

I'm finally ready to put the rims on my Lemans, but I have a few more questions. When I try to purchase the smoothie rims and give them the 15", 5 x 4 1/2 standard offset, they claim that they still need to know what the offset is...standard dont tell them anything so they claim. Can anybody provide more info on this??? Or maybe a part number for the chrome smoothie rim with the baby moon center cap. Also, what size tire would you recommend. I'm thinking of going with a white lettered 70's series for width style tire.
Dan

[bmpmdf]

WHOA !!!! I had not even considered checking the bolt pattern on my 63 Tempest. I was planning on putting Rally 1's on it, kind of a pre GTO look. Guess without reworking alot, that idea goes down in flames. By the way, what is the widest wheels and tires I could put on mine? With stock type suspension. I was planning on a 15x7, but after reading this, I dunno !!!

[tom s]

with a stock suspension,as I remember it was real limited,the wheels fold down so much the tires hit the inside top of the wheel wells.I run 28X10 M/T slicks on mine with the 57 pontiac rear.The tight place is on the inside front and rear with the rear being the tightest,seems like room outside and inside top.FYI,Tom

[mechanickeith]

I run a bone stock 61. The widest I can get under it without the front tires rubbing in tight corners is a P205/70R15