Ottawacats

Hello,
I have looking at purchasing a set of 17" rally wheels for our 78. I have looked around, read some stuff but sometime making a post is the best way to gather info. I have seen afew companys that have a 17" rally wheel on the market. So my question is which company to go with - pros/cons and also what tire/rubber size and back spacing?

I have hopefully attached some pics of the car in question, last year we cleaned it up a touch.


http://tinyurl.com/4xlk6ux


http://tinyurl.com/3gwe3xd


http://tinyurl.com/3etq4fm



Thanks,
Matt

Bob Onit

Links aren't working here Matt so I edited them for you, hope you don't mind.

Clubby99

17 inch rally wheels would be very heavy. They are steel not alum.

Might look funky. Might look good. Need to see them on a car.

Earthquake Driver

18" Rally wheels by Wheel Vintiques

Clubby99

Don't think I like the look. Maybe the center hub looks too small? Somehow 15 inch with white letter tires look better to me. If I went 17 or 18, I think I'd pick Torq Thrust II wheels.

TimAT

Here's a picture of some 17x9" Rallys-- full chrome, so no trim rings. 295/40 rear and 275/40 fronts. from Paulsen MotorSports.. Cheaper than Wheel Vintiques too.
When I was looking for wheels, I couldn't get a straight answer from any of the forum members on what would fit. I ended up with a shot in the dark and got these. Looking back, I could have easily gone to 18's, but not everyone has the L-88 flares. And these flares are directly across the GM parts counter- in 1971.

vettebuyer6369

Yeah, Rally is a stock wheel. Bumping them up to ghetto size just doesnt work. If you do, the flares are necessary, I think.

I'm just a dinosaur... I really don't care for any vintage car with big hooptie wheels on them.

PeteZO6

Another dinosaur here.

Pete

Jeff_Keryk

16X8 Chrome Ralleys and 255/50/16 Comp TA's. I would do 17's in a heart beat. But steel wheels do get heavy...

Ottawacats

Thank you all for the info and Bob for fixing my photos. So with out flares does that mean no wider then 8"?? Also I had never thought about all chrome and no trim ring good idea there....... The car might be lucky to see 1000kms a year, its only a 20km round trip from home to work. Thanks again for the info keep it coming.

BPHORSEGUY

Really hate to admit it, but another dinosaur here to. When I'm forced to go to 17's they will be Torque Thrusts!!!

QIK59

I'm a dinosaur too ('59 street-strip-gymkhana car) drum brakes blah blah blah.

I love the way my '59 looks with my 15X7 Monte Carlo rally's and the flat '67 type center caps.

I want to keep my tire OD around 27" for ratio purposes , but don't like the cornering tire sway with my 215/75 Michelins.

Would like to go to a 16" or 17" x 7" (or 6") rally wheel and keep the 27" tire OD.

Need the tire to have a fairly narrow tread width with round shoulder profile for fender clearance issues.

Any suggestions folks ?

Thank you,
Jerry

3JsVette

A 225/55-17 is 26.7" tall. There a lots of choises in that size but I didn't see any ultra high performance summer tires in that size although I don't think that's what you're after.

QIK59

Thank you for the reply.

Have researched things a bit further - 17" steel rally's are expensive and heavy.
Kind of dumb (I think) to go with them : (alumimum wheels would be a lot more logical - IF I wanted to go to aftermarket wheels)

I think I will stay (go) with 16" rally's - lot cheaper and most likely lighter (than 17's).
16" wheels and tires work (handle) real well on our DD - no reason they won't work as well on the old '59.
I see that 205 or 215 "65's" are a commonly available size (~ 27" OD)- many choices available.

sticky69

I'm hoping these will fit properly on a 69 vert. They're $218 which seems kinda pricey, but I'm struggling to find anything else in a 17x9 5x4.75 4.5bs or 5bs. I do love the Ansen slots, but I also like the torque thrust wheels. The torque thrust don't seem to come in a usable size for me though, but they do seem cheaper in price. Anybody running these? I think I have the numbers right for my vehicle. If not, I'm sure someone will let me know.

VNA69 Series Ansen Sprint Wheel
Size: 17'' x 9''
Bolt Circle: 5 x 4-3/4''
Rear Spacing: 4-1/2''
Polished

http://www.jegs.com/i/American-Racin...97961/10002/-1

sticky69

Oh, and I probably should have posted this somewhere else. I was looking at the Rally wheels here, but followed the advice links and it looks like they aren't available in 17x9 anymore.

Spot Rot

16" steel Rally can have trim rings and look very close to stock but tires in sizes that fit C3' are going away. Goodrich G Force Comp 2 is the only street performance tire now.

17" - the lest expensive aluminum is YearOne Corvette Rally Wheel from Newstalgia Wheels - less than $250 each. But 17" fitments for c3's will be hard to find in ten years if that matters

18" is a good choice if fitments for c3's in ten years matters

RE: Wheel weight, my 2 cents: weight makes no difference unless maybe if you race competitively on road course tracks frequently.

This just came out and may be of interest (lots of pics):

http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/whe...-82-corvettes/

Another 2 cents: big wide modern performance rubber on C3's looks great to me. Like XKE's look beautiful but with stock wheel and rubber, they just look sickly.

sticky69

Not racing, weekend cruising and periodic drive to work Summer only. I have driven in the rain, but try to avoid it as much as possible. Not really babying the car, but trying to avoid anything that would deteriorate it quicker. I plan on keeping this car until I die so I'll look for 18" rims, but the ANSEN Sprints don't come in 18". I had them on a Malibu in high school, but should probably get over that. I don't want to have to buy new wheels again for a long time, if ever again so I need rims that will have viable tires for as long as possible.

Maybe I should just get the last available 15" tires and keep the rallys for 6+ more years? Might be better options at that time?

Meantime, just in case I decide to spend the money, will the 17" Ansen wheels work with the specs listed, or will I need to move the p-brake mount? The BS is stock, right? So that would mean the extra inch would stick the tire out further?

American Racing VNA69 Series Ansen Sprint Wheel Size: 17" x 9"

VNA69 Series Ansen Sprint Wheel
Size: 17'' x 9''
Bolt Circle: 5 x 4-3/4''
Rear Spacing: 4-1/2''
Polished

Spot Rot

For your use, it's really just cosmetics - and therefore your personal choice about what looks good.

If you stay with the 15x8 wheels, modern BFGoodrich Radial T/A's are better tires than stock, and there are several alternative mfgs.

VETFEVER

Google "JDWheels"

On their webite look for a wheel called: Rev 107 Rally Polished

It's an aluminum rally wheel that comes in 17 and 18 inch sizes...

I think you'll like what you see...

The owner knows what he's talking about as well...