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My advice is to install your wheels and tires combo FIRST, then drive it to the flare shop. I mounted my big road racing slicks and drove to the shop. That way you can determine Heights, widths, and horizontal spacing to get the best look. Getting wheels right is a big thing. Even brake caliper clearance is a problem.
Wheels are the strongest when centered offset to positive offset of the wheel. That is why I use adapters on our old vettes.
Correct, zero offset makes the strongest wheel.
I now have a bunch of research to do regarding front and rear wheel selections, so it may be time to start a new thread asking those specific questions.
Learning new stuff makes planning and building this car more interesting every day.
I already have a set of these Team III ET wheels, 17”x 8” with 4” back spacing, which I’ll need to sell and order the same style in the sizes I’ll need.
The manufacturer is only about an hour drive from our home, and these wheels are available in multiple widths, back spaces, offsets and diameters.
You need to look at the tires you want. Like on tire rack and look up the recommended wheel width. 10 inch is kinda right for a 285 width 11 inch is kinda 315
I looked at the custom image corvette flares and they are nice, but they only fit 68-72 C3’s.
The front fender and nose are shaped different on the 73 and up.
Plus the paint shop owner suggested the original L88 flares are superior to the ones manufactured today.
I was lucky to have had a set offered up to me so I jumped on the deal.
You need to look at the tires you want. Like on tire rack and look up the recommended wheel width. 10 inch is kinda right for a 285 width 11 inch is kinda 315
I’ll have some research to do for sure.
The nice thing is these wheels are available in 8”, 9”, 9.5”, 10”, 11” and 12” widths.
I might stay with 17” in the front and go 18” in the rear but I like having the same diameter on all four corners.
How wide of a front tire do you want to be steering with your armstrong steering conversion?
My 255/60 15's aren't too bad, I may go narrower, particularly if I go to 17 or 18" wheels.
I suspect stickier low profile tires may require a bit more effort.
Those 4" wider flares open up some really wide tire options.
That's one of the most unique aspects of a C3, it can handle some really wide tires/wheels and it looks good doing it!
Now you are going to have to do a deep dive into the world of wide tires and wheel frontspace/offset/backspace numbers.
My 30 years of Solo experience says:
Pick the tire width first, then pick the wheel to match / center them where you want. They go together.
Tire rack has excellent data available.
Pay close attention the minimum / maximum wheel width.
Stay away from minimum widths. You want mid-width or better. For autocross / racing use you want the wheel as wide as possible, it greatly sharpens the handling response.
Example below:
This 285 would be best with a 10" to 11" wide wheel.
I would talk to your body expert and see if the flare width / fenderlip is adjustable a little bit, to fit the tires. But for the best "lines" it may not be. So you may want to do the flares first and then measure carefully for wheels. Or he may prefer the opposite.
The stock fenders will just barely hold a 10" wheel. all the offsets etc. must be just right. 9" is way easier. So with a 4" flare, you could go to 14" wide!! Wow! 12-13" wide should be easy. Just make sure the wheel lip gets close to the fender lip vertically for the best look.
Have fun and good luck.
Here are some 345s that would love a 12 or 13" wide wheel. And would have 13" of tread. That should be good traction even with that 496 of yours LOL!
Several folks run from 4.75-5.0 " of BSP with only e-brake mount mod or none. That is a 5.0" bsp and a 6.0" fsp on a 10" wheel.
On a 13" wide wheel you may need to go 4.0-4.5" bsp to get a 10"-9.5" fsp to get the wheel roughly 4.0" out more to get close to the fender lip to look right. The fsp & bsp #s will add up to 1" more than the wheel width, which is an inside measurement.
With 4" flares you could probably even squeeze a 14" wide wheel in there, but I do not know what you would use for tires? Is there anything that wide? Such a problem to have.
Once I get the flares, I’ll take them to the painter and see what he comes up with as far as installation details.
I have Van Steel 2” offset trailing arms so nothing on the inside should cause any clearance issues.
Too wide of wheels and tires can look as bad as too narrow wheels and tires.
I agree that the tire lips and wheel lips need to be set just right for the best look.
I’ll be asking a lot of questions!
You can always go a little skinner on those 13" wide tires (like 11 or 12") and just move the wheel toward the lip. The setup above gives you 1/4" more than stock on the inside, and moves the outside out by close to 4"
Here is a great video of one of my favorite C3s with L88 flares. The Detroit Speed 72. with 315s in front and 335s in rear. They fill out the flares well.
I have 13 inch rear wheels to handle the 335 and 345 rear tires Michelin PSports. For the front my street tires are generally 275 or 255 on 10 inch wheels 40 or 45 series tires.
Back pre covid we had many more tire choices. Tire rack used to sponcer tires for all SCCA champions. The majority of vettes up through c-6 ( newest at the time) ran 315 Hoosier R-1 road racing slicks or 295 r-1's. With my setup 295 fronts worked the best. With zero toe it was harder to get heat in the front tires with my very light front end and rear weight bias. 42% F 58% Rear
On the front it's not just the 4.5 Back Spacing. It's also the tire diameter that will cause frame rub on lock to lock of the steering wheel. You want to keep the front diameter around 26 inches. You have lots of front end weight so something like 275 fronts would be good street tires
I DIYed aprox 1" flare on the back to hug my 10" rims/ 275 tires, very happy with the result. I actually put the tires on and determined the flare width from the tire.
So, related question, when you are fitting flares (or just fitting tires to stock body openings), and things are tight, do you remove springs and move the suspension to the stops to see if your tires will hit? And if they do, is limiting suspension travel with taller bump stops to avoid the interference a viable option?
I wouldn’t think installing taller bump stops is something I would do to keep tires from interfering with body or suspension components.
I’ve always purchased tires and wheels to fit my cars without interference.
If there is interference when I fit check a tire and wheel combination, I always go to a narrower or shorter wheel and tire combination.
Steering is another aspect of choosing the correct size wheels and tires.
You don’t want contact with the tires or wheels on the frame at full lock to lock on the steering.
I DIYed aprox 1" flare on the back to hug my 10" rims/ 275 tires, very happy with the result. I actually put the tires on and determined the flare width from the tire.
04-09-2023, 07:21 PM
