Technical 1952 Chevrolet 4 Door Sedan Wheel Questions

Hello All,

Yes, I'm new to the board. Just purchased a 1952 Chevrolet Sedan. (Yes, a 4 door.. I know, how un-exciting.)

I have the car at a friend's shop right now, and I'd like to throw some aftermarket wheels and tires.

What is out there for this car in a stock fitment?

What is the bolt pattern?

What is the max width I can run on this thing?

Just wanted to see what everyone out there has done. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

 

5 lugs 4.75" bolt circle. I would think nothing wider than 7 inches. Even 7 inch with the wrong offset will give you problems on the rear. That is if your car has a stock rear ***embly, suspension and stock body panels.

 

It has all of the above. It just seems that the spring packs are in fact, very close to the stock wheel/tire setup. I see where you are going with the offset...

 

Bolt pattern is 5 on 4.75" Bone-stock, you'll have a hard time fitting anything wider than a 6" wheel in the rear. My girlfriend has a '51 with 6" wide rear wheels and they fit but they rub on fender skirts.

Keep in mind also that if this is a stocker, you'll want to keep the overall tire diameter pretty tall or it will negatively affect the top speed with the inline 6, just like changing gear ratios. A nice set of OE style chrome steel wheels in a 15x6 would look nice on just about any period you might be building toward, and a 6.70-15" or equivalent would fit real nice.

Nothing really wrong with a 4 door if you do it right. Big fat mag wheels or anything over 15" diameter wheel is going to look ****y though.

 

Well, let me try to talk it out as we go. First off, no fender skirts for me.

The stock tires are/were tall and narrow. Not opposed to trying / having to keep that the same. I certainly don't have anything to prove with the stock 6cyl; and it has the automatic trans.

The look that I want to go for, is to have some modern wheels, but keep the patina from my rusted and faded paint, and stock chrome/body appearance. Oh yeah, and I'm pretty cheap.

 

Thoughts on this rim?

Rim Diameter 15 inches
Rim Width 6 inches
Bolt Pattern (Number of Holes) 5
Bolt Pattern (Pitch Circle Diameter) 4.75 inches
Backspace 3.5 inches

 

Appears that 6.70 X 15 converts to a radial size of
P205/75R15,
looking at some whitewall options. Placed order for the rims above.

 

What kind of wheels did you get?..............nice avatar, I can easily see how ramen noodles and hot rods go together

 

Hurst Dazzler with black finish and machined lip.

My latest concern in the center opening and the large front wheel bearing cap.

We'll see once they come in.

 

I love Hurst wheels, I really do, but they are very much a mid 60's look and are going to require a mid 60's looking tire to go with, redlines or just plain blackwalls would do the trick. Whitewalls maybe if they are the thin stripe ones, wide whitewalls would be a weird mix of eras.

Hurst wheels on a 4 door '52 Chevy? I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's going to need to have the right stance, maybe some exhaust cutouts peeking out from underneath, for it to make sense. Could look like a high school kid's car with a new set of wheels circa 1966, you could probably pull off that look if you try. Very curious to see where this goes.

As for the wheel and tire size, I think you'll be OK there, 215/75/15 tires seem to be a fairly close replacement radial size for a 6.70, you want that extra height. They're fairly common yet.

 

So, a little bit more research here.

Appears the car has two 7.10-15's on it, the spare was a 8.55-15.

I can tell that the 7.10-15's fit well, even originally driving on them.

Should I get closer to the 7.10-15??

 

check that hub and wheel opening. None of my old torque thrusts would fit over the front hub on my 51 nor would 200s Americans. You can fit a decent size tire and wheel in the back but not with the stock rear. I used an 86 Monte Carlo rear and ch***is engineering rear spring kit and was just able to squeeze 8 inch rims and a 255 60 15 tire in it with no rubbing. 8 inch rim with 3 3/4 back space.

 

Also carefully with the offset on the front wheels. Some like to hit steering arms on these chevies.

 

Front offset scared me; however my stocker wheels from the ba*****t had damn near the same 3.50 offset.

 

Stocker rims are steel. Aluminum rims are thicker on the rim. I still had to put a 1/4 inch spacer on the front to clear the knock off halibrands I put on mine. Still only a 6 inch on the front.

 

Rear wheels

 

Valid point.

I think if I have problems with the front cap / wheel hub, I'll just replace the cap with duct tape.

Just kidding.

I think.

 

Squablow pretty much said exactly what I was thinking, I will be lookin forward to seein it.

 

6 inch fronts

 

nice fit

 

Took that pick after racing to catch the ferry to TROG. Last car on the boat!!

 

Got the rims, the only clearance issue I ran into so far was the front center cap. I have not tried a shorter wheel bearing cap yet, or looked for a taller front center cap.

Wheel center hole is plenty big enough for front and back.

Steering knuckles clear, drums clear, spins freely.

7/16 acorn wheel nuts on the way, searching for tires now.

 

Going middle of the road here, think this is the size I will try on. Decent price, cheaper rubber.

215/70R15

Somebody stop me if these won't work... I'mma do it...

 

Sounds like you would maybe be ok here. not sure tho a lot of guys seem to be running 75 series instead of 70???
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/49-54-chevy-tire-size.353400/

 

Run 15x6 O.E. Chev wheels with stock Backspace and BP from Wheel Vintiques Part# 62-5634334
670R15 bias look radials from Coker
and these new 15" Nomad hubcaps when they come out....

 

Well, here it is.

 

Wow that was quick.
Some SOS pad action on the rusty chrome (or maybe even front bumper removal til you can do better)and painting the hubs black,behind the wheels would also help.

 

Funny thing about the front bumper is that 1/3 of it doesn't want to rust, the rest is the aforementioned rough.

 

Not bad. Works with the blackwalls. Maybe a coil cut off of each front spring and the exhaust poking out in front of (at least one of) the rear tires would really help make the look. I'd also be tempted to scrub the **** out of that front bumper with some SOS, it's not going to get shiny, but at least it would even it out a bit.

I wasn't sold on the wheel choice when you first posted but seeing it now, not too bad. My '57 had similar wheels on it for a while and was a high school kid's car back in the day, still has the IL high school parking lot sticker in the rear window, had air shocks in the back to give it a little rake. You'll notice it's also a 4 door, they filled the back doors in with body filler! That I do NOT suggest you try, it's been undone since.

 

Good start on the car, whats the plan from here? How's the interior?

Give this a try, followed by wax applied with a buffer, works on bumpers too
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/whats-the-story-on-using-clr.990241/