Technical Wire Wheels for 30 Ford Coupe

I am in the process of gathering parts to build my 30 Ford Coupe and am in the process of doing some trading for some wire wheels. I have no experience with Ford wire wheels. The guy I am dealing with has a bunch of 18", 17" and 16" wheels of various bead widths. I want to go fat on the back and skinny on the front. What are you all's thoughts? He says to go with 17" or 18" on the back and 16" on the front. I don't know about that because I want to stay close to the fender well dimensions and will do a mild channel on the body. Please chime in with your experience and what widths there should be available in these wheels. Thanks

 

you can get wide tires for 16" so use those on the back and narrower 17s or 18s on the front

 

you can go all 16" as they make tires from 5.00 - 16"s to 8.20 - 16"...
real fat rears could be sport truck tires if you can't find 8.00s or bigger...

 

And if you have a flat you may need 2 spares

 

Not necessarily. If bolt patterns match, size differences ( absent a locked rear axle ) are not that big of a deal.
Check the trunk of a modern car or do the math.
Tire height times 3.14 minus the other tire height times 3.14. Then divide that difference into either circumference to find the inequality of rotation, until you fix the flat.

 

on my 29 fendered roadster I have 4.50 x 16 front and 7.00 x 16 rear they fit in fenders well. could go bigger on rear they are on 40 ford wheels though. I had 16" wires on it as fenderless Like solids better. I believe with wire wheels you should run an adapter plate that seats the wheel better for a more true center fit