Projects Will these tires/wheels fit my Buick...

This will be probably a little weird for a first post/question from a new member, but that's kinda the way I roll...
The car in question is a 1951 Buick Special Riviera. It's made quite a nest for itself, with the flat tube-type tires and wheels rooting themselves firmly in the soil and the overgrowth of underbrush - possibly 20 years' worth. I've been able to cut out a tunnel through the trees to drag it out. Hooked it up to our Jeep with a recovery strap and tried to tug it loose, but it would not budge.
I realize the wheel bearings and brakes may be seized and keeping the car in place, but surely all 4 tires being flat and buried isn't helping any. A friend of mine has offered a set of 4 17" wheels with the 5-on-5 lug pattern that he took off his Jeep, with 235/65R17 tires on them that actually HOLD AIR! They have roughly 7" behind the mounting surface, versus maybe 3" on the factory 15x6 wheels. I'm looking to use these only to get the car out so I can get a closer look and evaluate its potential, not to drive it on.
Do anybody here have any knowledge/insight/ridicule to offer regarding such a wheel on a 70+ year old GM? Any input is appreciated; I learn from practically everyone I interact with. Thanks in advance - Chris

 

As the Buick sits presently...

 

I assume you tried putting air in the tires?

 

Believe I would try to mount them. If they do, you are good

 

Yes sir. Pretty sure it was coming out faster than it was going in. I'm VERY sure the tubes are shot. And free wheels with good tires versus $15 a tube times 4, plus a mess of sweat- and profanity-laced man-hours is a no-brainer quadratic equation for me. As a plus, though, all 20 wheel bolts have turned loose with no breakages...

 

I'm not sure the diameter of the lugs is the same, Buick to Jeep.
Can you measure from center of one lug/lug hole to a non adjacent lug/lug hole to see if they are the same?

 

Thanks, firstinsteele. The "loaner" wheels are factory Jeep 5-spoke aluminum units, so they'll be a starting point for shopping for the permanent wheels, too. Might also give a hint as to what the car will look like if lowered an inch or so.

 

I think the offset will be too much. Look at the rear wheels and how much clearance there is from the fender to the wheel. Also Buicks have a pin in the brake drum to index the wheel since they use bolts not studs. Remember the drivers side are left hand threads.

 

Thanks, pprather. Between measuring both the factory Buick steel wheels and the aluminum Jeep ones and some interwebs research, both are 5-on-5. However, it just occurred to me, the aluminum wheels are going to need bolts longer than stock by the thickness of the mounting flange. Hmm. Gonna need to round up some of those.

 

[QUOTE=" Remember the drivers side are left hand threads.[/QUOTE]

Don't think so! My 1950 is not.

Ben

 

Why not? if it makes moving it around simple, do it. You have a lot more work ahead before being concerned about what wheels to run.

 

Thanks, BJR and Moriarity. I'm a little concerned about the extra 4" offset myself. Mostly on the front, either rubbing on the wishbones or contacting the frame. I spotted the locator pins; I think the Jeep wheels have cavities between the lug bores that will accept the pins. And I may be remembering wrong, but it seems like I got all the bolts loose going counter-clockwise. And don't worry- even if this works out, the big wheels are only for moving the car around on the lot. I think I'm going to like the way ANY 15" wheel looks on the car better than even the nicest 16 or 17.

 

Wow! I wish the Fiero and VW Fox forums could generate this kind of traffic! On the other hand, I suppose model-specific forums for low-production- or low-import-number cars should be expected to be something of a wasteland. Anyway, y'all are making the new guy feel at home!

 

Those locator pins will unscrew from the drums if that's all that keeps the wheels from mounting. Sounds like I'm wrong on the left hand threads, sorry. Also check the center hole in the wheels, Buicks have big center holes. The bolt pattern can be correct and still not fit due to the center hole.

 

Not sure if you'll find any wheel bolts that are longer. For what you're doing all thread and nuts will hold to move around.

 

Ooh. Correct you are, BJR. That crossed my mind while looking at the Jeep wheels, but only in passing. Something to bear in mind.

 

Redo32 for the win! Homemade studs!

 

Get a bunch of big sheets of cardboard. Place a few in front of each wheel. Jack the car up enough at each wheel to shove a couple under. Then drag the car while sliding on the cardboard.

 

When you go looking for suitable wheels, not from that dam jeep......check size of the hole in the middle. Lotta Buicks need a wheel with a large hole there.

I missed BJR's mention of this yesterday, that hole is like 3 inches or something.

 

Stainless side trim looks perfect , how about that .

 

Pull the wheels.
Get the old tires dismounted.
Clean up the wheels and go to the tire shop and get 4 used 15” rollers.
If find out that some of those wheels are ruined, find the correct wheel. Most of the time, they’ll clean up and hold air.
This way....no surprises.
It’s very possible it has tubeless tires on it now.

 

It would be nice to know where you are located. I have a pile of early 15" Buick rims that I could loan you. The center hole in Buick rims of those years is large.

 

Chris,
I call a car like that a heartbreaker. It’s really too good to be a parts car but it’s really not a candidate for a restoration unless you have a fully equipped shop with deep deep pockets.

I’ll tell you how to save a lot of time, effort, emotions and money on that car.

Get all friends together, take the Jeep and a tow strap.
Go down to the Buick discuss it.
Have your biggest brawniest friend haul off and kick you right square in the Bojangles.
Have your friends lift you up with the tow strap.
Then after you recover, sell stuff, scrape and save about 10K and buy you a running and driving Model A.

 

That is rather harsh...but pragmatic.

 

F-ONE, your advice is probably way more sound than I want to hear. The initial plan was to sell it as a parts car, but the deeper I got into it , the more complete it seemed to be. I wouldn't mind for someone to get some use out of this car. But I also wouldn't mind if that someone were me. Heartbreaker - you're probably going to be right.

 

I read somewhere recently that if the bead areas on the wheels are smooth enough (or have enough bead sealer on them!), tubeless tires will mount up to tube-type wheels and hold air enough to scoot the car around on. Seems like, from really-old-guy memory, some of the tires on the car are marked like "G78-15", and others are more like "6.00x15". Could be a mix of tubeless and tube. Looks like all of the valve stems are of the pull-in variety, not attached to tubes. But the wheels are definitely lacking the bead retainer "speed bumps", which would indicate tube-type wheels, yes?

 

Thanks, bangingoldtin. Virginia is kind of a drive from Branson, Missouri, though. I have found, piled up near the car, a small collection of other 15" 5-on-5's that might have been intended to replace the factory wheels as "custom"s - they have two painted-on pinstripes of complementary colors around the raised portion of the center just beyond where the domed caps would end. They do not appear to be in any better condition than the ones on the car.

 

Get this, the standard 4 door 1950 Mercedes wheels have a bead ridge /retainer on the outside/front edge but the inner/rear edge has,nt. The inner rear edge does have a slight angle though so inflating tubeless the tire wedges up against that angle.