Features Traditional wheel/tire combo

So im new to the "hot rod scene. Ive been a VW aircooled guy forever and recently purchased a gl*** 32 3 window coupe. It's your basic small block chevy, TH350 ****** and some american racing wheels. I want to lean more towards the traditional hot rod with the steel or wire wheels and the bias ply look tires. My question is, where do I start? Do I stay with a 15 inch wheel or bump to 16's or bigger? What about the tires? what size on the front and rear?

Thanks for any help!

 

That's like asking a guy online what shoes you need. Fenders? Lowered? A picture would help (not of you or your feet, the car please). Budget?

 

What’s the “hot rod scene?”

 

Welcome and brace yourself, you are gonna learn a lot here, some wanted, some not, you may need some thick skin at times but it will be worth it.
There is NOTHING that hasn't been attempted on 32 Fords so one needs to be careful in the selection of components based on what others suggest, the only thing you can do wrong is combine components from different "build styles", makes for a confused looking car.
Ultimately the end product only has to please you.

 

Start by looking at cars here on the HAMB. We're all about traditional around here. Good luck!

 

here is the car, i plan on adding the engine covers. Hate the wheel/tire combo.

 

Show us what kind of wheels you like,
That will tell us where your mind is at and if you need tutoring…

more pics of the 32 also, jus say’n

 

Chrome Reverse 16" or 15" and 750x16 Firestone Champions rear and 550x16 FC front fit the bill...no caps...thinking Graffiti Coupe

Steelies with trim rings and Old Ford Caps...

The Coker Excelsior Roadster Radials really do closely match the Champions but they don't come in 550x16

Others are running the Auburns that also are pretty close match to bias in look...

 

Is your axle dropped? I don't think that top image front tire comes as a radial and combining bias and radial is not recommended...

 

If your car has 5 1/2” bolt pattern you can get a pair of 16x4” 40 ford wheels for the front And 16x4.5 for the rear for a fairly reasonable price
16x5 will cost more
If you have 4 1/2” or 4 3/4” bolt pattern they make repop 16” steel wheels that look like early ford wheels and take a 40/48 cap

 

It looks like your '32 is on a Model A frame. HRP

 

^^^^^^
Thats alot of parts not looking @
Detail , just drive
Looks A.I build
Tire side walls , specially rear
Octopus of Hoses

Wonder if there Navigation & vehicle too close sensors?

 

Your '32 looks a lot like it has a straight rail Model A frame under it. The big and little tires are close, size wise, but that frame seems to be giving it an uphill rake.

 

just because someone had to crop the picture....

 

@Red32cpe as a New Member first off welcome...second no matter what you do this Hotrod the Thread belongs in the Hokey *** Message Board Forum...a Mod will redirect it...Traditional Forum is very Period Specific. You'll come to understand that if you hang around and you should...it's a cool place...

 

The usual 4” dropped axle, reversed spring eyes front & rear, 550 x 16 front & 750 x 16’s rear.

 

Not sure but www's are an option...

​

 

[QUOTE="Stogy,

Not sure but www's are an option...

​

[/QUOTE]Yes :

 

Not sure if it’s camera angle, or the chop, it looks like the original picture is running up hill a bit. All your chosen pictures are nose down, likely due to the use of a dropped axle. Your rear wheel wells are not filled out so you can use a taller tire in the rear. I doubt you can change the look any cheaper than with rubber rake. This one was popular at a show a couple of years back.

 

Hate if you want…. In the mid 60’s on the American Torque Wheels were the go to. Bigs and littles were alway right and for me narrow and not wide.
Everyone has there style but seeing a 32 on a straight rail frame and not a 32 seems out of place. Good luck with your new project.

 

Red welcome to site
Lil32

 

Welcome and you seem to have the general idea of what traditional looks like. I 100% agree on tidying up the engine bay bag of snakes ,surely the AC can be hidden, at least down under we don’t need ugly AC in a highboy in our temperate climate . Loose the not nice side pipe exhaust please , that screams street rod and “ I could not be bothered fabricating it up and over the rear axle” so took the easy way out to look horrible.
A little effort and you will have very a cool traditional car. Aha I just reread your first post and do you mean by engine cover , a hood top and sides ? That will certainly hide the ugly snakes and clean it up , but they are lurking beneath the surface ready to bite.

 

Is that a supercharger at the front of the engine?

 

Welcome Red32cpe. I haven't copyrighted the name, it's OK to use it. Congratulations for graduating from VW's, although I see you have a '66. A lot of VW guys here, we just don't talk about them. I bought a '61 for my son's first car.
The pictures that you posted of cars you want to emulate, show that you have good taste and know what a 32 should look like. The most important thing for a hot rod is stance. The bad news is a change of wheels and tires are not going to do it for your car. The objectionable eyesore is the frame sticking out at the firewall and then disappearing under the back of the body. You could cut the floor and drop the front of the body down to cover the frame and it would look like a channeled car, but then you would have to chop the grille shell and radiator to match the new lower profile. This would likely require custom hood sides. Of course The real remedy is a '32 frame. Might be reasonable cost of $2-3K if you can use all your existing suspension, up to 10-15K for a complete roller. A stock off the shelf repo hood should fit. I won't give you a hard time about your opinion of the 5 spokes, but I graduated in 1967 and American 5 spokes were the most desirable wheels to have in this part of the country. Some guys love the Cragar SS chrome, but I hate them. To each their own.

 

If your going with the bias look a likes then your in the 15" and 16" size. Solids or wires. 16s are the way to go with those tires but 18s on 32s are smokin but your tire choice is small.

 

Hello,
Nothing other than lowering the front end so the coupe has a nice rake stance is all that it needs. The old painted rims and hubcaps is a nice look, but, does not show a hot rod as a fast build. The traditional look extends to American Racing Mags since they came out in early 1963. It was the "go to" rims for most cars. The only thing holding folks back was the initial cost of the wheels.

The old statement is BTDT and those cars with painted rims/hubcaps/trim rings all look the same. Only the color is changed to make the coupes/sedans look different. Don't be swayed by the idea that it was the only "traditional" look for old hot rods.

Keep the American Racing Equipment mags. They were the ultimate rims from the time they were introduced to drag racing, then when they p***ed the street legal build standards, became the go to rims for most hot rods. If they were not so expensive, they would have been on our 1958 Chevy Impala.

As it ended up for a low cost teenager, we played with the spray painted rims of all colors and decided to finally put on some hubcaps and trim rings to make the final look. Low cost and not as expensive as American Racing Mag Wheels, which were the first choice of rims.

An old newspaper photo showing the small center hubcaps and trim rings.

 

I agree with Juni. Drop the nose and call it good! Not a thing un-traditional about those Torque-Thrusts. Although I think those coupes look pretty good with about anything non-billet (partial to chrome reverse myself). Sharp looking coupe ya have there!

 

looks more like an AC compressor?

 

Ill snap some more pics here in a bit. No supercharger, just a/c. I have new headers and exhaust for it just haven't had a chance to get it on there.