wheel problem

hey there, I have a 54 ford customline. I put a ford 78 Granada rearend in it. anyone have any idea on what stock rims will work. my factory 54 wheels fit, but they hit the axle. they don't seat all the way. any help would be great. thank you.

 

I'm sure 78 Grenada rims will fit but that probably isn't what you wanted. Are you saying that the bolt pattern is the same but the center hole is too small?

 

yes, I need 15 inch rims

 

I don't get the dropped part

 

Murphy's law for mechanics. The only way it doesn't end up under the center of the car is if there's a floor drain for it to fall into.

 

65 up ford to around 72 should have disc brake center hole and be fairly narrow enough to fit. I did the same swap years ago with 4 inch lowering blocks, But couldnt change the tire unless I flattend them. And jacked the rearend down.

 

I have to flatten mine also. has 4 inch blocks. but I will try 60 or 70's wheel. thanks

 

Full of questions here :
You guys actually build cars that you can't get the wheels off of ?
Flatten the tires ? Jack the car up? push rear end down ?
Do you have to remove the shocks too to do this ?
That should be fun with a roadside flat huh ?

 

no I pay for roadside assistance. let them do it. low n slow

 

When you deviate from stock on a 52-54 Ford the wheels are a pain to get up under the fenders,,jack the car up and some times you have a tall tire on the rear you may have to use a bottle jack between the axle and frame. HRP

 

Sometimes you have to do that when you leave the fenders on 50's something cars and it's pretty damned traditional as it has been an ongoing thing since the 50's.

To add an another answer to the OP's question, somewhere along the line Ford changed the diameter of the hub and id of the center hole in the wheels. It's one reason that every once in a while you find an almost perfect early 50's Ford rim with the center torched out leaving the bolt holes. A set of the suggested later Ford 15inch wheels should fit fine and the caps should fit them and away you go.

 

What about a 1/4 inch spacer?

 

later model wheels are probably less expensive than spacers. 5 to 15 bucks at the wrecking yards I go to. Around here if a guy was lazy he could go to the tire store and ask for a pair of "snow tire wheels".

 

thanks for the info. this 54 is nickel and dimeing me to the next level. gonna miss the old gears, now I will get gas milege out of this when done. well I hope

 

My son's (crazy legs on here) 54 Ford is getting it's 57 Ford 9" rear narrowed 4", then he will run reversed rear rims to get the tires back out to where belong. We hope this helps w/ the tire changing problem....we also narrowed the rear section of frame 4 1/2" when we notched it...with fender skirts you will never know it was done!