The Cal-look Lounge

what size tires are you running on the rear of your ghia?

I'm looking at putting the largest tire I can on the rear of a 64 ghia. It will probably have 5.5 chromies on it with the stock drums and short axles. Put up a picture if you can.

I have 195/65-15's on 6" wheels my Ghia.  It's tight, but it all fits.

...Ed.

^^^^^  That looks MEAN.   8)

205/60/15 on 7" wheels, tight but doesn't rub. sorry no pic.

Damn, on my old '71 Ghia (long swingaxles) with MWS 8-spokes I couldn't go bigger than a 165! :o

I have a used 185/65 I am going to try once we get the motor in the car. I would like to run the 215/75's I have if possible. I supose using after market BRM's will push the tire out too far and I would need to go with a smaller one if that is the wheel we change to later.

I use original empi 5 spokes and couldn't have more than 165 on the rear

[attachment=1]
Here’s the recipe I used for my 1968 . . .
Swap to early, short axles/tubes.
205-60r 15 (these are Falken . . . I also had Dunlops on here).
Late 6X15 Porsche alloys ( from a mid-seventies 911).
[attachment=2]

Long 14mm studs pressed into the ‘68 drums after turning-down the snout.
8mm wheel spacers.
[attachment=3]

Slight shave with a grinder on the body mount.
[attachment=4]


Back-spacing for my 6X15 alloy = 4.625" approx.
Back-spacing for my 5.5X15 wide-five chrome wheel = 3.875" approx.

What I don’t know is how the narrower wheel affects the section width of the tire (does a half-inch difference on the wheel equal a half-inch difference on the tire section width?)
Also, is there a difference in the hub-to-hub measurement (that is . . . from the wheel mounting surfaces) when going from early brake drums/backing plates to the later, 4-lug brakes?
Given that, it seems that if I put wide-five drums with 5.5X15 chrome wheels on my car, and I leave the spacers off, the tire might still move out about 3/16" to 1/4".

I put a 215/65 on a 6" rim, then the same tire on a 7" rim. The 7" rim made the cross section 5/8" wider.

thanks everyone for the ideas on wheels and tires. I think we will be able to put a 205 tire on it with out any issues.

I was able to mount a 205/65 on a 4-1/2" chromie. Now I just need to go find a good used pair of tires to mount on the rims. That is after Jake cleans them up! I am putting 135's on the front.

(http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/qq208/59dragbug/205tire.jpg)

The front tire choice can be tricky too.  I originally has 155/60 -15's.  Great looking tire with no clearance issues, however, the size when compared to the rear tires was pretty small and to me looked a little odd.  I thought of switching the rears to a lower profile tires, but didn't want to add RPM's to my freeway driving.  I ended up switching back to a 145 on the front.  I think it fills out the fender well better, and is a closer size ration when compared to the rear tires.  The down side is they are pretty thin and I don't care for the tread pattern of the current Nankings.  I don't have any real issue with rubbing, but have to be a little careful on tight turns.  I might now switch over to the 165/60-15's although they aren't much taller than the 155's.  (about .5 inch).  Here's a picture with the current 145's.

...Ed.

This KG is awesome!  :P 8) 8)

I found some used 205/70's and had them and some F560 135's mounted today. I had to trim the rear fender lip a bit, but I think they will be ok.

(http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/qq208/59dragbug/IMG_7189.jpg)
(http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/qq208/59dragbug/IMG_7194.jpg)

Did you guys have to modify the fender lip? I mounted my early 6" Fuchs with 205/60 this weekend and it did not work. I have short axels and discs in the rear.

I have 185 * 15 on the sprint stars and it fits with no troubles

[attachment=1]

I tryed the Bug's wheels for the look and the 195 * 15 are too big and touch the top of the wheel arch.

[attachment=2]

Nobody does have 17 or 18" porsche rims?   ;)

(http://dayerses.com/data_images/posts/volkswagen-karmann-ghia/volkswagen-karmann-ghia-02.jpg)

The Bader ghia has had body work both front and rear (and not too low) to fit those wheels. 7" back and 6' front are as big as you can go i reckon 17' should be no harder than 15's. width is the problem

No modification to the fender lips on the '68. I do not know how the rear disc conversion will affect the track width. I can put my hand between my tire and the fender. My Fuchs are the later, flat alloys.