Since I installed my disc brake kit on my 1951 Pontiac Chieftain, my old wheels no longer fit. I am looking for suggestions online. The bolt pattern remained 5 on 5. Thanks in advance
How do the brakes foul? Sometimes it's just a case of minor fettling. I had 15" Renault steel wheels modified to fit my OT DD, and the calipers just needed a few passes of a coarse file for the wheels to fit.
I don't know if your Poncho uses 14 in wheels, but you can usually use later (1970 ) Impala wheels. 15 in, and pretty narrow, 5 or 6 in. The BIG GM cars from the 60's up used a 5 x 5 pattern. But the Caddy, and other big ones used wider wheels.
73 up to about 88 Chevy truck 2wd wheels are plentiful and fit your bolt circle and disc brakes. I am sure you are going to have a bit of a problem finding something to fit your caps unless you hit up somebody like Wheelkid.
My friend sent one of his small,stock hubcaps to Wheelsmith and they made the clips on the wheels he purchased to accommodate the caps on his bullet nose Stude. They work perfectly. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App
The vw shops will sell the little clips that you can rivet on whatever wheel you run. I was able to keep my drum wheels on both my 51 ply. And my 63 galaxie buy using a 1/4" spacer and some grinding on the caliper.
5 X 5"MakeModelYears 5 X 5"BuickAll (Except skylark ,Special ,Century ,Gran Sport)35-75 5 X 5"Electra64-85 5 X 5"Riviera64-78 5 X 5"CadillacDeville ,Fleetwood35-59 & 68-85 5 X 5"ChevroletBelair ,Biscayne ,Caprice ,Impala ,Kingswood71-76 5 X 5" ChevroletAbove models with heavy duty package77-86 5 X 5" ChevroletBlazer (full size 2 wheel drive)71-86 5 X 5"ChryslerImperial67-75 5 X 5"FordThunderbird72-76 5 X 5" FordGalaxie, Custom,LTD,XL,Truck&van73-78 5 X 5"LincolnAll (except Versailles)58-69 & 73-79 5 X 5"MercuryAll55-60 5 X 5"Mercury Marauder, Grand Marquis,Meteor,Montclair,Park Lane, Cougar???? 5 X 5"OldsmobileAll (Except for Jetstar 88, F85, Cutlass, 442)48-76 5 X 5"PontiacAll (Except for Firebird, Trans Am, GTO, Lemans, Tempest, Grand Prix)48-76
your going to have to weld the cap clips on the new wheel due to the disc brakes offset or modify the caps with the new style retainer on the cap edge ( the tech feature for this is here in the archives ) I would go with a GM wheel because the kit is more than likely a GM truck rotor
I know my Pontiac is later, but on my 65 Bonneville it has a 67 Bonneville disc brake set up, the only way the factory rims could fit was using spacers. I think they are 1/4". could you go up a rim size and space it maybe?! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Just put spacers between the wheel mounting surface and the rotor. When disc brakes were still a pretty new thing I had a Ford with factory disc brakes (too new for the HAMB) and ruined a rim. Well it was no big deal I had Ford wheels. That was when I found out that pre disc wheels didn't fit a disc brake car. But I also found out that by putting a washer over each wheel stud and putting the wheel back on the wheel would clear the caliper. I was working in a machine shop at the time so I put matching wheels on with washers and drove to work. I made some spacers at work the matched the thickness of the washers and I was good to go. Today you can buy wheel spacers of different thicknesses off the shelf. that is what I would do if it were mine.
Summit is the cheapest to get the exact size you want, they sell Vintique, Wheel Smith and others. I bought 4 15x6 for 53.00 ea. Summit also sell their own brand.........one call away.
The Jalopy Journal
