Technical Wheels & Tires for Late-60s Inspired A Coupe Build

I'm going after a late-60s or maybe even early 70s style on my '31 A coupe build. Since I got this coupe from my dad, I thought I'd build it up as he might have done when he came of age around then.

What specific tires and wheels would you suggest? I'm thinking narrow 26" diameter or less in the front and 28-30" rear at 12"+ wide (it will be a big block and will see some strip time). I'm not opposed to cheater slicks.
I currently have smooth steel wheels with '46 Ford caps in the rear but I'm not set on keeping them. For reference, I currently have 28" rear tires and 26" front tires.

 

Chrome steel wheels, blackwall tires.

 

Chrome steel would look right. What brand of tires nail the look?

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By then, street cars were heavily influenced by drag racing.

For wheels, look at chrome steelies, aluminum 5-spokes, kidney bean Halibrands and Cragar SS 5-spokes. In the early 70's, aluminum mags like Ansens ruled.

Matched styles looked more showy on the street, mismatched looked more racy.

 

As stated above, drag racing was a big influence. So was Indianapolis. In the late '60's-early '70's tires were getting wider. Some guys put fat low profile tires on hot rods. Sticking way out of the fenders. I was young then and did not appreciate tradition, so I thought it looked great. I was wrong. In my opinion, chrome reverse would be early to mid '60's. Late '60's you want 5-spokes, Halibrands, Ansen Sprints, or Cragar SS.

 

You might consider American Mag's and Goodyear Blue Streak tires.

 

Get some Towel City Recaps for the rear and some Street tires for front. They also have front runners available.

 

First, I would determine what "look" I was after..... race, street, cruiser,etc. In the timeframe you're looking at, chopped and channeled was "street" and had it's own look. Far be it from me to not blend styles and make a kind of schizophrenic look, but "race" for the period was less about channeled and more about rake.
BTW, this is the period I enjoy the most as my builds tend to be less "traditional".

 

Here's our coupe in 1967, 1969, & 1973:

American Racing (magnesium) LeMans series Torq Thrust on the front
American Racing (magnesium) Torq Thrust on the rear
Goodyear Blue Streaks on all four corners​

 

Thanks all. Those are some nice options to consider. I've always liked the Halibrands and Torq Thrusts.
It looks like Summit carries Goodyear Blue Streaks.
So if I'm looking at Towel City, I assume I want the "Traditional Cheater Slick"? Is the traction pretty decent, and will they hold up at speed? I'm going to run it at the strip on occasion.

 

Real Blue streaks haven't been made in a loooong time.

 

Yes under the Traditional Cheater Slicks. The nice thing is they are Recapped Modern Radial Tires so they are nice on the road as well as the track. I have seen many posts from them about the traction being good and running well at speed. I plan to run a set on my 34 Ford PU when I get it done.

 

My personal favorite on my '31

 

Actually late 60s and early 70s appliance or western slots would have been appropriate.

Depending on where you were located, fat tires all the way around would have been as popular as bigs n littles. By about 73-75 Resto rods were becoming popular

 

Had US Indy slots back then with 14" fronts and 15" rears

 

Yep very common, and very favorable combo.

@Mr T body don't know if you are aware the Indys weighed less than the other US slots.

 

Had no idea. Was young and stupid and just thought they looked cool. That explains why my '54 Ford wagon was so fast.

 

Check here, and on eBay for car mags from late 60's - early 70's and buy some to look through for what catches your eye and you like. Then go for it.


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Here is what they looked like in the late-early '70s




and this




and this

 

Off the top of my head, and what I've been planning on, is about a 4" difference in tire diameters, front to rear. That gives (my math may not be all that great) a 2" difference between the front and rear axle / front spindle heights. Over 100" of wheelbase, that's a 2 percent rubber rake. Most rods are a tad longer, so it would be a little less. I've been thinking of 25" tall fronts (so they will fit in my planned spare tire cover front fenders) and 29" tall rears. But going up an inch or two wouldn't look all that bad either, especially with narrow rims and tires. IMHO, Gary

 

Gary your numbers are pretty close. If your building an A I think your wheel base is closer to 103" But you can change that up a bit by going spring in front, I think it is about a 7" change if you leave the spring in the stock location. I personally think it looks odd that way but it is an option.

One thing that we as rodders have missed for gawd knows how long is the spindle V rear axle center. It isn't as noticeable on a car as say a bike but in a perfect world you really want the spindle center to match the rear axle center, or be above it. That is why some rods are bad to bulldog,

Sooooo ad that to your vault of useless information.

I am sure that someone will say Naaaayyyyy to your build but I like where you are going with this. You are actually building the way I built them in the late '60s, using the old guys cast off parts and tires because they had to be stylish. I am seeing one of my old heaps in my mind right now. Thanks for the memory.

 

30" rears and 23" fronts on my '31 coupe give me a 5* rubber rake.

 

In my opinion it is really hard to look much better than that! Very nice HEMI32!

 

Hemi32's car nails it. If your going to run without rear fenders go with 30 or 31" rear tires .

 

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personally i prefer smooth chrome wheels and thin whitewalls. butt by the late sixties that look was OLD. mags and blackwalls with raised white letters was the new look. even red line was old.

 

Does anyone have any pics of traditional cheater slicks mounted on fenderless rods? I've seen plenty of the pie crusts on here.

 

Coker front and rear white wall

 

There is a lot of diffrance in early 60 and late 60 I had a street roadster in 67-68 and clung on to the early 60,s and that is why I recomend the above.