My uncle has a 1965 Nova SS and he is wanting to run torque thrust IIs. He has the fatman fabrications front suspension which consists of 3 gen camaro front brakes. The rear is a stock 65 nova rear end. What backspacing is opitmal for this setup? he would like to run 15,16, or 17s. I think the 17s would fill out the fenderwells nicely, but please post up picks and backspacing of your setups if you have any. He has a 195 front and 205 rear tread width under there now and its pretty tight.
http://people.clemson.edu/~jaander/Images/100_0032.JPG
http://people.clemson.edu/~jaander/Images/smaller100_0027.JPG

I dont have an answer for ya but just wanted to say your Uncle has a nice looking car, BTW the best way to figure out BS is to mock it up and measure it out as even the "all original" cars vary somewhat from one car to the next so IMO if you want the max size tire you can run be that one the front or the back you need to measure what you have as it will likely be somewhat different from what someone else has...Just my 2 cents.:)

Thanks for the compliment. Any pictures of aftermarket wheels on 62-65 novas would be appreciated. He likes the TT2s but is willing to look into different styles.

My 15x8 rally’s occasionally rub, but that probably has more to do with the 2’’ drop (65 2 door post).


http://static.flickr.com/28/60248042_54d77f5a61_m.jpg http://static.flickr.com/24/60248033_440a4a9a56_m.jpg

7" wheel width

4.5" back space

25" to 26" tall tire max



the pic above claiming to be 15x8 rallys are not 15x8's....they are 15x7's and they have 4.25" back space. i will stake my life on it. wheel measurements are taken from the inside lip...not the outside

http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com/techarticles/custom_tires_how_to/

Illustrates the procedure of how to measure. I do not know if they advise doing this on a lift or not but you have to account for suspension travel and it is best measured under load (wheel removed with axle on a jack stand). Most "good" tire stores have a fixture that they can bolt to your axle that will simulate the tire and wheel size you desire. They spin the wire mock-up and see if it clears before a tire is ever mounted or a wheel is bolted to your car.

Big Dave

here is a pic of mine back in 96' with a 15x7 rally with 4.25" backspace with a 225/50/15 drag radial on it. This was a typical low 12 sec. pass.

http://inlinethumb56.webshots.com/4407/2532219250044272537S600x600Q85.jpg (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2532219250044272537kcArrP)

Each Nova is a little different so you need to measure it! I decided to put 17's on the front and 18's on the rear. Of course, I have the luxury of having had the car tubbed and a new track width set up for it but I think for the profile I'm going for this is the best size setup. If you go any bigger it starts to look kind of goofy! You also need to figure out ride height you want the car to have. This will determine the wheel width you'll need!

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g170/novanutcase/HammersonNova.jpg

John