DaveC6970 Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I was hoping you guys running aftermarket wheels might have a suggestion for an issue I'm having. I have been going round and round with wheel ideas for my 63' and finally went with American Racing TTO's, the torque thrusts wheels with the straight spokes. I wanted to stay with a period look so my wheels are 15x7 for the front and 15x8.5 rears. I have read all the threads about the wheel spacers, longer studs that may be needed to run custom wheels, but I have ran into something I haven't seen mentioned. My rear wheels are hitting the fins on the rear drums before I'm even close to the mounting surface. There's about a .500 gap between the wheel mounting and brake drum surface. The backspacing on the 15x8.5 wheel 3.75 and is the same for the 15x7, narrower wheel doesn't help. So my plan is a .625 billet spacer and longer studs. I'm not crazy about the big spacer but I'm thinking my options are few. Am I missing something, is there a non-finned brake drum out there I could use? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks -Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devildog93 Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I know it may be too late for this to be a solution, but i ask so i don't run into the same problem. I was thinking of going to a similar route, but was leaning towards 17 inch rims. Would going with a larger rim bypass your issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelman Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Yes, larger rims solve this issue. My 17x8 wheels went over the drums fine.Dave, those wheels are cast really thick. Better for strength, but you get the fitment issue you show. You should be fine with longer 1/2" studs and spacers. Check clearance on the outer lip of the wheel well with the tire in place. Need 3/4-1" clear at ride height on the widest part of the tire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Kanter sells brake shoes for the Buicks, I know their fronts are not the original finned style, don't know about the rears though. https://www.kanter.com/productdetail.aspx?DeptNo=1100&MakeName=Buick&MakeYear=1963&CategoryID=6&ProductCode=35&Router=Catalog Have you looked at other GM drums? Pontiac, Olds, Buick, from the same era? 5 on 5" bolt circle with the same width shoe but no cooling fins. This is only a WAG.Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC6970 Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 Thanks guys for the responses.Steve is correct, I believe a 17" wheel would solve this problem. Nothing against them, I just wasn't looking to run 17" wheels. My concern now is after adding a spacer the tires will rub the inner fender. The non-finned brake drums that Ed linked might help, but at $120 each I may just rethink these 15" wheels. I guess I could run 7" wide wheels on back too, but I'd rather not. You can see it the picture, that 8" wheel is killer IMHO. You know the funny part is if you go to the American Racing website, the wheel selector gives you this wheel for a 63' Riviera. I'm guessing it's only checking bolt pattern, not hub bore or anything else.All things considered, I'm thinking Steve has thing right. Go the billet route and get your exact width, offset. Avoid all this spacer, stud stuff. If I remember correctly, they even opened up the center bore didn't they Steve?-Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelman Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Yes, they did. But mine were special order wheels from the start. Go to Newstalgia Wheel http://www.newstalgiawheel.com/ and see what you can find there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bb1970 Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 (edited) I used these with my wires on the rear with no issues. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2pcs-1-5-5x5-to-5-x-5-Wheel-Spacers-1-50-inch-38mm-Adapters-5-lug-1-2-/251637724099?hash=item3a96c6f3c3. The wire wheels are 15" and contacted the fins as yours do. I have used spacers like these on Suburbans without issue as well. I don't think these would be a great alternative on a high horse power drag car. But use them sensibly. And they will do the job. Edited April 15, 2015 by bb1970 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bb1970 Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 BTW I can't wait to see those wheels and tires installed. Possible dropped stance in your future??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC6970 Posted April 16, 2015 Author Share Posted April 16, 2015 BTW I can't wait to see those wheels and tires installed. Possible dropped stance in your future???Thats the plan, no slammed airbag setup but maybe a couple inches. I want to get the wheels on before I decide on the drop. Also, thanks for the tip on the adapters. I've been considering that route as well but they all seem to be 1.25" thick minimum. I'm pretty sure the wheel/tire will rub the body at that width. I'm thinking the ideal spacer will be .625" thick, haven't found one yet that thickness. Might have to have it custom made. -Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Thats the plan, no slammed airbag setup but maybe a couple inches. I want to get the wheels on before I decide on the drop. Also, thanks for the tip on the adapters. I've been considering that route as well but they all seem to be 1.25" thick minimum. I'm pretty sure the wheel/tire will rub the body at that width. I'm thinking the ideal spacer will be .625" thick, haven't found one yet that thickness. Might have to have it custom made. -DaveI think you'd be surprised at how much room there is inside those wheel wells. Do you have anyway to mock up 1.5" to see what it looks like?I don't think you'd be able to adapters like BB1970 pictured that are only 5/8" thick. The thickness of this kind of adapter needs to be wide enough to get the lug bolt to the axle pretty close to flush with the surface. To get only 5/8" spacing you'd have to use spacers and longer axle studs.Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockinRiviDad Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Dave, Ed is right, u have tons of room to play with in our wheel wells. A couple of members here are running 20x10 wheels (I couldn't believe it, pm'd them myself for more info lol) in the rear with no rubbing wheel well issues. One member (Cstang, i believe) did have issues with the wide wheels rubbing the 'over the rear axle' exhaust pipe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cstang50 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 im running a 1 inch spacer on my 20x8.5 rear wheels and i still have plunty of room from the lip, mine has a 3.75 bs also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC6970 Posted April 16, 2015 Author Share Posted April 16, 2015 I did go buy a box of washers so I can stack them on the studs and see what the ideal spacing needs to be. Hopefully not too thick, but it sounds like an inch or less should be ok. Cstang, you're 1" spacers, are they the adapter type with their own studs? or just a spacer? Also, where did you get them? Thanks again guys for the help! -Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cstang50 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Sorry they were the adaptor kind. I drive my car all the time and have never had a problem with them. Picked them up off eBay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveC6970 Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 Thought I'd post the results of my highly technical washer mockup. It looks like a .500 spacer will give me the brake drum clearance and allow space to the fender lip. So now all I need to find is a .500 spacer that has 3.375 or larger center bore. And of course the longer studs. I haven't tried the fronts yet, I'm guessing I'll need the same spacer there too. -Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cstang50 Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 For the fronts I ran into problems with the rivits on the drum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 For a distance of 1" I'd go with the spacer that has lugs built into it. The website for this company* gives you a choice of thicknesses. They have a 1" one. I don't think that you'd have a problem if you were to remove the rivets. Many other cars don't have the front brake drums riveted to the hubs.*http://adaptitusa.com/5x500to5x500wheeladapter-2.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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