Will these wheels/tires fit?

[moskovita]

Will 15x10 wheels & 275/60's tires ( for the REAR) fit a C3, (1977) ?

If not, how can I make them work. I bought a set that were on a 73, but just got to thinking that I may have problems.

Thanks!

 

[The73vetteman]

I can't give you a definitive answer on this but I can tell you how a previous owner set up the rear wheels on my '73. The tires are 275*60s on 15" wheels, not sure about the width. To make them fit he had to remove the parking brake cable bracket from the trailing arms. This left him with no parking brake.

As the car is a manual this was a bit of a nuisance so I had a friend weld some replacement brackets onto the top of the trailing arms. I now have wide wheels AND a working PBrake!

If you want to do the job properly I believe you can get offset trailing arms, but I'm not sure how wide these let you go on the wheels.

Others here know more about these things so I'm sure some one will be able to give you more detail.

John

 

[LanceB]

tires

I have this setup on my 81. I had to remove the parking brake. Being an automatic, this was not a huge deal. I plan on adding it again by doing some kind of modification. The wider tires look good, but my brothers 77 has smaller tires and it is hard to notice a difference unless you really get down and observe them.

 

[moskovita]

I have this setup on my 81. I had to remove the parking brake. Being an automatic, this was not a huge deal. I plan on adding it again by doing some kind of modification. The wider tires look good, but my brothers 77 has smaller tires and it is hard to notice a difference unless you really get down and observe them.

Now that I've tightened the lug nut's down, (which I hadn't done yet and why the clunk noise) no more sound or scraping. I had a friend ride with me over bumps, corners, figure eights and a couple goosing and no sound. Crawled under and saw no rubbing marks. However, there is only about 1/8th or "maybe" 1/4" between the handbrake bracket and tire

So, I may need to do something there.

I could grind 1/4" off the bracket and not hurt anything.

So Lance, what all did you have to do to remove your parking brake?
I "rarely" use mine anyway.

Here what Tweety looks like with the wheels/tires on:

Thanks!

 

[Stallion]

Not trying to take over this thread, but I have a quick question for you. What's it like putting those side pipes (hookers?) on our late C3s? You did a pretty good job. I've seen some jacked up looking stuff out there, though. Whats your secret?

 

[moskovita]

Not trying to take over this thread, but I have a quick question for you. What's it like putting those side pipes (hookers?) on our late C3s? You did a pretty good job. I've seen some jacked up looking stuff out there, though. Whats your secret?

Hello Stallion,
I think it is important to have the right kind of tires and wheels on in order for these type of hooker sidepipes to look good. I'm trying to achieve the musclecar look, not the sport car look.

To install these you need to have a rack as they have to go on underneath.
So I had a shop install them for me, in trade for my former system, (Flowmaster, hedman headers, 2 1/2" pipes). Normally they would charge $300 to do the job. Here is an article on how to install those:
http://www.corvettefever.com/howto/4680/

I hope this helps.

Here is another pic, different angle

:cheers:

 

[Stallion]

Thanks for the article! So you can keep the external side kicker panels on when you have the side pipes? That looks really good.

 

[moskovita]

Thanks for the article! So you can keep the external side kicker panels on when you have the side pipes? That looks really good.

Yes you can! They say you have to cut a notch, but I didn't.

Thanks for the compliments.

 

[Stallion]

That's a pretty good deal. I bet it's a snug fit to get the panels back on, but it looks great. How much would you normally pay for a header/sidepipes package?

 

[moskovita]

That's a pretty good deal. I bet it's a snug fit to get the panels back on, but it looks great. How much would you normally pay for a header/sidepipes package?

Not cheap! I don't know if they make one for your year, but I don't see why not. As you can see from the link below, they don't list one for the 77, but it fit fine.

http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?pf_id=29691&dept_id=1775&mscssid=ALN11XRDVRPT9LLV24TLE2K4AE1587G2

 

[LanceB]

I really don't remember how I removed my parking brake, it has been about 2 years ago. I was redoing the brake calipers at the time, and I just took everything off of it that seemed relevant to the parking brake. I ended up breaking the cable bracket off to make room for the tires. I couldn't re-install the parking brake very easily now, but oh well. It is definitely a tight fit, and I really wish I hadn't gone that route. The guy at the tire dealership said they would look better (BF's and they do look pretty good) and said he would check any clearance issues. I made the mistake of believing him. I would have taken them back, but I put the car in storage as soon as I put them on for the winter. Also whatever they used to put the tires on stained the aluminum rims real bad, and I didn't want to go thru cleaning that again. So when I pulled it out of storage and noticed the rubbing on the tire I just took the brake off when I put new calipers and rotors on. I have been planning on redoing it but it has been two years now, and it is last on the list. Being that it is an automatic, it is not a huge deal.

 

[curtis]

just cut the cable bracket off the side of the trailing arm and weld it on the top. Easy fix, only took me about 40 minutes and was done with both sides. Park brake still works fine.