Hey guys, long time lurker, first time poster.

I am restoring a '74 that has been garaged for 12 years with a seized engine. I almost have the engine and tranny situation under control and am moving onto the brakes, wheels and tires. I picked up a set of 2 liter rims that are unpainted and should buff out nicely but I am not sure what tires to put on. The car is still unblemished from how it rolled off the assembly line. There are no flares and the fenders have not been rolled. I want it to look low to the ground and I dont know enough about tires to make an informed decision. Is a 195/65R15 a good size tire to put on? I also have seen a 195/40R15 that I can buy, but I dont want the tires to be disproportionately small in regards to the rim. I also dont want the tire rub against the back fenders.

Any help you could give would be great.

Thanks.

It depends on the ride quality you want. Lower profile tires add to handling, and make the car feel more responsive to steering input, but the lower the profile, the harder your ride will be.

If ride quality isn't important, then typically a 205/50 is probably the widest and lowest you'd want to go. With low profile tires you will also change your effective final drive ratio (smaller diameter tires).

I like a 195/60 for decent compromise between ride and handling.

195/60 is a good compromise, as is 205/55.

If you want a period look (without going too skinny), I'd stick with 195/65R15s or 185/70R15s. For those, check out BFG Traction T/As and Vredestein Sprint Classics, respectively. You can get the BFGs cheap at Tire Rack, and the Vreds for under $100 each via Fairmount Tire in LA. Both ship.

I'm running the Vreds and like them so far. Overall frip is down a bit, but the steering is sweeter than it was on 205/55s...

Only thing I don't like is how far they sit in now. I bought longer studs and spacers to fix that, however, but I am still go back to 195/65s, which looked GREAT.

pete