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Neil Davies Samba Member
Joined: July 31, 2005 Posts: 393 Location: Kidderminster, West Midlands, UK
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 5:42 am Post subject: |
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I run the first generation Flat Four BRMs on my car, with Michelin ZX 145's on the front and some 205/65's on the back. With the '67 long axle gearbox it does allow the tyres to rub the rear arches, but on your '66 you should be fine. I've got some 195/70's to go on soon, but will probably end up putting them on split rim Empi 8's and a late 4-lug box.
On this car that I built for my cousins husband, we used 155/70 (Continentals I think) on a 5.5" MWS eight spoke on the front - roughly the same height as a 145 but 1/2" wider. Rear tyres weren't tall enough, think they were a 185/65, but could have done with being a 70 or 75 profile.
_________________ '67/'68 Cal Look Beetle, 2007cc, 48IDFs, 14.4 @ 93mph, Oct 2017.
'68/'70 Karmann Beetle, wife's project, progressing slowly.
'80 Devon Moonraker, wife's ratty but cool toy.
'86 Scirocco special project - still measuring up... |
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ALB Samba Member
Joined: August 05, 2008 Posts: 3480 Location: beautiful suburban Wet Coast of Canada
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 10:09 am Post subject: |
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Neil Davies wrote: |
I run the first generation Flat Four BRMs on my car, with Michelin ZX 145's on the front and some 205/65's on the back. With the '67 long axle gearbox it does allow the tyres to rub the rear arches, but on your '66 you should be fine. |
You know you can put '66 and earlier short axles and tubes on your trans... _________________ On a lifelong mission to prove (much to my wife's dismay) that Immaturity is Forever!! |
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Neil Davies Samba Member
Joined: July 31, 2005 Posts: 393 Location: Kidderminster, West Midlands, UK
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Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 2:58 am Post subject: |
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ALB wrote: |
Neil Davies wrote: |
I run the first generation Flat Four BRMs on my car, with Michelin ZX 145's on the front and some 205/65's on the back. With the '67 long axle gearbox it does allow the tyres to rub the rear arches, but on your '66 you should be fine. |
You know you can put '66 and earlier short axles and tubes on your trans... |
I know, but before I had it painted it didn't rub at all - I must have tweaked the wings a little when I repaired the rust in the bottom corners.
I have got a set of 195/70's which I thought about trying on the BRMs, but over the winter I'm planning on sticking a late 4-lug box in there and disks on the front so I can run my split rim Empi 8 spokes.
One thing to think about is that the MWS BRMs are actually wider than the Flat Four ones, with the extra 1/2" on the outside lip. I've got one for a spare and it's amazing how different they are! _________________ '67/'68 Cal Look Beetle, 2007cc, 48IDFs, 14.4 @ 93mph, Oct 2017.
'68/'70 Karmann Beetle, wife's project, progressing slowly.
'80 Devon Moonraker, wife's ratty but cool toy.
'86 Scirocco special project - still measuring up... |
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RicFlat4 Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2011 Posts: 37 Location: NorCal
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Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 9:02 am Post subject: |
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Neil Davies wrote: |
I run the first generation Flat Four BRMs on my car, with Michelin ZX 145's on the front and some 205/65's on the back. With the '67 long axle gearbox it does allow the tyres to rub the rear arches, but on your '66 you should be fine. I've got some 195/70's to go on soon, but will probably end up putting them on split rim Empi 8's and a late 4-lug box.
On this car that I built for my cousins husband, we used 155/70 (Continentals I think) on a 5.5" MWS eight spoke on the front - roughly the same height as a 145 but 1/2" wider. Rear tyres weren't tall enough, think they were a 185/65, but could have done with being a 70 or 75 profile.
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Neil... BEAUTIFUL cars. Thx... |
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EMPIFLAKE Samba Member
Joined: April 16, 2007 Posts: 1493
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Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 7:48 pm Post subject: |
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just posting to give ideas of stances and looks! EBI 2011
If your lookin for a nice look and ride that says olschool!! Do 2 inch drop spindles wit 145's leave the ass end alone!!! Besides a 145 fits better on a 5.5 rim than a 135! I like both but its better with the 145 IMO!!
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fivelugshortaxle Samba Member
Joined: May 13, 2011 Posts: 4254 Location: Aumsville, Oregon
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Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 2:41 am Post subject: |
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Nice looking rides......old school Cal look is the way to go.
sweet t bars.......stock rear and dropped nose.......with a tire burning 2 liter hanging out back.......exactly what I'm doing with my 70........just not sure what wheels to go with .....its between the Porsche 2 liter and the 4under lug BRM's ......I've grown to love to 4 lug BRM's but the 2 liters are way nice......anybody got any pics of Cal lookcars with these wheels? _________________ Good things come to those who wait.
2332 with lots of goodies....
Rotating assembly balanced by Brothers VW
4340 84mm crank
AA 94mm p&c' s
Total seal 2nd ring, rest are Grants
5.5 h beams
Magnum straight cuts
Steve Long XR310 on a 106
CB 1.4 rockers
CB Magnaspark 2 distributor
NGK D7ea plugs
A1 lowdown 1 3/4 with single muffler
Dellorto 48's with 40 venturies
Kennedy Stage 2 with Daiken disc |
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RicFlat4 Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2011 Posts: 37 Location: NorCal
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Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 10:34 am Post subject: |
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EMPIFLAKE- BEAUTIFUL cars, man... Exactly the look/stance I'm shooting for. Thanks again... |
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EMPIFLAKE Samba Member
Joined: April 16, 2007 Posts: 1493
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Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 11:19 am Post subject: |
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RicFlat4 wrote: |
EMPIFLAKE- BEAUTIFUL cars, man... Exactly the look/stance I'm shooting for. Thanks again... |
No problem!!! If you like Cal Look check out the Green Hearts!! cool guys!! Heres a link!!!!!
Also check out the BBI vid link below pretty cool!
http://jg54greenhearts.blogspot.com/
http://vimeo.com/26098459 |
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RicFlat4 Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2011 Posts: 37 Location: NorCal
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2011 11:23 am Post subject: |
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After some soul searching, I've decided on the BRMs from Flat-4... 5" up front and 6.5" in the rear.
This has been a great resource & I appreciate all the feedback...
Will post up pics when completed. Thanks again... |
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Mike Fisher Samba Member
Joined: January 30, 2006 Posts: 17963 Location: Eugene, OR
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Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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fivelugshortaxle wrote: |
Nice looking rides......old school Cal look is the way to go.
sweet t bars.......stock rear and dropped nose.......with a tire burning 2 liter hanging out back.......exactly what I'm doing with my 70........just not sure what wheels to go with .....its between the Porsche 2 liter and the 4under lug BRM's ......I've grown to love to 4 lug BRM's but the 2 liters are way nice......anybody got any pics of Cal lookcars with these wheels? |
This is a NorCal looker barn find with original 2.0 liter's for some bling.
_________________ https://imgur.com/user/FisherSquareback/posts
69 FI/AT square Daily Driver
66 sunroof,67,70,71,71,71AT,72,72AT,73 Parts
two 57 oval ragtops sold
'68 Karmann Ghia sold
Society is like stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you end up with a lot of scum on the top! - Russ_Wolfe/Edward Abbey |
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Harrison Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2005 Posts: 79 Location: Knoxville, TN
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Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 2:08 pm Post subject: |
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Great thread with some good info. Thanks for posting guys.
Question though: once a guy has decided on a 205/70/15 for a true "Cal Look" rear tire size, what is the best option for brand/style in a radial?
My research shows that the Firestone F710 205/70/15 was popular but is no longer available. I was hoping to find a period correct looking Firestone to match my Firestone F560 145/15's.
Thanks, Jim |
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Harrison Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2005 Posts: 79 Location: Knoxville, TN
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2015 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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I bought 145's for the front of my '63 and 205/65/15's for the rear. I'm running the stock wheels for now.
My rear tires are just rubbing the rear torsion plates though. I want to drop the rear one or two splines and (obviously) can't have the tires rubbing the torsion plates. Has anyone encountered this? Everyone says a 205/65 works but no one mentions rubbing problems.
I can't be the only one to run into this problem.
Any info is appreciated.
Thanks, Jim |
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lolight70 Samba Member
Joined: August 22, 2013 Posts: 160 Location: West Australia
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Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2015 6:31 pm Post subject: et |
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Whats the least mentioned is the et of the wheels
Thats what makes the biggest difference
Im looking at the bbt sprintstars for my lowered 65 bug,
they come in 4.5 and 5.5 in wide
But the important thing is the et:10,15,25 and 34(which is oem std et)
The lower the et,the more "gap" you have between the lip of your rim and
the fender lip.
That way u can work out the tire width you can and want to run
Also take into account if you have dropped spindles and aftermarket discs
Im looking at running in the front 4.5 with et 15,i have std beam, dropped spindles and std drums with 135 or 145
rears,looking at 5.5 wide with et 15 with 165 or 185 tire. |
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ALB Samba Member
Joined: August 05, 2008 Posts: 3480 Location: beautiful suburban Wet Coast of Canada
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Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2015 10:39 am Post subject: |
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If all you're interested in is going fast in a straight line then 135's or 145's will do it, but as I've said earlier, they have their limitations. Because they have a smaller footprint you have to run them with more air, making for a harsher ride, and there's less tire touching the road (this becomes very apparent during braking on wet or dusty pavement, especially with discs on the front. I eventually went to type 3 drums/shoes on the back to help balance braking). When you multiply the sidwall height by the section width you can compare the footprint of different tire sizes, and you'll see that a 135 has just a little more than 2/3 of the footprint of a 155/80-15, so no wonder it's easy to lock up the front in a panic stop when the type 1 brakes are dealing with a wider/taller tire in the back.
The whole Cal Look thing was about innovation and making your car as fast as possible. They stretched 135's and 145's over 5" wide rims because they were the only sizes available in such short overall diameters at the time. If you want the car to be as safe as possible on the street and still maintain the front-down "Look", 175/60-15's are almost the same rolling diameter of 135's, puts the same amount of rubber on the road as the 155's, and will go on a 4 1/2" rim (specs call for minimum 5", but my tire guy says no problem).
With the variety of tire sizes we have to choose from today, there's something for everybody.
As usual, just my 2 1/2 cents (I'm Canadian, eh). Al _________________ On a lifelong mission to prove (much to my wife's dismay) that Immaturity is Forever!! |
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