Tire Testing on the Malibeater--A 1967 Chevelle Malibu
January 22, 2016
We're not sure about you, but we often day dream about what tire and wheel combinations would look cool on our cars. Having an extra set of tires and wheels on hand isn't always practical, but it sure makes for an easy attitude adjustment for your hot rod or muscle car. We proved it with the "Malibeater", a 1967 Chevelle Malibu project car, which has been featured in various tech articles in Muscle Car Review magazine. Arvid Svensen brought the car down to Tennessee for the tire and wheel swap, and photographed the combinations for an article in the magazine. All three combinations offer cool looks for the car, but there was a pretty clear winner in terms of style and performance after we had driven the car with all three configurations. Just to add another cool element to this tire and wheel swap, we decided that our least favorite combination would be subject to a tire-smoking burnout.
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When the car arrived here in Chattanooga, the car had a set of swap meet tires and wheels on it, consisting of Cragar front wheels and black steelies out back, wrapped in bias ply tires. Our first combination was a set of American Classic blackwall bias look radial tires, mounted to OE Style GM steel wheels. Normally, this car would have 14-inch wheels, but Arvid upgraded the brakes, and was forced to step up to a 15-inch wheel. That isn't always a bad thing, as the larger wheel gives the car a slightly different look. And since the Malibeater has a little bit of hot rod in its blood, we decided to stagger the tire sizes to give the car a modest big-and-little rubber rake. Up front is a 670R15 mounted to a 15x5-inch wheel, while the rear features an 800R15, mounted to a 15x7 wheel. This combination filled the wheel wells nicely, and gave the car the sleeper look that we all loved--skinny tires, body color steel wheels and dog dish caps. The car also handled and drove best on these tires, thanks to the radial construction. When the big block Chevy was opened up, the narrow contact patch didn't provide much in the way of traction, but when we drove like proper citizens, it was quite nice.
The second combination consisted of Firestone Wide Oval redline tires mounted to Chevy Rallye wheels. This look would've been available as an option in 1967, but remember that it would've been in 14-inch sizes. For the Malibeater, we chose 15x7-inch Rallye wheels, wrapped in F70-15 Firestones. While this combination was appropriate for the car, it certainly didn't mesh with the car's patina look and sleeper vibe. If the car had shiny paint and polished trim, this probably would've ranked higher in cool factor. The car drove pretty good with these tires, but it had typical bias ply tire tendencies, when we drove on rough or rutted roadways.
The third and final combination is a look taken from the 1970's street machine handbook. We slapped on a pair of skinny Rocket Fuel five spoke wheels, wrapped in M&H front runners, and then we had to pump up the air shocks to fit a pair of M&H Cheater Slicks (sized at 28x12.50-15), mounted to 15x10 OE Style GM steel wheels. This setup is not practical, and it's not comfortable, and it probably wouldn't be safe in the rain, but frankly we didn't care! It was just so cool that we could deal with all of the annoyances of running such an aggressive combo. And given the fact that this thing has a ground-pounding big block under the hood, the bark matches the bite.
So, in conclusion, we tested out three very different tire and wheel combinations on this weathered '67 Chevelle to find that the American Classic bias look radial stands tall as the victor. While the Firestones would've looked the part if the car was fully restored, they just didn't give this car the attitude it needed. The M&H combo was so radical that we just couldn't say no. Soooooo...the Firestones bit the dust in a smokey celebration burnout. Enjoy!
[caption id="attachment_7256" align="alignleft" width="780"]
Coker Group President Wade Kawasaki posing with the freshly roasted Firestone tires. [/caption]
Be sure to check out the full article here: http://www.hotrod.com/cars/project-vehicles/1512-choosing-the-right-wheels-and-tires-for-our-malibeater-1967-chevrolet-malibu-patina-project/
When the car arrived here in Chattanooga, the car had a set of swap meet tires and wheels on it, consisting of Cragar front wheels and black steelies out back, wrapped in bias ply tires. Our first combination was a set of American Classic blackwall bias look radial tires, mounted to OE Style GM steel wheels. Normally, this car would have 14-inch wheels, but Arvid upgraded the brakes, and was forced to step up to a 15-inch wheel. That isn't always a bad thing, as the larger wheel gives the car a slightly different look. And since the Malibeater has a little bit of hot rod in its blood, we decided to stagger the tire sizes to give the car a modest big-and-little rubber rake. Up front is a 670R15 mounted to a 15x5-inch wheel, while the rear features an 800R15, mounted to a 15x7 wheel. This combination filled the wheel wells nicely, and gave the car the sleeper look that we all loved--skinny tires, body color steel wheels and dog dish caps. The car also handled and drove best on these tires, thanks to the radial construction. When the big block Chevy was opened up, the narrow contact patch didn't provide much in the way of traction, but when we drove like proper citizens, it was quite nice.
The second combination consisted of Firestone Wide Oval redline tires mounted to Chevy Rallye wheels. This look would've been available as an option in 1967, but remember that it would've been in 14-inch sizes. For the Malibeater, we chose 15x7-inch Rallye wheels, wrapped in F70-15 Firestones. While this combination was appropriate for the car, it certainly didn't mesh with the car's patina look and sleeper vibe. If the car had shiny paint and polished trim, this probably would've ranked higher in cool factor. The car drove pretty good with these tires, but it had typical bias ply tire tendencies, when we drove on rough or rutted roadways.
The third and final combination is a look taken from the 1970's street machine handbook. We slapped on a pair of skinny Rocket Fuel five spoke wheels, wrapped in M&H front runners, and then we had to pump up the air shocks to fit a pair of M&H Cheater Slicks (sized at 28x12.50-15), mounted to 15x10 OE Style GM steel wheels. This setup is not practical, and it's not comfortable, and it probably wouldn't be safe in the rain, but frankly we didn't care! It was just so cool that we could deal with all of the annoyances of running such an aggressive combo. And given the fact that this thing has a ground-pounding big block under the hood, the bark matches the bite.
So, in conclusion, we tested out three very different tire and wheel combinations on this weathered '67 Chevelle to find that the American Classic bias look radial stands tall as the victor. While the Firestones would've looked the part if the car was fully restored, they just didn't give this car the attitude it needed. The M&H combo was so radical that we just couldn't say no. Soooooo...the Firestones bit the dust in a smokey celebration burnout. Enjoy!
[caption id="attachment_7256" align="alignleft" width="780"] Coker Group President Wade Kawasaki posing with the freshly roasted Firestone tires. [/caption]
Be sure to check out the full article here: http://www.hotrod.com/cars/project-vehicles/1512-choosing-the-right-wheels-and-tires-for-our-malibeater-1967-chevrolet-malibu-patina-project/