Looking for wheel, tire and lowering options on my 91 Convertible RS LSA swap.

Basic Specs of the build:
1991 Camaro RS convertible with 14k original miles
LSA swap from a 2013 ZL1 Camaro with 1300 miles with matching TR6060 tranny. Pretty much everything else has been done as well.

The entire details of this build I will save for another time. My dad had this car built by Hawks around 2014. The car has been sitting basically undriven since and the car is now in my possession. It needs a few things to be complete and I will likely sell her after I'm done. I am not happy with the wheels and tire choice and the stance of the car. The rears are rubbing both on the inner fender wells and the outer as well. The rear wheels are 17x10.5" with 315 MT drag radials. The fronts I believe are 17x9 with 275s. The wheels stick out way too far IMO and the stance of the car doesn't look right. I prefer a more tucked look. I need a fairly wide tire for the back to hook up but I think a little narrower would be fine and I think an 18 inch wheel would also look better if they would fit. I don't know why these wheels were recommended and put on the car especially the rears when they rub both on the inside and outside? Bruce at Hawks did offer a discount on swapping them but with the expense of shipping and the return this didn't really make much sense so will likely just go a different direction. I am not interested in narrowing the rear end or tubbing it so need to work with what I have right now.

Next, I am planning to lower it but I need to solve the wheel and tire issues first.

Any suggestions or recommendations are appreciated both on wheel tire combos and lowering options. Looking forward to being a part of the community.

 

Here is a video showing the inner fender well clearance issue. The lip of these wheels stick out past the edge of the fender as well. Maybe it's because it's a convertible and the inner fender wells stick out farther but I can't imagine how a 17x11 wheel could work properly on this car.

 

Those are 4th gen wheels so I assume you are running spacers? If so, you may try thinner spacers to tuck them under more. That is unless you are having clearance issues. If you go with new wheels, you'll likely end up with vette and or 4thgen offsets requiring you to run adapters and or spacers. A 315 tire is a bit wide for stock wheel well without tubs and other clearance mods. You might want to go narrower. However, if you are going to sell the car, I'd sell as is and or adjust the current spacers.

 

I don't know if they are using spacers I will have to pull a wheel and check, they were put on by Hawks when the car was built, I still can't understand why they would put wheels on that were going to rub on the inside and outside. My dad never noticed the issue until I started to drive the car a couple years later. If there are spacers, thinner ones in the back won't work, there is already only about a half inch of clearance on the inside, on the front it would be a good solution as they are only 275s and should have room. To me the fronts definitely stick out too far as well.

 

Are those rears 17x11? If so, I would agree with you, you'll have a hard time tucking them under any more. I'd maybe step down to a 10" wide tire and a 200 compound to aid with traction. Then again, if you are selling, I wouldn't do any of this because you'll likely lose money.

 

Car looks familiar. Does your dad go by porkenstein on this forum?

 

17x11 does not fit without reshaping the inner fender. Even then, it won't tuck if that's the look you want.

Just to keep this simple, maybe get another set of 17x9 for the rear and call it a day. A square setup that can be rotated is actually pretty desirable, and 275/40-17 tires are half the cost of 18 inch tires.

I have 17x9 on my car (~700 Hp) and straight line traction is acceptable with Falken RT660 tires. And grip in the corners is phenomenal. Very high fun factor with those tires.

 

Yes that is my dad.

I think that is what I'll do, go with a square setup and see if I can get 2 more 17x9.5 for the rear. And I'm around 600 Hp so it should be fine. I'm hoping Bruce at Hawks will still swap those rears for me.

 

Took another look at your pictures. You're not kidding, those tires really did crash into the fender lip. A 26" tall tire like that should never rub if the factory axle bump stops are in place. I'm guessing the bump stops were cut out to squeeze the tire in there?

So the other bad news I have for you is if the bump stops are gone, then the tires are the only thing that kept the axle from smashing into the subframe. You really need to put bump stops back in. Even a stiff spring will hit the bump stops while driving.

 

The original bump stops are still there and intact. Not sure why they don't prevent the rubbing, maybe they don't line up exactly with the new rear end? That doesn't make sense though.

 

Looks like the rear axle is polished from bump stops touching?
How squishy is the bump stop? Might have dry rotted.

 

I went and looked at some C6 wheels tonight off an 05'. I really like the look but not sure how much trouble it's going to be to get them to work. I know this has been talked about a lot here and other forums. When I pulled the rear wheel to check the fit, there was no spacer. The rear end is the Hawks 8.8 so seems I would need a 2" spacer like most guys have used with the C6 wheels right? Or do I need a narrower spacer because this rear end is wider than the stock 7.5"?

The wheels seem like a good deal, $500 and they come with a decent set of Michelin run-flats. Fronts are 245/40/18 and the rears are 285/3519. So the rears wheels are 1" narrower and 30mm on the tire compared to my current setup. If I pull the trigger on these I will probably have them powder coated as well.

Inner fender rubbing with current setup-