Which tires will work best for this car?

[Monty]

I'm starting to plan the build for  my AMT '66 Nova, which I intend to do as a mild street machine.  

I'd like to use tires that are slightly wider (but not taller) than stock up front, and a wider tire in back that will work with the stock chassis and wheel wells since I won't be tubbing it.

I intend to use Fireball generic resin tires along with his sidewall decals.  Which combo of these tires would work best for this build? 

[1972coronet]

While I don't have a definitive answer , I'm sure that @Chief Joseph( Joseph Osbourne ) would be able to help . He's always been helpful to me when deciding upon which of his wheels and-or tyres will work for a specific application .

[StevenGuthmiller]

Probably none of them.

I would assume that the Nova would have been equipped with 14 inch wheels at the largest.

These are all 15 inch, so if you don't want taller, my guess is that none of these will fit with what you want to do.

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Monty]

27 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Probably none of them.

I would assume that the Nova would have been equipped with 14 inch wheels at the largest.

These are all 15 inch, so if you don't want taller, my guess is that none of these will fit with what you want to do.

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

Any tires you'd recommend that would fit?

[Plowboy]

Unless you're building it as a factory stock, (which I don't think you are), 15" wheels will work fine. From what you're describing that you want, I'd get the F-60 for the front and the L-60 for the rear. 

[Bucky]

I had a '74 Olds Omega (Nova cousin) back in '74-'75, and I ran F70-14 on the front and G60-14 on the back.

Didn't have the cash flow to purchase any wheels, so I ran the factory wheels:

Disclaimer: This is NOT the car I owned in 1974.

[Sandboarder]

5 hours ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Probably none of them.

I would assume that the Nova would have been equipped with 14 inch wheels at the largest.

These are all 15 inch, so if you don't want taller, my guess is that none of these will fit with what you want to do.

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

Larger diameter wheels use lower profile tires. Therefore the overall diameter or circumference is actually the same size when fitted correctly.
 

So they won’t be taller. Of course that’s in real life 1:1 not 1:24

[StevenGuthmiller]

7 hours ago, Plowboy said:

Unless you're building it as a factory stock, (which I don't think you are), 15" wheels will work fine. From what you're describing that you want, I'd get the F-60 for the front and the L-60 for the rear. 

 

3 hours ago, Sandboarder said:

Larger diameter wheels use lower profile tires. Therefore the overall diameter or circumference is actually the same size when fitted correctly.
 

So they won’t be taller. Of course that’s in real life 1:1 not 1:24

Maybe so fellas, but as we know, there can be a big difference in scale.

Here is a pic of the original tires from the Revell '68 Charger kit side by side with the Fireball 15 inch tires I'll be using on my Coronet.

Huge difference!

 

 

 

And the '66 Nova tires next to the 15 inch.

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

[espo]

You are up against a couple of problems to consider with the tire to use on the '66 Nova. The 1:1 car would have had either a 6.95x14 tire with the optional V-8 engine. The 70 series tries were just starting to hit the after market and only a very few OEM applications. Now the real challenge is that we work with a sometimes inaccurate scale parts and tires in particular. Example, most model companies will put the same generic tire in a Chevelle kit for example as they put in a Caprice kit. To my eye this leaves you with a tire that looks to big on the Chevelle and to small on the Caprice, but this is just my opinion.  So back to your question for your '66 Nova. The tire options if you're going with the 15" wheel size would be best around the E60x15 and the F60x15 as the largest. My suggestion would be to position the kits tire in the intended position, Check for reasonable  clearances and appearance. Does it look right to your eye ? Then measure the diameter and width of the tire and then compare that to the tires that are offered. This should give you a better idea what would or wouldn't fit and look the way you want it to. I think in the end it's just what looks correct to you for the vision you have for your build. OO and please post pictures as it sounds interesting. 

[MeatMan]

Well, the good thing about using Fireball tires is that they give the dimensions.

Check the stock tire size and compare them with the listed dimensions.

Back in the day I ran L60's on the rear of my 70 Chevelle and they barely fit, and that's with banging out the inner lip, so on a Nova that might be a stretch as they are a tall tire, at least on a 1:1.

When we were rodding we never used anything but 15's. Novas, Malibus, Chevelles, we had them all and used 15's on every one.

I say mock up the chassis onto the body and measure how wide a tire you can fit in the wheel well, being sure to leave room in the front so it looks like the wheel would turn then go for it.

[Snake45]

13 hours ago, Bucky said:

I had a '74 Olds Omega (Nova cousin) back in '74-'75, and I ran F70-14 on the front and G60-14 on the back.

I ran the same combination on my first '69 Camaro. They were Michelin Radials and ran great. 

[Casey]

The rear wheelhouses on the AMT '66 Chevy Nova are small/narrow, so there is little rooms for wide tires back there. The slicks included with the Grumpy Jenkins version were a smaller diameter and narrower width than what most people would use as an upgraded sized tire, so I think your choices are going to be somewhat limited and you'll have to err on the side of narrower and shorter.

These are the Grumpy Jenkins kit's slicks, just for size reference, compared to the stock Firestones: