So in my quest to put Cragar SS wheels on my car, I've found that Cragar can't build me anything custom that can avoid using an adapter/spacer (unless I go 17"). So I'm looking for what other options I might have in order to make this work. My first thought, after the custom Cragar thing fell through, is to see if there are any smaller calipers out there for the c3 that might not stick out so far. Or is there any other option like extended wheel hub? If not, no big deal, I can use an adapter, was just hoping to avoid it if possible. Thanks!

 

dont like 17's? thats the route I am going. I like them better than the 15's

 

It's not so much a factor of "Don't like" as much as "I've already got 15 inch tires and cragars". Going to 17's would be pretty expensive for tires and wheels, probably close to $2k (unless someone knows how to get them cheaper). Selling my wheels and tires might get me $400, so basically anything that would allow me to make it cost less would be good.

 

Take a peek at the Wilwood Dynalites. They package pretty good, and work well on a C3.

 

I have Wilwood Dynalites on my '69 along with Cragar SS aluminum rims. Good fit, plenty room, no adapters needed. See my sig pictures.

 

I can't find any info on their clearance unfortunately. I did do some 17" cragar research though, looks like I can get into them for $1080 + $460 tires...a little more than I wanted to spend. What I really need to do is find a way to sell my 15" rally's + tires and then the 15" cragar ss wheels and then go 17". At this point though it seems like I might be better off to go torque thruster II 15" and just forget 17" and cragars for now.

 

So are the dynalites a lot shallower than the stock calipers?

 

Define "a lot".

I'd take a peek on the Wilwood website and get the dimensions and compare that to the C3 calipers.

 

"a lot" would probably be 1/2" or more, as Cragar SS wheels require 1/2 spacer to work normally. I'll look up the dimensions, thanks.

 

The Wilwoods I have clear the Cragars by around 1/4", so yes they are more than 1/2" slimmer than stock calipers. They also only weigh 4 lbs. each, compared to the 13 lbs. each for the stock calipers.

See pic......

 

If you order the wheels by year, you will have the correct wheel...What apparently your attempting to use old Cragers that predates your calipers or ...Otherwise they should fit...but theres always spacers

 

I actually talked with Cragar this morning, they told me that do not make a 15 x 8 SS wheel that will fit a 1972 vette without a spacer...that's why it's not an option. He did say that a 17 x 8 should fit my 72 though, although not guaranteed.

Here is my problem in a nutshell:

a) have 15 x 8 factory rally wheels on the car now with almost new tires
b) been wanting cragar SS wheels for a while, saw a great deal on craigslist for a 2007 set and jumped on them
c) get them home, won't fit on the hub(a few people had mentioned that they had gotten some of the newer ones to work in a few random threads...I obviously did not get that lucky)
d) so I think no problem, I'll just put on spacer/adapter...but while reading through all of the posts looking for brands/info, people keep mentioning friends who had wheels fly off, kind of sours me on that idea
e) so now I'm looking for solutions

So the possible solutions are:

a) Get hub centric adapters for $100 to $400, take a possible safety risk (I drive on the interstate with this car at 75mph, so you can see my concern over that)
b) Spend ~1500 and get 17 x 8 cragars with tires, sell 15 x 8 cragars and rally wheels and tires for ~700 probably. Cost $800
c) Spend ~750 on torque thruster II 15 x 8's, sell the other stuff to about break even
d) Spend $600 on the calipers + installation for probably $1k, sell rally wheels. cost about $700

It seems like the best solution as of now is either c or b. I was hoping there might be a cheap d) solution or workaround but that doesn't appear to be the case. There doesn't seem to be any case where using the 15 x 8 cragars makes any economical or safety sense, so that's probably off the table. Thanks for everyone's replies, they've been very helpful.

 

I, too, wanted to get the Cragar's SS wheel and ran into the caliper problem. Did not want to use an adapter because of safety reasons, so I decided to go with the American Racing Torque Thrust II. I get a lot of compliments on the wheel. If I had to do it over, I would get the chrome TTII as opposed to the polished aluminum.. it would be easier to keep shiney! That would be the ONLY reason.



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How about leaving the stock wheels on the car???? You can get chrome rally wheels and pu the centers and rings on them. BUT, I too like the crager ss wheels, had them on my 73 Monte Carlo, but the chrome came off them, no warranty, how sad!!

 

It's obviously your money and your car, but why not put in some time and effort to get the setup/wheels you actually want on your car?

I'm running Dynalites on my car, and it took some work on my part to get everything (rotors and calipers) to clear the wheels, but I was putting a C4 suspension on my car at the time (ancient picture during fabrication below). You can see here how shallow of a hat I had to use with this suspension, and the caliper was still thin enough to allow me to use stock wheels for street use. The stock C3 rotor hat is much deeper than the ones I'm using, so Dynalites might work out for your application.

 

No safety issue with wheel adapters, wheel spacers yes I have safety concerns beyond 1/4 inch.

 

I can verify that the 17"x8" cragars with a 4.5" back space work on a stock 72 with no mods. I picked mine up last january from summit. It took a few months to get them, and with the bfg g force sport comp tires, I have 1500 into them. It's a nice combo.

 

Thanks for posting. Thats my cars twin and I am going with TT II's as well, but 17".

I've been looking for a shot to see what it would look like.