The 195/70R13 tires currently on my stock 78 Mustang II need replacing. These cannot be found. What other size tires can I use on my 4 lug pattern 13 inch rims to maintain the stock look? I would like to use the same rims. Thanks for your advice in advance.
Depends on bolt pattern and back spacing. The tire will fit but if they are off a front wheel drive the wheel will not fit. A fox body wheel can fit but they sit too far inboard due to back spacing and rub the control arms up front and look odd on the rear.
Your only choices are swapping to 5 lug, using the 205/60/13 available via cooker tire, or wheel spacers to make a fox body like wheel fit. There is one wheel made for us. The magnum 400. Or you can search for used 14" or 15" wheels.
The 205/60 is slightly shorter tire but will be the easiest path to get you back on the road. If you plan on keeping the car I would really consider the 5 lug conversion. It opens up a lot of wheel and tire choices. It really is not hard to do if you can find someone to redrill the axles. I had Moser do mine. They actually put them on a lathe to resurface the face once they weld them up. Really nice work. Only 120 bucks iirc. You can get 5 lug rotors as well. You can upgrade the front brakes if going to 15" while your at it but they do make a stock 5 lug rotor. They are about $100 a set.
Work, yes. Well, Probably not. It was an optional tire for the II. Just short and narrow. One of the parts cars I picked up last year has them. They look tiny on it. It is probably the easiest way to get her mobile though. If your going 185/70 maybe do the 205/60 on the rear. They are about the same height and would fill the wheel wells better. Be leary of 205 on front though. The13's may be short enough but I run 205/60/15 on the front and they rub when turning onto an incline like a driveway or store apron that is raised. That is with the fender liner removed and a bfh massaging a couple spots.
Great photos. Thanks!
If you used 205/70R14 tires on the front, how significantly would the rubbing be reduced?
Looks like the quickest, easiest, and least expensive route is the 185/70R13 though. It needs to be drivable.
I actually have a poor memory. I am running 205/60/14 on front. I changed to 15" rears but left front 14". I did cut 1/3 of a coil from front but the tires rubbed before that. Unless you want to get into dealing with rubbing and pulling the fender liner then beating a body seam flat stay with 195 or smaller. Pulling the fender liners mean dealing with water and dirt slinging into the door jambs if driven in the rain.
205/70 would be taller and just as wide. You would have more troubles than I did. The 205 is the tread width in mm, 70 is the tire side wall height expressed as a percentage of width. I think 195 is widest we can go without bringing out the hammer.