I just bought a stock '79 El Camino and want to put a set of 16" or 17" custom wheels and tires on it, without altering the ride height, etc. I am having trouble finding a wheel style that will fit. Are there later model Chevy bolt patterns and offsets that I can use when searching for a wheel that will also work on my '79? All I seem to get is the OEM or "Classic" wheels because of the year. Any suggestions or numbers that I should be using?

I've got some wheels out of the GM performance catalog that are 16's. you can use wheels that fit Camaro, S10 2WD.You can cosult a tire store to find tire sizes that are the same outside diameter or pretty close to the OEM tires.

Your bolt pattern is 5 x 4 3/4". As far as backset I have a 4.5" with my 17s. Many people are also running 4" backset. So anything from 4 ~ 4.5 will work for you.

And Larry Welcome to ECC http://www.poltergeist.us/images/wavey.gif

i was thinking of some American Racing Baja rims 16 x8's myself, would that fit as long as bolt pattern is correct, cause i don't see to much more room with my stock setup. please help...

16x8 with 4-4.5" backspacing and not much offset if any should work fine. I've seen 20s on 5th gens! I don't like them, but that's about the limit I guess.

I just installed a set of 1999 S-10 Extreme wheels ...16 x 8 There is one problem. The center hole. My '79 hub measures 2.780 inches in diameter, the new wheels were smaller. I did not have anything to measure the Extreme hole (later discovered they are about 2.765)

Some people on the suspension forum suggested a die grinder and because of the small amount needed to be removed, this might work but would not be accurate. I found a friend with a mill and we bored the wheel hole.

The backspacing on these wheels is roughly 4 1/4. The wheels came with 245-55 r 16 tires and when measured beside the tires that are on the El Camino now (205x75-14) are about 1/4 inch taller.

I went to an online tire calculator (www.powerdog.com) and the closest 16 inch tire to the 205/75-14 that are on there is a 235/55-16, only 3 revolutions per mile difference.

I did the S-10 ZQ8 wheel setup myself, and along with opening up the wheel hub diameter, you need to use metric wheel studs, on any EC from 78-82 that use the standard pitch studs. Otherwise you wont be able to use the dual threaded lug nuts and thread on caps that hold down the centercap. These wheels are available new from GMPP for about 600$. Plus they come either with Chevy or GMC centtercaps (For you Caballaro and Sprint owners)... Extra trick!!

try www.bigwheels.net they have all size and style wheels to fit any vehicle.

peace
paul