It has been holding down the floor on the barn for the last 30 years so new rubber is definitely necessary !
Currently there is a haphazzard mix of 215/75R14s on there. Disk on the front Drums in the rear if it matters.
anybody have a word from the wise on what I should put on there ? Can I get a little more beefy while staying stock rims?

I was thinking either
Cooper Cobra Radial G/T All-Season P225/70R14 98T
BFGoodrich Radial T/A All-Season Tire-P225/70R14 98S

they both seem to be around 120 bucks ish

 

Any reason why you don't want to move up to 15" wheels? It's not that you'll have substantially more tire brand choices but you can maybe go wider on the rims for meatier tires to then be added. on a 14x7, probably the safest you can go is 235 70 (assuming available in 14"). if you moved up to 15x8 rims, you could safely go 245 60 all around or possibly even 255 -50 in the rear if you wanted to do a staggered front/rear stance.

Coopers and BFG's have been a staple muscle car go-to forever in 14 and 15" sizes - Many opinions on each can be found on past board posts but I don't believe either is ultimately much better or worse than the other. you might also want to research Mickey Thompson tires (SA series I believe) but I've never used them myself.

 

My car had 245-60-14s on the original 14x7 SSII wheels for nearly 20 years before I swapped them for 245-60-15s on 15x7 SSIII wheels. I had no issues whatsoever with the 245-60-14s as there is way, way more than enough clearance in the rear fender wells, and nothing up front rubbed even at steering wheel full-lock.

If you want to stay with a taller tire, 225-70s would be my choice.

 

Both those options are great, have had both makes and models on my 69.

Here is a 4 option comparison.

First, factory correct bias ply.


Second, factory radial equivalent.


Third, the Cobra you are interested in.


Fourth, Radial T/A your interested in.

 

In my opinion the Radial T/A is the best looking tire bar none. They weigh more and cost more than Cobras because they physically have a wider fuller tread width. Its very obvious in the pics I uploaded. The tread width is much closer to section width, were as the Cobras taper in more aggressively from section width (tire bulge) to edge of tread width.

Drive/ride/handling wise the Cobras and Radial T/As are dead even IMHO. ( of note I only have Cobras on the rear of my car)

If you are a stickler for factory appearance the Cobras make more sense. Again lookin at the pics you can see that the factory bias ply radial equivalent clearly resembles the Cobra GT more than the Radial T/A.

Here are all specs for your consideration.

Standard tire size: Factory 1970 Rallye 350 ( Automobile Catalog)

G70 - 14 Tire width (section width) 8.74 Tire sidewall factor: 70 Rim size (in): 14 Total wheel diameter (in): 26.2
Tread width is 6.9 in (Coker Tire)

Simplified.
G70 - 14 Factory = 8.7" section width 6.9 " tread width 26.2" overall diameter.
225 70 14 Cobra = 8.9" section width 5.8" tread width 26.3" overall diameter.
225 70 14 T/As = 9" section width 6.8" tread width 26.5" overall diameter.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...!&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...SR4RADTARWL2V3

By the way the Cobra GT is 4 lbs lighter than the Radial T/A you are interested in. That type of weight savings is what interested me the most on my car. The financial savings were just a bonus. Again looks wise Radial T/As all the way.

 

don't forget KELSEY Tire's GOODYEAR POLYGLAS G70-14 .......... who's selling BFGs for $120ish?
​​​​​​​

 

Discount Tire shows them for $140 and the Coopers for $120. That's a lot closer in price than Summit for sure.

Interestingly, they also have a Milestar tire for $96 and a General tire for $98.

https://www.discounttire.com/fitment...size/225-70-14

 

I bought Mickey Thompson S/T, they are clones of the Coopers with slightly more aggressive tread. Happy with the purchase. My take is 70 series tires would be more appropriate to the era and not radically change the look with a slight improvement in handling. If you want better traction for flooring it, you could put 60s in the rear and 70s in the front. For all out performance and handling you can put 60s all around. I would pick a size tire that matches your original tire diameter, which you can look up at many sites.

 

unfortunate the Dunlop Sport Classics are not available larger than 205/70R14 - those are my wheels for the Olds Omega

 

great info thanks guys !

 

Coker Tire makes a G70 radial that looks like a real bias ply from 1970. Not cheap. Check out Jay Leno's Garage; the '70 GTO Judge episode. They used them on that car.