That's roughly my plan, all right. Tho I don't figure to surgically remove the vertical bulkhead extension behind the seats, as tempting as the thought might be. Originality, and all that. Plus, it will keep loose luggage from striking the seatbacks.

Also, I'm looking for a skinny spare on a 15" wheel to get the overall dia. closer to that of the road wheels. This will not fit into the well for a flat floor of course, but will occasion shorter (bolt-in) supports/belt mounts and vertical partition and at the edge of the spare. This will require new carpet pieces, so I figure to do edged cuts for the spare lid and on the actual floor over the bin lids.

So again, anyone know where a fellow could get a pair of the Factory bin lids these days? Any thoughts on a fair price for them?

 

I won't be modifying any of the body, but need a spare that fits the existing '72 spare tire well.  (Should this be a different thread?)

My car has dual ventilated disc brakes all around and the current wheel and tire are      wheel: 16x7.0  4X114.3 bolt pattern.  The tire is a 205/55 R16.   The overall diameter  of this combination is 632mm  (24.44") and 205mm section width.  The spare well won't accept anything greater than 165mm section width.  So. . .

I've figured the spare should be a wheel: 15x6.5,  4x114.3  (or 15x6.0, 15x5.5, etc...) and tire: 165/75 R15 .  The overall diameter of this combination is 629mm, or only 3mm smaller than what I am running.  The R15 is necessary to clear the brake.

So here comes the fun part.  My current wheel has 0 offset.  The spare wheels I can find have offsets of 35mm or more and that raises the possibility of hitting the brake caliper.   Some smaller positive offset may work but how much I don't know   

Can anyone point me toward finding a candidate wheel?   I would be seriously grateful.