[ford38v8]

farmertom, I hope you have checked for tire clearance in the wheelwell before you bought those tires. You say they are wider than the 6.50x16 tires on it now, just know that 6.00x16 was the original tire size for your car.

You should also have in your possession a balancing adapter plate, as your tire shop will not otherwise be able to balance your tires. They might have VW adapters, but those will not work for your wheels. Get an adapter from Speedway, change the lugs to fit your wheels, and have your shop balance the adapter alone before mounting to your wheel.

Your rims were not made for tubeless tires, and have no safety lip. You must do two things here: Carefully clean and blend any imperfections on the rim sealing surface, and never let your tire pressure go soft. Many if not most tubeless radials mounted on early rims are used with tubes, as you have in your wheels now. Tubes will always require talcum powder to prevent sticking to the inside of the tire, no matter if bias or radial.

Remounting your wheels properly is critical also. The bolt pattern, wide five, will stress the drum egg shape if not torqued correctly in a criss-cross fashion, to the same torque on all five. It doesn't take much to deform a drum enough to affect the braking action of that wheel, so take your time to do it right and your car will love you for it.