Not a lot of good choices there really. 17x8's with 4.5" of backspace (0 offset) are a waste of rim in the front. Not enough backspace to run a tire wide enough to need an 8" wide rim. The 17x7's would be a better choice but again with a 0 offset rim you'd only be looking at like a 215/50/17 in the front. A 225/50/17 on a 17x7" with 4" of backspace would stick out further than the 275/35/18's I have on 18x9's up front on my Duster, you'd be pushing your luck for sure as I don't have any extra room to the fenders on my car.
In the back it depends on your rear axle. Being a '74 I'd guess you have a 7.25 or 8.25 BBP rear axle?
If that's the case a 17x8" with 4.5" of backspace would work, you could run up to a 255/45/17 on that pretty easily. You could also run the 255/45/17 on a 17x9 with a 5" backspace, should work ok. If you wanted to run the 17x9 with a 5" backspace with a 275/40/17 you'd probably need a small spacer to make that work, the BBP 7.25/8.25 rear axles are narrower than the A-body 8 3/4's. I test fit 17x9's with 5" of backspace and 275/40/17's on my '74 Duster when it still had the 7.25" in it and I needed a 1/4" spacer to clear the springs. Whole different ball game with an A-body 8 3/4 and BBP axles.
