67 Barracuda- Brakes and suspension on a 5000 budget- advice needed

A sticky, skinny tire can be just as good or better than a hard, wide one.

Good luck finding a sticky skinny tire. Unless by sticky you mean “lasts a million miles”. :D

One of the biggest issues with 16” and smaller wheels is finding a tire with a decent compound without running drag radials and replacing them every couple of months. That and you can’t run 13” brakes.