historical accuracy, was: <VV> Tire gurus

[Tony Underwood]

At 08:14 hours 03/29/2005, airvair wrote:
>Mike,
>
>All I can say is that you are definately showing your youth. You are too 
>used to seeing modern cars with "rubber band" tires of 50, 40, 30, and 
>even 25 section that you don't know any different. Cars didn't always show 
>all rim and no tire. Way back in the bone age when Corvairs were new, 
>tires were a large part of the profile looks of a car. The Corvair's 
>7.00-13 tires have a HUGE sidewall, almost half the diameter! You need to 
>see a Corvair with the correct 7.00-13 tires to appreciate that. Nothing 
>today even comes close, which is the problem.
>
>Having been around Corvairs since their introduction, I can speak from 
>experience. Which is why I have always maintained that even a 185/80R-13 
>is too small for Corvairs. Bruce Schug presented a great assessment of the 
>situation in a recent post.



There's a set of Goodyear 185-80s on my '60 which check out as "just about 
right" in diameter, when compared to the original spare which is still in 
the trunk, which likely still has 1960 air in it... and although showing 
some fine cracks in the sidewalls and between the tread, it still holds air 
and it's been used a time or two in the 21 years I've had the car.   The 
Goodyear radials on the '60 are within about an inch of being the same 
height as that original tire.

I have a couple of original late 700x13 spares taken out of cars that got 
parted or got new tires all-around etc and had the original spares 
discarded for whatever reason.   The '67 500 has its original 700x13 spare 
as well, which still works OK, although it leaks down a bit after a couple 
of months, have to check it regularly.   Old as it is, the 700x13 blackwall 
carried the '67 over 120 miles to a show when the car had a blowout on the 
way...  involving an obscure brandname tire that only had a few thousand 
miles on it.

A suitable replacement was purchased from a tire store while at the show, 
and upon returning home the '67 got 4 fresh 14" upper-class radials from 
Sears, along with 4 spotlessly clean 14" wheels which also mount the 14" 
correct-year GM wire wheel covers that are on it now and doing quite nicely 
after 30K miles (the '67 500 is also a daily driver)...  I didn't trust the 
other three obscure brand tires that had been on the car any farther than I 
could throw them.   They got recycled, didn't even keep them as spares 
seeing as how one of the three remaining tires had also developed a thump 
upon returning back to Roanoke after the show.   Junk tires... even though 
they looked fresh with plenty of tread and decent looking rubber all 
around.   A chunk the size of my hand flew off, taking a layer of chord 
with it, tire went flat *right now* and the piece of tread still clinging 
to the tire via some of the chord tried to pummel the inside of the fender 
well into submission before I got stopped.     (I took a photo of the DOA 
tire just for funzies as it lay in the garbage container)

The tires on the '60 4-door are about as close as any that I've seen, far 
as being the right diameter.   They're out of production now, discontinued 
last year and replaced with something bearing a different monicker and 
slightly different tread but looks like the same tire...  for now... until 
the manufacturers stop making 13" tires altogether.

The Lakewood  needs a couple of tires...  I guess it's time to go shopping 
around again for more 13" radials.

...IF it stops raining long enough.   This has already gone down as the 
areas 3rd coldest and wettest March in recorded history.   Last summer was 
more of the same,  rainy'est summer in decades and with fewer >80 degree 
temps days than any summer in over 40 years.       Global Warming my ass...

I'll be satisfied if it would just dry out a bit so the ground doesn't 
squish when I walk on it or let a jack sink through it if I should wanna 
change a tire.    Weather that doesn't require a jacket would be nice, too...



tony..