<VV> update on tires

[Tony Underwood]

At 04:28 PM 1/5/2011, MarPack57 at aol.com wrote:
>OK  so here's what I did today (boss was out of the office). I called
>several tire dealers who in turn called their suppliers. I asked if 
>they could
>get 185x80x13 tires. Some laughed, some said no way, one guy said he hasn't
>seen those since he was in diapers! All asked what they were going 
>on and when
>I told them the usual comments were made. Anyway I stopped at Tire Kingdom
>on the way home. He said he had at least 70 of them in the Tampa warehouse
>and over 100 in the West Palm Beach warehouse. I'm in the Tampa-St.
>Petersburg area. They are $71.00 a piece plus tax, mounting etc.


Ouch...


I better go back to the local Firestone store and buy 4 more, jus' 
cuz.  They cost me 41 bucks each...


>       He gave me a store directory and although they are called different
>names they seem to be all over the US.If you want to persue this in your area
>email me and I can tell you what is near you. They only come in blackwall.
>        Would have liked to have had whitewalls but hey it's a tire. Ed in
>Florida



You DO know that there is tire paint that you can use to put a 
whitewall onto a tire thus...


A bud did this with some BIG tires he put on his '64 Plymouth 426 
(stroked to 482ci) Max-Wedge car... which had custom 10" wide steel 
wheels on the back with 14" wide tires on them (largest he could fit 
in the wheel wells and still not rub on either the inner well OR the 
FENDER SKIRTS).    No whitewall tires available in widths like 
that.   These wheels also were 15".    He wanted to keep the original 
14" wheel covers... had the machine shop that widened (banded) the 
15" wheels modify them further.   They sliced off a section of the 
outer rim from a 14" wheel, centered and welded it onto the 15" 
wheel.   Bingo, his stock '64 Fury wheel covers fit the 15" wheels.

Then he perched the car on jackstands, started it, put it in gear, 
and with a crayon traced out whitewall outlines on the back tires to 
match the fronts, taped them up and painted on the whitewalls with 
tire paint.   This was happening as I'd dropped by to see him, asked 
WTF he was doing...

It stuck, didn't crack or peel and it stayed slightly off-white just 
like whitewalls used to do.   It was like that for years, still 
looked just fine last time I saw the car STILL wearing the same huge 
back tires.   And, it looked stock from the sides.   Not from behind 
though.


When's the last time you saw a 14" wide whitewall tire?



tony..


PS:   if ever there was a sleeper, that car was it.   That old 
Plymouth was a monster in disguise, looked like something grandpa 
would drive.

PSS:   if things get bad enough, that hubcap cut-rim trick works with 
a 13" cap on a 14" wheel...