<VV> New "stock" tires for LM's with custom white walls

[tony..]

On 3/25/2020 11:17 PM, larry--- via VirtualVairs wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
> OK, now that we are talking white walls,


For what it's worth:


If the stuff is still available...


My old bud Don (Mopars) had a sleeper '64 Plymouth Max-Wedge car.   He 
used to do a bit of 'real' racing and had a long history of being 
involved with drag race hardware and engine builds.   He wanted real 
street performance in the Plymouth but he also wanted stock appearance 
in every way.


He had stock 14" whitewall tires on the front.  No problems.

The back tires were a different story.   The engine was radical, and 
stroked to 482 cubic inches with enough camshaft to wake the dead.  The 
Stage-III max heads, already serious, were polished/ported.  Lots of 
tricks.  The car was a monster.  The only way there was any sort of 
chance of the tires in back actually hooking up was to run Marsh cheater 
slicks on the back, with suggestions of tread.  They were about 13 
inches wide.   The back rims were banded to accommodate the wide tires, 
which would have been wider if Don could have fit anything wider inside 
the wheel well.  The banded wheels also had to have the offset 
"adjusted" so the tires would fit the car without rubbing. Likewise, the 
wheels also had to be 15" since the tires weren't available in anything 
less than 15's.  But Don wanted to keep the stock '64 Fury wheel covers. 
   His solution was to cut the outer rim section from a pair of 14" 
wheels and carefully weld these "rings" onto the 15" wheels.   This 
allowed the 14" wheelcovers to fit the 15" wheels.

No whitewalls available on cheater slicks.  Don needed white wall tires 
all around.

White tire paint.  He got his from J.C. Whitney.  Not sure if other 
sources carried the stuff.   He carefully masked off the tires and 
painted whitewalls onto them, to match the white walls on the front.

He jacked up the rear  of the car onto jack stands, started it, put it 
in gear to spin the rear tires, and traced/scribed the outlines where he 
wanted the white to be with chalk, taped around the marks, and with a 
brush painted the white walls onto the tires.  I watched him do it.  
Afterwards they looked quite passable even when viewed up close.

Don drove the car maybe 50 miles a week, not a lot but it did get used.  
He had two other Plymouths, both '66 models, both 426 Hemi cars, 
eventually sold both, kept the '64 Max-Wedge Fury until he passed about 
9 years later, and left the car to a mutual friend and drag racer 
(Linwood Craft) who had always admired the car. The car was Still 
wearing those cheater slicks with the tire paint white walls on the back 
and they still looked good.  In fact, they had faded to a light beige 
just like the white walls on the front.  Probably would have washed up 
pure white again with a bit of scrubbing.

If tire paint is still available, it could well be an option for the 
intrepid enthusiast who wants vintage appearing white walls on his 
vintage car.

...and, I seldom ever miss a chance to mention my bud Don Keesey, old 
school drag racer and hemi enthusiast and engine builder/tuner and 4bbl 
carb guru who was one of the more ingenious guys I ever knew.   And he 
liked my Corvairs.

So... anybody know if white tire paint is still around?

tony..



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