C3 Tires & Vacuum

[don justham]

Two part question:

I have a 1970 Corvette and I want to put some new tires on it. What size would be closest to the originals?

I want to replace the hoses in the vacuum system. Is it best to buy a complete set from one of the suppliers? Is it pretty straight forward to replace them in the proper way?

Thanks

[Joe L.]

Re: C3 Tires & Vacuum

Don-----

1) If OD is the most important consideration to you, then a 225-70R15 is the size closest to the original F-70-15 tires used on your car. OD is virtually the same for both of these tire sizes. If tread width and section width are most important to you, then 215-70R15 is the closest size, although this tire size is a little smaller in OD than the originals. If you purchase a reproduction, bias ply tire from Kelsey Tire or Coke Tire, then you can get an exact fit. But, you'll have to live with the performance of an old 2 ply, bias ply tire;

2) The best way to go on vacuum hose replacement is a Dr. Rebuild kit. These have complete instructions and, in my opinion, are ABSOLUTELY the best kits on the market. Absolutely. Positively. Period.

[Jack H.]

Re: C3 Tires & Vacuum

Guess I have a slightly different opinion than Joe on the subject of Shark vac system hoses. First, my experience is there's typcially no need to 'gut' the factory original hoses and replace them. Rubber is a 'hearty' critter and leaks are typically the result of hose-end deterioration. Simply cleaning up what you have (WD40 is an EXCELLENT wipe-down agent) and inspecting each hose junction for splits/rot and 'nipping' off a small segment to get to fresh rubber will 'ususally' result in A-OK operation and preserve the factory originality of this area of the car.

Last, no matter how good a given vendor's reproduction product is, it's still a repro. You can expect subtle differences that some judges can detect....

[Duke W.]

Re: C3 Tires & Vacuum

Actually the nominal OD and revs per mile of the 215/70R-15 are identical to the F70-15, but I would recommend 225/70R-15 or 235/70R-15 police pursuit tires for a '70.

See the current issue (Spring 2003) of The Corvette Restorer for Part I of an extensive article on selecting tires for vintage Corvettes, and Part II should be in the next issue.

Duke