1972 Tires - Goodyear/Firestone

[Jerome E Pederson]

Is there a way to determine what manufactures tires (Goodyear or Firestone)were on the car when it was delivered to the new car dealer?

Maybe it is easier to askand get answered; Does it matter if I buy the F70-15's from Kelsey Tire (Goodyear) or Coker Tire (Firestone)? The Kelsey tires appear to be a closer match to original Goodyear tires then the Coke tire does to the original Firestone tire.

Jerry Pederson

[Joe L.]

Re: 1972 Tires - Goodyear/Firestone

Jerry-----

The only way to tell which brand tires were on the car from St. Louis are as follows:

1) The car still has the original spare;

2) The car still has the tire warranty paperwork which was originally supplied with the car.

That's it.

From a judging perspective, it does not matter which brand of tires is on the car. However, as you noted, the Kelsey reproduction of the Goodyear Speedway Wide Tread is much closer to the original tire of that model used on the car than is the Coker reproduction of the Firestone Wide Oval tire originally used on Corvettes. The differences in the current Firestone reproduction versus the original are well known amonst judges. So, I would presume that one would suffer less point deduction, if any at all, with the Goodyear reproduction than with the Firestone reproduction.

The Firestone reproductions are a fiberglass belted tire and the words Sup-R-Belt are prominently displayed on the sidewall. The original Corvette tires were not belted and, consequently, did not have this inscription on the sidewalls. There is also a difference in the tread between the 2 tires (one or the other has more "ribs" than the other, as I recall).

[Norm C.]

Joe...Did Production Dates or Options...

have an effect which brand of Tires were used? My 72 is a Nov 71 production date 4spd & A/C (orig owner) purchased in Florida. Friends who also bought their cars at the same time noticed that earlier produced cars with 4spd's and or A/C seem to be more often Goodyears,,,,, yet Auto Trans or the very few without A/C seemed to be Firestone..... Then later in the production year, they seem to be mostly Firestone?

[Dick W.]

Re: 1972 Tires - Goodyear/Firestone

As Joe states the Kelsey Goodyear is much closer in appearance that the Coker Firestones. The tread width and the nomenclature on the Firestones differs from originals quite a bit.

Another note. The spare and the tires on the ground do not have to match for judging.

[Jerome E Pederson]

Re: 1972 Tires - Goodyear/Firestone

Dick, Your comments are straight forward, but I have to ask any way, Would it be better to have all tires the same for judging. What about the rims? Can the rims have different dates as long as they are all coded with an "AZ" code?

Jerry

[John H.]

Re: 1972 Tires - Goodyear/Firestone

Jerry -

Makes no difference for judging, as long as the four on the ground match, and the spare doesn't have to match the other four. The only wheel that's judged for I.D./date is the spare, as the trim rings on the road wheels obscure that information.

[Drew P.]

Re: 1972 Tires - Goodyear/Firestone

Hello Jerry,
The other tire brand was used is Uniroyal. What month of production was your Corvette built? What side wall style are you looking for black, ww or rwl?
Do you have a build sheet to provide information of how it was built?
Regards,
Drew Papsun

[Joe L.]

Re: Joe...Did Production Dates or Options...

Norm-----

If there was any pattern for which tire brands were used, I'm unaware of it.

[Jerome E Pederson]

Re: 1972 Tires - Goodyear/Firestone

June 14, 1972 was the build date. I am looking for RWL(4 possibly 5).

Also looking for 4 Kelsey Hayes rally wheels with date codes of Aripl/May 1972.

Jerry Pederson

[Patrick H.]

Re: 1972 Tires - Goodyear/Firestone

My 72 was built the first week of June, and has Firestones.

Don't worry about wheel date codes for the 4 road wheels as they are hidden behind the trim rings and not judged.

Patrick

[James W.]

Re: 1972 Tires - Goodyear/Firestone

Jerry,

I just sold a September, 1971 built 72 big block auto with A/C coupe. It had the still had the original spare manufactured 3 weeks before the car and it was a Goodyear F70-15.

Jim Williams