Whitewall Tires.

[Don S.]

My tires are at least 12 years old that I know of. They look almost new treadwise as they only get 100 miles a year on them. The problem is the white wall has turned yellowish. They just sit in a hot garage in Florida and turn yellow over the summer. I can try and clean them up with an SOS pad but they still look yellow --especially when I put them next to a new pair I just bought. My question is is there anyway these can be refurbished other than trying a tire white which does not work. Is there any way to use a white paint or ???

[Joseph T.]

Re: Whitewall Tires.

Don

What has happened is that the rubber has discolored because of oxidation. Years ago when passenger tires were retreaded ( bias tire days ) the retread shops had a whitewall tire buffer to freshen up the whitewalls after retreading. I used to take the dual whites and have them grind the sidewalls to make single whites. Unfortunately I don't know of anyone that recaps car tires today. What you might try is using some emery cloth or varing grits of sand paper on the sidewalls to remove the discolored rubber . Hope this helps. Joe

[Ray C.]

Re: Whitewall Tires.

I used a house hold cleaning pad (steel wool) with Oxi-clean and the white walls looked like new.

Ray

[Wayne P.]

Re: Whitewall Tires.

Joe is on the money. Sanding usually does the trick if cleaning doesn't.

[Kent K.]

Re: Whitewall Tires.

Don,

Tires on my '67 were purchased sometime in '93 and have been on the car ever since in the same hot conditions as yours. I used Westley's Bleech White (WBW) just before Old Town to clean them back to a presentable white. I wet the tires first, sprayed WBW on, let it work for a couple of minutes, sprayed more WBW on and rinsed well with water. Please remove your wheelcovers and protect the body before using this product. If you use WBW, I hope it works for your wide whites.

Regards, Kent #6201

[Lyndon S.]

Re: Whitewall Tires.

Kent

I also use the Westley's on my tires. good stuff and will get your tires white again.

[Mark G.]

[Eric J.]

Re: Whitewall Tires.

Don. Periodically check the inside (the non whitewall side closest to the frame) sidewall for dry rot or cracking. I had a set of 15 year old tires that looked great on the white side but cracked on the inside. Eric #3,182

[Garry Barnes]

Re: Whitewall Tires.

Don, I had a situation this summer where I had bought new Coker wide whites for my '56 that was to be judged at Bloomington. Needless to say, time was running out and the tires were the last thing I had done. One of them had a very stubborn yellowing on the whitewall that wasn't coming off with any of the cleaners mentioned so far. The Coker rep suggested that I take a fine sand paper (I had some 400 grit) and some soap and water and work it lightly. It worked very well and got me by the rainy day at St. Charles, but I ultimately had them send me a newer tire because I figured that the mold release would continue to bleed through on this tire. Good luck.
Garry

[Don S.]

Re: Whitewall Tires.

Thanks guys-- I used Wesly's once, got it on the stainlees wheel cover and it marked it. (Kinda like an acid) Havn't used it since. Does anyone know if there is any way to protect the tires over the summer. I know when you get new whitewalls they have a blue coating on them. What is that stuff.

[Dave Suesz]

Strange...

I've been using Westley's for over 20 years and I never had the slightest such problem.

[Dave Suesz]

Oops...

How'd THAT pic get in there?

[Roy B.]

Re: Oops...

Nice wheel on your 55 stock??

[Dave Suesz]

Nahhh...

There was a discussion of aftermarket wheels a while back, and the cookie attached to my new post.

This might have been more appropriate:

[Philip C.]

For deep cleaning remove them from the car. *NM*