Tires for 66

[Edward D.]

I know the subject of tires has been beaten to death for years on the forum, but since tire availability changes I'm going to ask a few questions anyways. Situation is I'm contemplating removing repro knockoffs and going back to my original steel wheels. I know that the Kelsey Goodyear bias plys score best in judging, but I much prefer the ride & handling of radial tires and so am looking for a radial that would get the least judging deduct. I'm not contemplating keeping two sets of tires, one for driving and one for judging. I've looked at the scoring guidelines and the best thing would appear to be an OEM tire with correct sidewall appearance. Trouble is, such things no longer exist so far as I can tell.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but what I have found is:
1) There is no OEM radial with a 5/8" whitewall made period.
2) There is no OEM radial with a 3/8" gold line made either, only a Goodrich is made by Coker, and Goodrich was NOT a gold line OEM.
3) A radial 3/8" gold line or 5/8" whitewall can be had from Diamondback but not in an OEM brand tire.

I have a set of nice riding Firestone FR710 radials with a 3/4" whitewall on the knockoffs, perhaps I am best off putting them on the steelies?
Your thoughts?

[Edward J.]

[Michael J.]

Re: Tires for 66

IMG_2839.jpgI think your initial idea is correct, if you have OEM tires that ride good and you like the looks of, use that and make up the points that can be lost other ways, remember the points awarded for battery shutoff, NCRS sticker, and fire extinguisher for instance. I plan to leave the Kelsey Goodyear Blue Streak bias ply tires I use for driving, on one of my '64s, on for judging. They look great with the hubcaps, were actually the same tires swapped for the Goodyear WW PCs by the original owner to mount on the car at delivery by the dealer , and ride very well. I will lose mucho points, but will be making the rest as good as I can.......

[John D.]

Re: Tires for 66

How do Uniroyal Tiger Paw II's judge on a C2 ? They are an OEM brand with a narrower whitewall than original. I chose them for my 67 for that reason as well as cost . 205-75-15

Having said that the first set I bought had a problem with whitewalls that went yellow that were replaced by Michelin. The replacement set had the same date code as the first set and went yellow too. This third set have a date code from February this year and so far so good. Took the car for a long spin yesterday and they rode well too.

[David M.]

Re: Tires for 66

I have the same problem with my white walls turning Yellow/brown. Apparently it is a manufacturing defect that did not put a sheath behind the whitewall to stop the black bleeding thru the whitewall. Are your current tires staying white?

[Frank D.]

Re: Tires for 66

The Uniroyals will garner some points as an OEM manufactured tire but you'll still take a significant hit. The points "hit" can be from 20% to 30% according to page 30 of the Judging Reference Guide that I have.

The problem is the whitewalls turn a sickly brown with their recent formula change after just a few weeks (See the other running thread on the topic). If you DO go to judging with them then get one of those foam sandpaper blocks (600 grit ?) from Ace Hardware and scrub the snot out of them a few days before being judged; that's the ONLY way I found to return them to white for a few weeks...

And don't use any of those "mop and glow", blingy tire shine products before judging, not something the judges really care for...

As for keeping two sets of tires, I did so for judging, I changed the piecrust bias plys to radials before driving an hour home from Lakeland after judging; those bias tires were rock hard from age, skittish as all get out and WAY past their expiration date.