I have some 15-inch "museum" tires

[garyash]

The '63 Wagonaire I acquired had a set of F78-15 white walls on the front and 6.70-15 whitewall snow tires on the rear. The date codes on the tires are from 1982 and 1983. The car was used only on Martha's Vineyard in the summer and last registered in 1984, so they never got many miles on them, just enough to wear off the molding sprue nubbies. If I look very closely, there are some small age cracks, but hardly visible. The car was parked in a dry, dark garage from 1984 to 2006. The whitewalls were on the inside, so they didn't get scraped, but they are dirty, would probably clean up OK.

I don't think anyone should drive on these tires because they are certainly dangerous from an age point of view. But, they might be fine on a car in a museum. What else might they be good for? I'll entertain requests for their use. The tires are 60 miles south of Boston.

[img=left]http://www.studegarage.com/images/gary_ash_m5_sm.jpg[/img=left] Gary Ash
Dartmouth, Mass.
'48 M5
'65 Wagonaire Commander
'63 Wagonaire Standard
web site at http://www.studegarage.com

[wpsrea]

Maybe a back yard swing.

[studegary]

Whitewall snow tires seem really unusual to me. I guess that I am thinking of the '50s-'60s when whitewalls were extra cost that people didn't go for for Winter use. By the late '80s, most tires came with whitewalls standard. I can remember having the snow tires on my Thunderbird mounted reversed so that the blackwall would be out. If this is confusing, I just typed my train of thought where I changed my mind.

I didn't realize that date codes on tires went back that far (1982). I thought that they were a '90s thing, or maybe that is when they became mandatory.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

SDC member since 1968
Studebaker enthusiast much longer

[bradnree]

See page 6 of the latest National Street Rod Association (NSRA) "Street Scene" for an article about "NEW" looking "OLD" tires and a photo of a nearly unrecognizable 1940 Ford street rod, and thankfully they survived the wreck.

http://www.tire-information-world.com/dot-manufacturing-date-code.html

BRAD

[lstude]

I gave my mother money to buy white wall snow tires, because she wouldn't have paid the money. I hated to see so many cars in the winter with white walls on the front and black walls on the back.

One suggestion for your tires is to put them on old service station tire holders. A friend has some in his room where his collectibles are.

Leonard Shepherd

http://leonardshepherd.com/

[53k]

quote:Originally posted by garyash

The '63 Wagonaire I acquired had a set of F78-15 white walls on the front and 6.70-15 whitewall snow tires on the rear. The date codes on the tires are from 1982 and 1983. The car was used only on Martha's Vineyard in the summer and last registered in 1984, so they never got many miles on them, just enough to wear off the molding sprue nubbies. If I look very closely, there are some small age cracks, but hardly visible. The car was parked in a dry, dark garage from 1984 to 2006. The whitewalls were on the inside, so they didn't get scraped, but they are dirty, would probably clean up OK.
I don't think anyone should drive on these tires because they are certainly dangerous from an age point of view. But, they might be fine on a car in a museum. What else might they be good for? I'll entertain requests for their use. The tires are 60 miles south of Boston.

I gave Freddy Badgett (Mt Airy, NC), Newsgroup poster in the past, some NOS (old) tires a few years ago for use in a restored 50s service station. You might advertise them for that.
Are you sure about the date codes? I didn't think they were using date codes that far back. And, 6,70x15 tires were superceded by 7.75x15s in 1965. I also don't know for sure, but I don't think that F78s were available that late, at least for car tires.
Whitewall snow tires? Yes. I still have some from an ill-advised buyout of a bunch of NOS tires. And, I put 195x15 Michelin whitewall snow tires on my '64 Champ in 1971 when I was in the Boston area. I also still have an unused 6.70x15 recapped white sidewall spare in my Wagonaire.


Paul Johnson, Wild and Wonderful West Virginia
'53 Commander Starliner (since 1966)
'64 Daytona Wagonaire (original owner)
'64 Daytona Convertible (2006)
Museum R-4 engine
1962 Gravely Model L (Studebaker-Packard serial plate)
1972 Gravely Model 430 (Studebaker name plate, Studebaker Onan engine)

[bams50]

They'd be good for shows. Mount them on restored stock rims and carry them to the show, and switch them for the new tires you drove there on.

Just a thought.

Robert (Bob) Andrews Owner- Studebakeracres- on the IoMT (Island of Misfit Toys!)
Parish, central NY 13131

"Some people live for the rules, I live for exceptions"- 311

"Do they all not, by mere virtue of having survived as relics of a bygone era, amass a level of respect perhaps not accorded to them when they were new?"

[HookedonStudies]

Gary, I'm not a lawyer, but I would be afraid of liability on something like this. You have knowledge of the tire age and condition and in spite of your verbal warning, I could see someone thinking its OK to just take one more spin on them....

55 Commander
58 Transtar
62 GT Hawk
66 Cruiser

[barnlark]

Good honest disclaimer on those, Gary and buyer beware are always the rule, anyway. Like buying a Stude with bad brakes. Hopefully someone wouldn't try "one more spin" like that either, but as we all know, dumb can be dumber. I'd use them for winter storage or garage display and thereby not worry about flat spotting a good set. Any farmer I know around here would throw those on something and use them just around the farm for years. I have a black wall set of snows in my shed from probably the 70's or 80's on Stude rims and they are still holding air. Those rims are awaiting beadblasting, so those tires will only see recycling.

[50Champ]

When I bought my '61 Rambler Classic last year it came with 4 old bias ply tires on it. I tossed the two Goodyears and kept the two from a Phillips 66 station as souvenirs....



1950 Champion 2 Dr. Sedan