Hey guys I got a guy who can grind whitewalls in radials for me. My question is for the people who have done this. What brand tires did you use and how did they come out? Pics would be perfect if you have any. Thanks
Probably the best way to ***ure yourself that this won't be a problem is to get a junk tire and cut a cross section out to see first hand how a tire is constructed,the whitewall is just an overlay over the main carc*** with a thin layer of black rubber over it this thin black layer is then cut away to reveal the whitewall at the width the tire company decides to make it,to widen the whitewall you are only removing more of the black skin layer.Back in the day when I managed a Uniroyal store tires that had an irregular whitewall cut were blacked over with a dye and sold and stamped "BLEM" but still carried the normal warranty.
You can do a search on the main board for more info on whitewall shaving. It's been discussed several times, some with photos and specific information. The BFG Silvertown radials on my Buick have been shaved to show the whitewall. That's how Coker Tire modifies regular Silvertowns from white letter to wide whitewall. Seems to have worked just fine.
Thanks guys for all the info. It was an option thrown to me by my buddy. His uncle could shave them at his tire shop for dirt cheap. So I have been trying to decide what to do as far as tires. Having a very small budget when it comes to this subject is whats driving my decision. Hell I wish i could drop 800 bucks to coker or any other tire company. But thats completely out of my spending range. Im really just trying to find the cheapest, best looking but safest option when it comes to tires. I have watched all the videos and posts concerning this subject too. I just wanted to ask people who i considered the best source. Ones who drive 52 to 56 Fords. But thanks again guys.
the guy that is doing mine is going to put color in mine with a dye. the dye's can be mixed to you likeing or close to you cars colors too.
i would actually try to be a little bit patient and comb craigslist, ebay, and local swap meets, you'll always find guys selling slightly used www bias ply tires out there... they're the best looking by far, period perfect, and usually if you barter with them, you can get a whole set for around $100 bucks. i've seen that happen on many occasions... good luck with the tires though. if the shaving idea on the tires is what you end up doing, all you gotta do is find tires that have the skinny white wall.. like the early sixties style radials, they generally shave down pretty well to give you a bit bigger white wall... i've seen them done a few times, but i don't have any photos for you unfortunately. keep us posted... last s***ch effort, try the lottery, you might win big and be able to fork out the big bucks on the tires you want...
I still like the "Paint" idea the best . Easy to do and they do turn out nice . I have seen many at car shows before . I really don't know how to do it anyway . Jim
I like this do it yourself video Never tried this I heard this is a guy here on the HAMB http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkcm3rh60p0
i painted my old set of tires that i had on my 55.. i would use rustoleum semi gloss..looked good. i had to redo it every year but it wasnt that much work. check out my pics to see what it looked like. i might get my new set of tires grinded..but i havent seen anyone grinding down Tiger paws with wide white lettering yet..not sure how they'll take..
where you grind the black off always seems to discolor, a lot of guys do it but you can always tell, could grind and then paint should look ok then, radials are the only way to go, soo smooth
I'll never drive an old car with radials on it. I drove my car with radials and bias-plys, the ride difference wasn't great, and even though it trails a bit, bias-plys are worth the look. I guess its how I can justify my lucas lights too, they're worth the look.
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