Customs Olds Starfire wheel covers

I have the same issue with the last batch of TA radials. Google it and you will find several forums livid about the high priced RWL tires turning brown. And it is not just the letters, the black rubber gets funky as well. I refuse to drive around with brown lettered tires so I have found a few fixes but they are aggressive and will eventually lead to ruin. I had to purchase 2 new rear tires for the Olds last year and they have not turned brown so they may have fixed their issue. But the fronts were dirty brown (worse than your side wall pic) before I cleaned them up a few weeks ago. They are white again, but it is temporary. I was close to changing brands, but I have run TA's since the first gen block tires. Damn Coopers don't turn brown at half the price!

 

What about a set of these?

 

yeah I have had the same issue with my T/A's in fact I have to clean the 55's next week for Portland Transmission. They were replacing/discounting new tires if your radials were in a certain time window for production. Have Diamondback white walls on the 56 and now the 61 and they are still bright white, my redlines on my camaro from them are now 15 years old and still bright red.

 

Hello,

Nice look on the Red Corvette. It fits the era and style that was so popular back then. Before we finally settled on Moon Discs on the 51 Oldsmobile sedan, we had those teenage gatherings at our house on the weekends. My brother’s friends came over with their hot rods and sedans to show off what they just bought or had on their wheels/tire combinations.

It was like a mini car show in front of out house. But, those teens like it because they knew my brother and liked my mom’s fabulous cooking for a nice lunch. Better than the local teen drive-in hangout food, for sure. The street curb parking was taken up for about three houses on either side of our own house. And, one car was in the driveway as the point of viewing and discussion. There was once a large tree in the middle of the front yard grass and that provided a center point for the gatherings.
The mini car show location, but with the 51 Oldsmobile sedan in the two car garage…
I also took the films of some of the action when I remembered and those teens were not looking.

I was the younger teen who was given the job of seeing the new hubcaps and taking them off of one car and if the rims matched, clip them on the next car. If they were different size rims, I double reversed taped the hubcaps from the inside to stick them on the steel rims. This was part of me being able to hang out with some hot rod teens with their cars. Sometimes, they gave me some money to wipe down their cars while they were all sitting back admiring the car in the driveway.

When the 51 Oldsmobile was sold, it still was in the picture (pun intended) as it now lived a block over and was part of the teenage group hot rod sedans. The Oldsmobile three point flipper hubcaps were on a 56 Chevy Sedan and that was a popular one to add to other old sedans and even on a 34 Ford Coupe. The oddest look was to put them on a 1937 Chevy, faded black paint 4 door sedan. It had the gangster look until those shiny Starfire Hubcaps went on and now, it looked like a custom cruiser. Everyone had a good laugh at that sight.

Then the line up of sedans came rolling up into the driveway and proceeded to have me attach the Starfire caps on each car. I did not have a license to drive, but those teens allowed me to move their cars from the driveway spot to the street and a new teenage car was moved into the prime spot on the driveway in front of everyone.

The fast lowered 56 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop looked good with the Starfire Hubcaps. Yes, I even taped them to the Impala. For some reason, they looked good on the 51 Oldsmobile yellow sedan and the 56 Bel Air, but not so much on the Impala. YRMV

Before my brother settled on the Moon Discs, it was the only set in high school at the time. He ran the Starfire Hubcaps for a couple of weeks and did not like them due to the hubcaps coming off at the most odd turns and curves. No hubcap locks were used as those wires kept the hubcap attached, but the car had to be instantly stopped to prevent damage.
thanks, @themoose
At least, the Moon Discs were screwed in an there was never a lost hubcap or two… ha! Also, the two screws were the flat blade type. The third one we used was an exact copy of the original two, but had a Phillips Head. So, if one was to try and steal the Moon Discs, they had to have two screwdrivers. Most only used the flat blade screwdrivers.
The Starfire hubcaps were placed on the Impala, but were immediately taken off as it did not look too good. Also, the Moon Discs that were now on the Lime Green 51 Oldsmobile sedan were tried on the Impala with poor votes and thumbs down.

But, then again, the Moon Discs did look good on the 34 ford 5 window coupe. These old gatherings did a lot for each teen and their cars as it gave them a starting point as to what the “look” would be without having to spend money to actually buy the real hubcaps.

It was a car show of sorts, but with a young teen doing all of the work… sheesh… At least, I got paid for some stuff and was able to get rides and move the cars from the curbside parking to the driveway and back after each presentation. Any early hot rod sedan driving was good practice for me. Which one did I like the most?

The green/white 56 Chevy hardtop with a 4 speed and powerful motor with the Moon Discs and blackwalls. Now, that was a cool look. But, in second place was the same car with the Starfire flippers in place. YRMV

 

This is exactly what we were talking about the other night. I need to buy one for sure...

 

jnaki > >Nice look on the Red Corvette. It fits the era and style that was so popular back then.> >

Did you mean 'nicer'?

 

I like the new look.


Every time I drive my 53 the white walls turn brown I just chalked it up to dirt on the roads…


…I always had good luck bringing them back with good wash and white wall cleaner.

 

It is NOT the same stuff we all know and love. Gone forever. What you buy today is in label/marketing only. I agree with Mark, even the beloved old didn't remove it completely, but made a toasty tire almost completely acceptable.

I'm gonna toss in another wrinkle. My friend's car was sitting in his other storage space. Even after a good clean the tires on that car went brown in like 3 months. He wasn't driving it, just stored there. We had to move it out to finish the rebuild gig and of course cleaned the WWWs again. It went back into the main area and the tires didn't turn. Even after 6 months nothing. As white as we left them. I decided that it was something environmental that was causing it but what that might be I have no clue. Why in the other bldg but not the main? Like I said, a wrinkle. Now driving and turning brown is also happening to many. The Cord stayed white, although I can't raise a rt hand as to what they look like now more than 6 months later. We sold it.

 

Caps are fire!! Love it

 

Those look like they are still actively browning. The difference between the first example and second is significant

 

Bleachwhite don't cut it. I use simple green (as a lubricant), red scotchbrite, 2" angle air grinder. I use an air valve to slow the rotation, and buff em white. It works but like I said, it is aggressive. It only takes me a minute to clean em up. Sit in one spot and you will remove the letters. My TA's are old, only another season or so left on them so I'm okay with it. I would not take the grinder to my wide whites on the PU. But they are Auburns and do not seem to have the browning issue.

 

I like it, makes a nice change! Can't beat Starfire's with WWW's!

 

I'd like it better with skinny whitewalls and no hubcaps on the chromies.

 

I prefer the chromes. Whitewalls are also getting dingy

 

Note: Sir, I don't believe that newfangled SnapOn balancer you possess meets the HAMB criteria. Lol.
I have a more experienced balancer that even though primitive it is very accurate.

 

Hello,

We also had the same thing on some of our whitewall tires on the 1951 Oldsmobile sedan and the 1958 Impala. The brown came up after a few miles of driving around.

For us, it was road grime and whatever gets blown up onto the spinning traction on the tires.

Yes, when the whitewalls were turned to the inside, we welcomed the brown and with more usage, the whitewall almost disappeared underneath the chassis.

Some folks used the old “Westley’s Bleche-wite” product back in those teenage days. It did the job on those stained tires. But, it was a constant theme to keep the whitewall tires clean. It was not worth the effort, so all of us turned the whitewall tires inside out and the problem was solved. Then when the tires showed too much wear, blackwall tires were purchased.

There are tons of new and old products still available. At one time, the black wall tires were the rage with the Armor All product taking over the scene. But, it left a shiny surface that needed a clean rag to tone it down. Then over time, the slight tint showed up and was easily taken off with a clean rag, that turned brown. Ha!

Jnaki

Currently, the blackwall tire industry seems to have solved the brown tint problem. Our new blackwall tires stay black through rain, mud, road grime and other weather/salty water environments. Just a fast hose off or spray on and wipe off process does the job, in water restriction locales. YRMV

 

In the 50's out west, the Olds Hubcaps were called "Spinners" , the Buick hubcaps were ccalled "Blades" . I like the Olds hubcaps on your Vette

 

Hello,

Well, West Coast, like in Long Beach, those Oldsmobile hubcaps were first on the yellow, 1951 Oldsmobile sedan. They were called, "flippers." They flipped over and over while cruising. On most cars, it looked very cool. (Although, they looked awful on the 1958 Impala when that time period came along...) They also "flipped" off the rim on tight rolling curves without any cause other than centrifugal force. If I was riding in the car, it was my job to run after the rolling "flipped" off flipper hubcap(s) Yikes!

So, those wire locks were tried on many teenage cars to prevent theft, but also to keep those "flipper" hubcaps on the rims.

Jnaki

Well, yes, the wire locks, kept the "flippers" with the cars, even when they flipped off. Only, the car had to be stopped fast or the flipper hubcaps would get damaged. Ha! Folks tried to shorten the wire, but that made it worse, as it was closer to the tire and still banged around unless one stopped instantly.

So, what was the final choice to prevent the "flipper" hub cap from flipping away? Get screw in Moon Discs so the smooth surfaces stayed with the steel rims all of the time.
Yes, on the whitewalls I had to keep clean as a young kid... YRMV

 

Earlier in this topic I mentioned that I didn't mind a slightly toned down wide white, but this is a little extreme...

As seen at Mecum Indy.

 

Nice BeigeWalls.

 

Yikes!

 

That sucks @moriarty, I had the same issue with Cokers and as Bandit Billy said, BFG white letter tires are notorious for the same issue.....I decided to try a set of 3" Kontio White Paw Classics on my OT '70 Coupe Deville, they've been on it for two years now, and are still as white as day one. The car also sits outside here in Montana year round, I just have a good car cover for it, but the bottom third of the tires are always exposed to the elements, including snow in the winter. They're still white. They're about 30% cheaper than the Cokers I had and balanced A LOT better, also haven't been able to get a response from Coker about he sidewall issue despite multiple tries....so Kontios is about all I'm going to run from now on....tried to zoom in to get the car out of the pic, but I took this this morning and I haven't driven the car for a couple weeks, and hadn't cleaned them yet. Still white.

 

Yeah, sorry, they are radials.... I haven't heard of any issues with bias plies either. That's nuts....and as an aside, I dig the Olds caps, but the chrome reverse wheels look PERFECT on that car to me.

 

Tan, I think I'll paint the ceiling Tan.


Sorry you are going though this, but glad you are sharing. I realize the tire companies have a tough job making things in the modern age, but that's a basic QA check for anything living outdoor. It should have never moved from the lab to production.

 

I leaning further into the idea that a process was eliminated in production that preserved the whiteness of the treated rubber. Rubber isn't black, and in fact raw rubber is closer to the color of the sun damaged area yer showin us. A lot of em brown out from just sitting. For a lifetime the old formula Wesley's always pulled brown outta the whitewalls, it just wasn't as bad as it is over the last 10 years. Raw thoughts...