A lot of guys want radials, and a lot of guys want wide whites. A lot of guys see expensive reproduction tires in catalogs or swap meets, and their wallets won't open up quite that far. But don't fret. The pictures show a regular issue Wal-Mart special (Douglas Extra-Trac) that has the whitewall insert. I took a carpenter's belt sander (handheld type, not a floor or bench model) and carefully finessed off the top layer to uncover the full white stripe underneath. Would you believe there is almost 2 inches of width under there (correct for a late 50's era look). A couple things to consider - One, I moved around to avoid building heat. Second, your goal is just to take off the top layer to unbury the white (this won't hurt the integrity of the tire, trust me). Third, a white-stripe tire OR a white letter tire will work just fine (it's not where you start, it's where you finish!!). Lastly, keep light pressure and let the sander do the work (emery on rubber is super sticky, so there's no need to make the motor work too hard). The belt sander can be found at any builder's supply store and will cost you less than buying just one catalog whitewall. Your club will want to borrow it when they see your tires, and you won't have to search far and wide for an obsolete tire grinder.
Thanks for your input. But, as an FNG you might wanna look around a bit, this has been covered in depth many times.
Well, even though it has been covered a bunch of times before, who cares. It has information (the tire brand) and it has photo's showing results, that imo is worth a thread. Thanks for posting!
Yeah, been covered a lot, but the first time i've seen it done using a belt sander. I tried wome with a grinding disc and they looked like ****. Maybe this would work better.. thanks. Brian
I build tires for a living and can tell you this does not hurt the tire as long as you only take off what you need. That rubber is WHITE under there and from what I've seen as long as the sanding surface is clean, you shouldn't have to worry about the brightness. What kind of sandpaper did you use on your belt sander?
The ideal situation would be a belt sander mounted to an adjustable fixture. You would need to be able to rotate the tire while grinding.
typical arrogance of a few of the more seasoned HAMBers...Tman and Busted Knuckles. So what if it was covered before. I for one had not seen a recent post...and yanktankdriver was very thorough and offered up pics. So you wish to keep it all to yourselves? If somebody wasn't good enough to offer up info and school you on hotrodding tips how would YOU know. great post yanktankdriver. Good to see a FNG ***erting himself and being a team player!
Agreed bobwop. Its like the caddy schoolgirls so quick to nitpick some other girls skirt. The most valuable info, being its been covered before, is the tire manufacturer. Some Ive done have had an awful pie edge, and my tires of choice (General xp2000GT) are expensive, and apparently not the same anymore. Heres three of my old ones w/ fakies on it.
Actually I was nice and just noted that there is a wealth of this type of info. 30 seconds netted this search http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/search.php?searchid=4479500 If more folks would use the search and ADD TO existing threads it would do two things, 1. It would make the thread that much more comprehensive and 2. It would make SEARCHING easier!
I think someone had a video of grinding them! I did mine last year & they came out great. still look good.The front ones( skippys) lose the "whiteness" a little more then the rears but a little brillo brings them right back up. Theres a few lists on craigslist of tire grinders,but this is cheaper!!lol JIMV PS be prepared for the mess!!lol
exactly what i was thinkin - after a few beers freehanding might not be best - these look much better than some ive seen before!
good point Tman. Thanks for not getting your undies in a bunch and for the suggestion. See, we are never too young to learn!
That's funny cause I just got fed up and did this same thing with a grinder 2 weekends ago. I used (rear tires) **** cepeck fun/mud country 33x12.50x15 radials and got about 2 1/8 whitewall outta them. Woulda looked better with a belt sander, but hey. They're my tires, and I got what I put into it. For front tires I used bf goodrich 30x9.50x15's and got almost exactly 2 inches white outta them. The car looks just like I thought it would. I chose those tires for 2 reasons. 1) They're big n nasty lookin, with a LOTTA tread life, and 2) the specs says they have an extra layer of sidewall incase I screw up, lol. My shop that used to do it nice for me has been gone for a while, so it was time to try it myself. Stupid, but educational for next time. -GothY-
Just for the record, Michelin's have a REALLY thin layer of white, and a thick layer of black rubber over it to give it a flare at the rim, Makes them almost impossible to grind out.
15,000 miles and going strong on the set in the video <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xkcm3rh60p0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xkcm3rh60p0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
That would be helpful to see the sander & please let us know what grit you used. the answer to question 2 is that the white wall is all set under the black.when you grind it off the WW is all set!! Jimv
Wish I clould find a set of p***enger car radials to do the grinder/belt method! (sigh) NO one makes any 225 or 235 75 series, 14's anymore,,,,,,,,
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