The '31 "A" hiboy roadster I have nearly completed was bought with a new set of Coker B F Goorich Silvertown w/w bias plies already on it from previous owner, and I plan to go to alloy wheels and blackwalls after I complete it and start driving it. May keep the ww bias plies,steelies and baby moons/beauty rings for shows, etc. I'm planning on B F Goodrich Radial TA's with the mags. Problem is the raised white letters have gotta go! A friend who has done the same thing has the letters turned to the inside and painted black with some kind of paint, and it looks OK as long as the paint hasn't started peeling or is still shiny fresh. I've been told you can't grind the white letters off, cause it's white all the way to cord, I dunno. Diamondback tires has them with a layer of black rubber on the side, but it adds about $250-300 to the cost of the tires! Not wanting a lot of flaming and BS about keeping the bias plies, I'm 73 and have worn out more tires than I can count in my almost 60 years of driving.One thing I'm glad ain't made like it used to be is tires! Dave
I wonder. I'm working around 275/60R15s for the back of the '31 project. That's a size that suggests raised white letters, and I don't want them either!
I'm going to take a worn out used tire and see if I can grind them down carefully till the raised portion is gone and they are flush with the sidewall. After that an application of some sort of permanent dye might help hide them. Mine will be on the inside of a fenderless car so maybe...
While at Woodward about 5 years ago I found myself in need of a tire. I went to the nearest tire store which was a Firestone located on John R. The guy had the size I needed but it was white lettered. I told him to mount it with the white letters inside. Apparently he could tell I wasnt thrilled about the white letters even being on the inside so he came out with a can of TIRE BLACK. He said it was good stuff and never had to do a respray. I told him to go ahead. Like I said that was about 5 years ago and it hasent worn off yet, and the stuff isnt glossy. He ended up just giving me the rest of the can no charge, said they didnt have much of a need for it. Heres the name of the stuff: Firestone TIRE BLACK JAD # 07001835 PART NO. 48-11-778-3 Hope that helps
Turn them so the letters face the inside and cover the letters with permanent market, dye, etc. Really not that noticeable.
yep, same here. turn them in, hit the letters with a degreaser, and "paint" the white letters with a Sharpie. had several thousand miles on a set like this and they never faded....
The Jalopy Journal
