1985 Monte Carlo SS

**pajeff02** · 02-01-2017, 03:02 AM

Thanks guys. Thoughts on blackwalls? I am afraid that they will detract from the overall look of the car -- it kind of screams, "Look at me!" with the stripes and spoiler.

**GTP231** · 02-01-2017, 04:57 AM

You black walled your other G body...

**Firebirdjones** · 02-01-2017, 02:00 PM

It really depends on what you like Jeff.

For me it depends on whether the car had them originally or not. Even then I sometimes still blackwall the tires for reasons I'll explain in a minute.

On my sons 5.0 mustang they were blackwall from the factory so I had no problem leaving them that way. An all black fox body LX model devoid of emblems/stripes and chrome is somewhat sinister looking anyway so I didn't want to do anything with tires that would jump out.

On my classics on the other hand, they were born with white letters (some with white walls) So I tend to like that look, just depends on what I'm doing with the car. On my wifes 69 Z I put the white letters out with modern radials on it. On the SCJ I run the factory Goodyear Polyglas tires, white letters out of course.

Lately, since I really prefer the appearance of the factory bias ply tires more than anything else I've done some trickery stuff. My fathers 69 GTO came with white stripe tires, a thin white stripe. He runs MT drag radials on it which of course are black wall. But you can apply your white stripe, which we've done from this place..... Tirestickers

Just google them and you'll find it. You can make any white, yellow, red, blue letter tire that you want and this stuff works pretty darn good. We applied the white line tires on my dads car and I think it's bitchin to have a drag radial on there like that, it fools people.

I've also done the Firestone Wide Ovals in the original fonts from 1970 and applied them to modern radial tires to kind of give the appearance that it has original tire on it. Sounds cheesy but it actually works well. Here's a video of a bird with 17" wheels/tires, he did the same thing....fast forward to 8.06 minutes and you'll see a close up of the tires. As you know, Goodyear doesn't make 17" polyglas tires, That's simply the old Goodyear fonts used and glued onto a modern 17" radial tire so the car "appears" to have original type tires on it.. It fools people at first, pretty slick idea if you ask me and exactly why I do it. These old cars just don't look right with todays white letters, they need the smaller solid fonts they came with, but that's just me.

**pajeff02** · 02-01-2017, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by GTP231

You black walled your other G body...

Actually, it came with white letter "Delta Road Max Tires" that I reversed a few months after we bought it. The Buick is more of a sleeper so blackwall tires fit the look better than white letter.

**pajeff02** · 02-01-2017, 04:50 PM

I am checking out "Tire Stickers" now, FBJ. Never knew there was such a thing. The tire close ups in the vids looked pretty darn good.

**Firebirdjones** · 02-02-2017, 06:20 AM

They do turn out pretty good. They have a permanent application and they also have one that isn't permanent. I've used the permanent, and you can scrub the white letters with a brush, wash all you want etc.... so far been great.

The options they have are virtually unlimited, make what ever tire you want without the expense.

For instance, Coker just came out with factory looking bias ply tires in a radial construction, where they kept the shouldered appearance and bias tread design. They are making them in several popular Firestone sizes (F70-14 G70-14 F70-15 etc...) But they run about $260 a piece. Good looking tire, I saw them this year on display at Barrett Jackson. Drawback is they only do Firestones, they are not affiliated with Goodyear. So if you need a Goodyear specific tire for a classic, you are still stuck with bias plys.....for now.
I still like running the reproduction bias ply tires myself as I find they drive around just fine for us and they hook like gangbusters at the track, lol. But even those are $200 a piece or more.

With these stickers (they are called stickers but really they aren't) you can duplicate the font and size of the old tires on any modern radial you wish to put them on. You still don't have the squared off shoulder look of the original bias plies but you get some of the appearance on a modern tire that is less expensive. Just opens up the options a bit.

On the 69Z Goodyear and Firestone produced a specific tire for them at that time. You only had 2 choices, Goodyear Wide Tread GT in an E70-15 or the Firestone Sport Car 200 in an E70-15. Either way they are expensive reproduction tires at about $330 a piece. 67-68-69 Z28 were the only cars these tires were found on so they command more money.
Hard to swallow when you're daily driving it so for the time being I run BFG's on it, and I may turn the blackwalls out on those in the future and apply the factory font Goodyear insignia for giggles. When the car is restored and retired from daily use it will get reproduction tires later down the road. So in this instance the sticker place makes an interesting option.

**pajeff02** · 02-02-2017, 08:53 AM

I think it would be a bit difficult to select a tire that has both the right tread and a sidewall that the Tire Stickers lettering will look good on -- ie. hide whatever lettering or logo that is already on it.

**Firebirdjones** · 02-02-2017, 09:20 AM

You won't be able to mimic the bias ply look completely. Radial tires just don't have the necessary shouldered look to them and tread patterns are way off. But the correct font and size of white letters do add a touch of vintage appearance that looks great on these classic cars. As you should be able to see in that video I posted.

If you find you turn the black walls out and don't have a smooth surface to apply the letters, there is process done that removes the raised areas. I've never tried it but I've seen it done.

Most of the time the black wall out has a smooth enough surface to do what you want from what I've seen. I haven't seen a black wall tire with raised black letters in a loooong time. The Mickey Thompsons and the BFG's, as well a Kuhmos have all been smooth enough to work with. Even the Uniroyals on my sons mustang are smooth as silk with black walls out. The Firestones and Michelins on both of my trucks are also smooth with black walls out. Even if there is faint lettering of the tire brand on the black wall side, you really don't even notice it once the white letters are applied, they are bright and it grabs your attention and pretty much will mask anything black that is behind it. It's kind of an illusion, gets a double take from people if they really know what they are looking at. Kind of funny.

**GTP231** · 02-02-2017, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by pajeff02

Actually, it came with white letter "Delta Road Max Tires" that I reversed a few months after we bought it. The Buick is more of a sleeper so blackwall tires fit the look better than white letter.

They did come black wall from the factory if I'm not mistaken

**pajeff02** · 02-03-2017, 06:40 AM

Ok, that could change things. I guess I should look at some advertising literature or television commercials from back in the day.

**GTP231** · 02-03-2017, 07:18 PM

I'm not sure what Montes came with. I just assumed it was white letter Eagles

**pajeff02** · 02-04-2017, 03:19 AM

I looked at some ads and white letter Eagle GT's is what they appear to have come with from the factory.

**Whamhammer** · 02-04-2017, 09:17 AM

Originally Posted by pajeff02

So it is time to replace the tires on the Monte -- stock size is 215/65 15 if I recall. Unfortunately, it appears that Goodyear discontinued the Eagle GTII tires in 15" diameter a few years ago. Kelsey tire is re-popping the original Eagle GT tires... at $360 per tire. Did you hear me choke a bit when I typed that?

My go to muscle car tire is always the BF Goodrich Radial T/A, however, I am not certain if this is the correct look for the car. I have also considered mounting the tires with the blackwall out. White letter tires are really what it needs though. Never been a fan of Cooper Cobras or Kelley Chargers... Ugh. What to do?

Does Dunlop still make GT Qualifiers? I used those a bunch on my Cutlass, and they looked like they belonged on the car.

**GTP231** · 02-04-2017, 10:40 AM

What year Cutlass?

**pajeff02** · 05-14-2017, 05:10 PM

Eagle GT's were delivered to my office on Friday and are awaiting installation. I pulled the wheels off the Monte yesterday and brought them home for the swap. Debating if I have time to freshen them up. They wouldn't be too bad to do except for the fact that they are two color and would require quite a bit of masking to paint.

**kingls1** · 05-15-2017, 02:35 PM

I'm so glad last time I ran it at the track it wouldn't hook up almost the entire way down the track.... It's a dam good thing I'm a wheel man or it could have gotten ugly! However took me straight out of contention for the record

**pajeff02** · 06-16-2018, 04:20 AM

Fired up the Monte last weekend as it had been setting for about a month. I wasn't able to take it out for a ride thanks to a day long downpour. I noticed that the AC compressor was squealing just a bit and when I engaged the controls nothing happened. We had run the system earlier in the year on a freakish hot day and all worked fine. With it making noise, I think about the only thing I can do is replace it, right?

**pajeff02** · 06-21-2018, 03:23 AM

Looks like I can still get the old style compressors at the local parts places. Since we are heading down this weekend, I'll try to better diagnose it and may jump the pressure switch to see if the compressor will engage. I did retrofit the AC system for R134 a while back and it was running good.