Tyres for '74 L48?

[Roscobbc]

Brillo pads will clean up white lettering. I use them to shine up my polished alloy rims and to clean up the tyres as well..

Whatttttttt - Brillo pads on polished alloy rims - might be OK on stock type wheels and an ideal precursor to final polishing with a more gentle proprietary polish on ally engine components but kiss of death for highly polished polished 'billet' ally components - even the old school favorite Sovol Autosol (under close examination) leaves multiple tiny scratches

 

[Redlevel]

Not a problem Ross.. If its good enough for an Eddie Stobart truck, it'll work for me.
It started with wet and drying with WD40 to shift the pitting and now maintained twice a year courtesy of Brillo!

 

[Chuffer]

Might try the wet and dry with WD 40 on my Centre Line alloys as every off the peg cream cleaner I have tried doesn`t make much difference !

 

[Daytona Vette]

Well there is shine and there is shine, been there too many times for me, with no shine due to my own errors and sometimes others, usually becomes expensive to sort correctly, so be careful, I use Autosol and a soft cloth - Labourious

 

[Chuffer]

Well there is shine and there is shine, been there too many times for me, with no shine due to my own errors and sometimes others, usually becomes expensive to sort correctly, so be careful, I use Autosol and a soft cloth - Labourious

Yeah tell me about ! But then I have nothing but time at present

 

[Daytona Vette]

Yes, just had a look at the detail of the Rims, they are fluted with crevices - best way (because of the bolts) is to split the rims and get them professionally polished, not costly if you are breaking down and re-assembling the split component wheel, you may want to buy new high tensile bolts and nuts for safety.

Failing that; high torque electric drill, flexi drive and a selection of felt polishing mops, some down to the diameter of a pencil (for the crevices) and the Autosol of course!

Shine on!

 

[Chuffer]

Yes, just had a look at the detail of the Rims, they are fluted with crevices - best way (because of the bolts) is to split the rims and get them professionally polished, not costly if you are breaking down and re-assembling the split component wheel, you may want to buy new high tensile bolts and nuts for safety.

Failing that; high torque electric drill, flexi drive and a selection of felt polishing mops, some down to the diameter of a pencil (for the crevices) and the Autosol of course!

Shine on!

You are right , it`s the flutes that are the problem and very tedious to clean properly . I have bought a pack of small cone shaped felt polishing approx 1 centimetre in diameter to fit my Dremel . The plan now is to sit in the sun and polish away

 

[Redlevel]

Always found Autosol gave a kind of black shine to alloy.
When I got my rims, they were well pitted and corroded so I went to work with 800 grit, then 1000, then 2000 wet and dry.
Remembering we were taught to use paraffin when machining ally, so I used WD40 as a wetting agent.
Latterly, I bought a buffing mandrel and a block of jewellers rouge which smoothed it out a tad.
As Im after a more practical finish but still shiny, a pack of Brillo pads does the trick. I watched this being done at a truck show and was amazed at the finish. I never would have thought to use Brillo if I hadnt seen it done. However, I wouldnt use it on the likes of those Boyd Coddington super shiny spokes.
The best metal polish is Brilliance. Good enough for that alloy bodied RR in Beaulieu, thats where I discovered it.

Zepplin Mirror Finish Polish | BRiLiANT Polish

Zepplin Mirror Finish Polish

www.briliantpolish.co.uk

 

[Daytona Vette]

You are right , it`s the flutes that are the problem and very tedious to clean properly . I have bought a pack of small cone shaped felt polishing approx 1 centimetre in diameter to fit my Dremel . The plan now is to sit in the sun and polish away

The dreaded Dremel may not be powerful enough
"The plan now is to sit in the sun and polish away "
I can picture you now with a polishing mop in one hand and a glass of Pimms in the other

 

[Redlevel]

The dreaded Dremel may not be powerful enough
"The plan now is to sit in the sun and polish away "
I can picture you now with a polishing mop in one hand and a glass of Pimms in the other

..Pimms o'clock is always the right time!

 

[Chuffer]

The dreaded Dremel may not be powerful enough
"The plan now is to sit in the sun and polish away "
I can picture you now with a polishing mop in one hand and a glass of Pimms in the other

Quite right too dear boy !! The sun is always over the yard arm somewhere in the empire !! Pour me another one Jeaves

 

[Daytona Vette]

Quite right too dear boy !! The sun is always over the yard arm somewhere in the empire !! Pour me another one Jeaves

If the polishing turns out rubbish, we will all know you had one too many!

 

[Gus]

Hi chaps....I followed kind recommendations from this forum, and bought a nice set of 5 x 235/70 R15 Galaxy radials from North Hants, and had them delivered to a local workshop. Unfortunately, due to a garage hiccup, I wasn't able to get them fitted until this week.
However on Sunday, in the excellent company of Chuffer in his Vette plus his pal Trevor in a Jag, plus our partners, I went on a drive around the Cotswolds, with the Vette still on it's rubber as supplied.
Everything was ok until nearing home, in the outside lane of the A43 Towcester By-pass @65mph.....the front o/side tyre exploded!
Fortunately, despite the laxative effects of the blow-out I managed to slither the car as close as possible to the side of the carriageway. [Wife's language was rather fruity!] Even more fortunately, Trevor donned a yellow jacket and marshalled traffic, until a passing copper turned up. and Chuffer nicked some nearby traffic cones to add a little extra protection. [Good men in a crisis!] Eventually RAC turned up, but on using a power tool to open up the spare wheel carrier [ I hadn't been able to previously] the nice patrolman was faced with a badly corrosion damaged rim, a punctured tyre, and a leaky innertube.....which was to put it mildly, a tad disappointing! Incidentally.....this was the 'good spare' that the vendor assured me would be in the car when I collected it......so, as so often, Caveat Emptor!
As you may or may not be able to see from the pictures......the disintegrating tread flayed a fair amount of paint off the wing etc, and I have just booked my pride and joy in with a bodyshop!
However....things could certainly have ended VERY MUCH worse......and the new radials have transformed the ride and handling, just as I hoped. In fact, they have underlined just how ropey the other tyres were!
So as has recently been stated on this site......beware buying a Vette with a shiny, new looking set of tyres......and check carefully to see if they are really only fit... to be on an American Ice-cream Van!
Gus

CAVEAT EMPTOR!!!!!

 

[Nick B]

Bad times!

 

[Oneball]

What a ‘mare. Hope the paint damage isn’t too bad.

 

[Forrest Gump]

Wow....you suspected those old tyres were shot but that’s a dramatic way to prove it!
Glad you and the car are just about okay, and I’m pleased you’ve found a big improvement with the new Galaxy tyres.

 

[Nick B]

Hi chaps....I followed kind recommendations from this forum, and bought a nice set of 5 x 235/70 R15 Galaxy radials from North Hants, and had them delivered to a local workshop. Unfortunately, due to a garage hiccup, I wasn't able to get them fitted until this week.
However on Sunday, in the excellent company of Chuffer in his Vette plus his pal Trevor in a Jag, plus our partners, I went on a drive around the Cotswolds, with the Vette still on it's rubber as supplied.
Everything was ok until nearing home, in the outside lane of the A43 Towcester By-pass @65mph.....the front o/side tyre exploded!
Fortunately, despite the laxative effects of the blow-out I managed to slither the car as close as possible to the side of the carriageway. [Wife's language was rather fruity!] Even more fortunately, Trevor donned a yellow jacket and marshalled traffic, until a passing copper turned up. and Chuffer nicked some nearby traffic cones to add a little extra protection. [Good men in a crisis!] Eventually RAC turned up, but on using a power tool to open up the spare wheel carrier [ I hadn't been able to previously] the nice patrolman was faced with a badly corrosion damaged rim, a punctured tyre, and a leaky innertube.....which was to put it mildly, a tad disappointing! Incidentally.....this was the 'good spare' that the vendor assured me would be in the car when I collected it......so, as so often, Caveat Emptor!
As you may or may not be able to see from the pictures......the disintegrating tread flayed a fair amount of paint off the wing etc, and I have just booked my pride and joy in with a bodyshop!
However....things could certainly have ended VERY MUCH worse......and the new radials have transformed the ride and handling, just as I hoped. In fact, they have underlined just how ropey the other tyres were!
So as has recently been stated on this site......beware buying a Vette with a shiny, new looking set of tyres......and check carefully to see if they are really only fit... to be on an American Ice-cream Van!
Gus

CAVEAT EMPTOR!!!!!

Hello Gus, I'd be interested to know how old those tyres were.

 

[Roscobbc]

This story about a major 'old' tyre failure is not as uncommon as one might think - fortunately for most people it'll be a noticeable 'carbuncle' on the tyre and a 'pitter patter' heard and possibly felt through the steering that'll be the first indication that something isn't quite right.......

 

[phild]

Not just old tyres. My newish daily driver with 4k miles had its first service the other day and front nearside inner side wall had a swelling, no not that kind!!! That and a few scuffs looks like pothole damage which is all too common in East Sussex. Outside edges looked great so must remember to check inner walls in future.

 

[Gus]

Still waiting for a quotation on the paint repair, will try and get a date for the old tyres……..