1977 Corvette Tires:

[Joe L.]

Re: 1977 Corvette Tires:

Most interesting...

Now, what triggered GM to fit a new Corvette with a Steelgard or a Steel Radial 500? I have no clue... Anybody?

Oliver-----


Tires were a "commodity" type item at the assembly plants. During any given year, there were certain manufacturers and tire models qualified for use on particular models. Apparently, the Goodyear Steelguard and Firestone Steel Radial 500 were the ones qualified for 1977 Corvettes. Nothing "triggered" which would be installed on any particular car. It was essentially random based on what tires were in the "tire bin" at any particular time. For 1977, I think that Firestone was the primary supplier so there was more likely to be those tires in the bin.

[Harmon C.]

Re: 1977 Corvette Tires:

Most interesting...

Now, what triggered GM to fit a new Corvette with a Steelgard or a Steel Radial 500? I have no clue... Anybody?

Just like today everyone wants the latest and newest everything so radial tires were the newest thing on the market in 73 so the new cars got them.
I would say GM sent out for quotes to the tire companys and got a got a good deal from a couple who could supply all they needed. Lots of owners replaced tires with the same brand so companys wanted to be OEM suppliers. At the time no one knew how bad the 500's would be.

[Pat M.]

Re: 1977 Corvette Tires:

Bowties cars are supposed to be unrestored. Installing a tire, fan belt, spark plug etc.etc. trying to make it look 'more original' defeats the purpose of the award. In some cases the act of creating original features on a Bowtie car would hurt it's credibility.

Part of the judging process is declaring what features of the car are not original.

Interesting. My 1-owner 96 is unmolested and all original, down to the belts, tires, hoses, etc.
Yet I KNOW it did not come with a couple of things that I think it should have, like the little Corvette flashlight in the owner's portfolio that I've seen in other late C4s. Mine has the loop to hold one, but no flashlight.
So I should NOT include one before having it judged for a Crossed Flag award?

[Oliver B.]

Re: 1977 Corvette Tires:

@ posts 16 and 17 Joe and Lyle: yes, fully understand what you say, but how to imagine that?

Good Year and Firestone both qualified by delivering tires at an acceptable price.
Have there been two bins at St.Louis - one with Steelgards and one with the Steel Radial 500's in it, and it was just up the choice of the person putting the rubber on the wheels from which bin he took the tires?
Or did GY and F deliver their products in certain time slots - so that from Jan to Mar only Steelgards were mounted and from Apr to June only the Steel Radials?

I just have difficulty in figuring that out...

Oliver

[Joe L.]

Re: 1977 Corvette Tires:

@ posts 16 and 17 Joe and Lyle: yes, fully understand what you say, but how to imagine that?

Good Year and Firestone both qualified by delivering tires at an acceptable price.
Have there been two bins at St.Louis - one with Steelgards and one with the Steel Radial 500's in it, and it was just up the choice of the person putting the rubber on the wheels from which bin he took the tires?
Or did GY and F deliver their products in certain time slots - so that from Jan to Mar only Steelgards were mounted and from Apr to June only the Steel Radials?

I just have difficulty in figuring that out...

Oliver

Oliver------


I doubt VERY much that there were separate tire storage areas or bins for the 2 different brand tires. As the tires were received, they went into a storage area and they were drawn from that storage area as needed. The only thing the assemblers needed to be aware of was that all 5 tires for any given car were of the same brand/type. I believe that the tire and wheel assemblies were delivered by conveyor to the assembly line in car sets of 5.

There was no method as to which brand tires would go on any particular car. Might there have been certain periods when one brand/type was used and other periods when the other brand was used? Very possible. However, I don't really see any way that we'd be able to figure out now just what those periods were for any particular brand/type. Probably one of those mysteries that will never be resolved with any degree of "precision".

[Oliver B.]

Re: 1977 Corvette Tires:

I share your view - just too bad...

[Michael W.]

Re: 1977 Corvette Tires:

Interesting. My 1-owner 96 is unmolested and all original, down to the belts, tires, hoses, etc.
Yet I KNOW it did not come with a couple of things that I think it should have, like the little Corvette flashlight in the owner's portfolio that I've seen in other late C4s. Mine has the loop to hold one, but no flashlight.
So I should NOT include one before having it judged for a Crossed Flag award?

With apologies to Oliver for hijacking his post, let me answer your questions with another question that could apply to many different situations for any year production.

How do you know that all '96s had the flashlight? Were there some that were delivered without one for (as yet) unknown reasons? We know of at least one (yours), there may be others.

To rewrite history 12 years after the fact and 'add' a flashlight to conform with an assumption would lessen the credibility of the award.

Another example- it was assumed that all '73s had chrome edged front grills and that all '74s has flat black front grills. No exceptions. My late '73 had flat black grills when I bought it in the early 90s, which I assumed were service replacements. After replacing them with the 'correct ones' I learned that the car was delivered from the factory with the other ones, as evidenced by a photograph taken on the day of delivery.

I am sure that just about everybody has an example of how their car differed from the assumed standard. Preserving these examples is what the Bowtie/Crossed Flag programs are all about.

[Harmon C.]

Re: 1977 Corvette Tires:

@ posts 16 and 17 Joe and Lyle: yes, fully understand what you say, but how to imagine that?

Good Year and Firestone both qualified by delivering tires at an acceptable price.
Have there been two bins at St.Louis - one with Steelgards and one with the Steel Radial 500's in it, and it was just up the choice of the person putting the rubber on the wheels from which bin he took the tires?
Or did GY and F deliver their products in certain time slots - so that from Jan to Mar only Steelgards were mounted and from Apr to June only the Steel Radials?

I just have difficulty in figuring that out...

Oliver

Their are some things about 73 tires that I have learned over the years. Some I know that are facts and others may not be. White letter tires were not made till Jan. 73 so all earlier cars had white strip or blackwalls. All Firestone 500's in raised white letters made from Jan.73 till about week twenty the shoe or Firestone shield was white. At swap meets their have been more Firestone 500's than Goodyear Steelguards.

[Mike E.]

Re: 1977 Corvette Tires:

As long as the hijack continues: having OLD tires, plugs, belts, hoses, etc. does not a bowtie car make!!! Having the ORIGINAL, FACTORY-INSTALLED pieces is what bowtie judging is all about. I led the first team that ever bowtie judged--Warren Michigan (1992?) and just went through it on the other end with my 71 LT-1 convertible. Every line item on the judging sheet is a pass/fail, as opposed to flight judging where there are graduations of point deductions.
It's very difficult to "make" a bowtie car---there are mighty sophisticated judges out there that are very knowledgeable. Any bolt/nut/screw that has wrench markings on it becomes suspect, to begin with. The process is set up to reward the factory original car, and to expose the "made" car!

[Pat M.]

Re: 1977 Corvette Tires:

Sorry, I really didn't mean to hijack the thread, I thought the original question had been answered. And I've wondered about this very question for a while, and thought I'd ask since the subject had been raised.
And I didn't mean to suggest that I SHOULD add things like the flashlight, I was just genuinely wondering: Should I or shouldn't I? Upon reflection and the posted comments I see it's best to leave the car exactly as is.
But this leads me to a broader question - How does Bowtie/Crossed Flag deal with an item that a judge would expect to see, but the original owner credibly maintains that it was never there, or came from the factory with an abnormal configuration?