Is my spare original to my car?

[Jim P.]

I'm getting ready to buy tires for my car and am trying to decide whether to buy 4 or 5 tires. I know the judges would like to see an original spare and it does not have to match the other four tires. The spare is a B.F. Goodrich Silvertown, non-DOT, 6.70-15, 4 ply. The car is a 64 built on October 30, 1963. The only unique code that I see on the tire is molded into the rubber sidewall. It is imprinted in reverse (need a mirror to read). The number looks like "1163??0806". It is difficult to read because some of the rubber bled over the number during the molding process. Is there anyway to tell if this could be the original spare? Also, it has been used so there is wear on the tread. A new repro tire would certainly show a lot better.

Bottom line: show it or replace it?

[Rick A.]

Re: Is my spare original to my car?

would keep the spare

[Tom H.]

Re: Is my spare original to my car?

Sounds like the real deal spare to me.

[Chris E.]

Re: Is my spare original to my car?

I took a deduct in Chapter flight judging because the BRAND of tires on the car didn't agree with the brand of tires on the spare. They said "NTFP" (Not Typical Factory Production).

Not sure how that would judge.

For sure don't throw the tire out.

[Terry M.]

Re: Is my spare original to my car?

I took a deduct in Chapter flight judging because the BRAND of tires on the car didn't agree with the brand of tires on the spare. They said "NTFP" (Not Typical Factory Production).

Unless one of those brands was one not used on Corvettes -- they made a bum call. The brand of the spare -- style also -- does not have to agree with that of the road tires, however there IS a deduction for any brand tire not offered on Corvette.

[Roy B.]

Re: Is my spare original to my car?

I have the original NOS spare in my 55 and the size shows here

[Jim P.]

Re: Is my spare original to my car?

Thanks for the replies.

I was hoping that the molded numbers might reveal a date. I'm concerned that the date will reveal itself during judging and that's where I'll find out that the tire will post date the car.

[Terry M.]

Re: Is my spare original to my car?

For tires made before early calendar year 1971 the only date codes that are available are for Goodyear. I would rate it unusual for someone to even carry those codes on the judging field, but of course that can't be ruled out. One also can't rule out the future discovery of the early date codes from other manufacturers, but I think one would do better investing in a lottery ticket.

[Ronald L.]

Re: Is my spare original to my car?

I have called both Firestone and BFG, they do not have records that far back. Pat answer.

You'd need to collect several of these - more that 30 of a given brand to then try and draw a conclusion. Something not too many people have been interested to do.

[Chris E.]

Re: Is my spare original to my car?

I took a deduct in Chapter flight judging because the BRAND of tires on the car didn't agree with the brand of tires on the spare. They said "NTFP" (Not Typical Factory Production).

Not sure how that would judge.

For sure don't throw the tire out.

Ok, well it was a bum call then. I had Firestone radials on the car and a Goodyear Powercushion spare. They said because the brands didn't agree, that isn't typical factory production. No big deal because I'm just ordered 4 more Goodyear Powercushion tires for the car. I need them for PV anyway. I was a little surprised by the call, but it didn't bother me. The Chapter events I went to were dry runs for Regionals.

[Terry M.]

Re: Is my spare original to my car?

Decades ago their answer was "that is proprietary information." I have been there and got that T-shirt.

If you take a look at the proceedings of DOT for 1969 & 1970, when they were working on getting the tire manufacturers to implement a FEDERAL standard for date codes, the whining of the manufacturers about how difficult it would be to change all the molds, and keep the dates up to date would make you think building tires was close to rocket science. I found those documents on the Internet about five years ago when I was looking for date information for my auto shop class.

FWIW: Goodyear changed tire codes every couple of years. The 1968-1969 codes are in print, but the other Goodyear codes, to the best of my knowledge, are not.