Orginal Spare Tire

[Glen C.]

Last weekend I lowered the spare tire tub for the first time since purchasing my car. The spare appears to be original to the car and never used. It was still holding air but I had it removed and I've stored it in the garage to preserve it. Would the spare tire be the same as the rest of the tires installed originally or did GM mix and match spares?

Also I found a bit of a treasure trove on top of the spare. Some early fan belts still in the packaging with computer punch cards attached and an order form taped to one of them from the dealership with a customer's name which I hope will help with the owner search.

[Dave S.]

Re: Orginal Spare Tire

Last weekend I lowered the spare tire tub for the first time since purchasing my car. The spare appears to be original to the car and never used. It was still holding air but I had it removed and I've stored it in the garage to preserve it. Would the spare tire be the same as the rest of the tires installed originally or did GM mix and match spares?

Also I found a bit of a treasure trove on top of the spare. Some early fan belts still in the packaging with computer punch cards attached and an order form taped to one of them from the dealership with a customer's name which I hope will help with the owner search.

Glen,
The 5 tires that left St.Llouis would have all been the same. Sometimes tires were changed by the dealer at retail delivery as the new owner may not have liked the looks of the car with the tires ordered. I would think that if that were the case all 5 woukld have been switched with another car but the possibility exists that only 4 may were changed thus making the spare different.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Orginal Spare Tire

I would say that there is a99% chance that is what came on you Corvette when it was new. I doubt many if any left the factory with a mismatched spare.

[Alan S.]

Re: Orginal Spare Tire

Hi Glen,
That really is a very nice discovery!
I believe the date codes on the GoodYear tires from that era can be deciphered. That will help you to know if that tire was, at least time wise, one that could have left St. Louis in your tire tub!
If you decide to clean it a little be very gentle, you may find some nice markings under the 'scum'.
PLUS, an ownership lead!!!!
Regards,
Alan

[Joe L.]

Re: Orginal Spare Tire

Last weekend I lowered the spare tire tub for the first time since purchasing my car. The spare appears to be original to the car and never used. It was still holding air but I had it removed and I've stored it in the garage to preserve it. Would the spare tire be the same as the rest of the tires installed originally or did GM mix and match spares?

Also I found a bit of a treasure trove on top of the spare. Some early fan belts still in the packaging with computer punch cards attached and an order form taped to one of them from the dealership with a customer's name which I hope will help with the owner search.

Glen-----


I'm sure the tire is original. For one thing, the original spec tires were not commonly available in the replacement tire market of the day. If one wanted them, they had to be special-ordered and usually did not come out of local warehouse stock. So, there could be quite a wait to get them. In addition, they were not the greatest of tires and had a very short tread life. So, few folks would really want another set. I recall that when my original set wore out in about 12,000 miles of absolutely no wheel spin driving, the last thing I wanted was another set of those tires.

What are the part numbers written on the parts receipt (or printed on the belt package)?

[Glen C.]

Re: Orginal Spare Tire

Joe,

The two GM fan belts are part #3991410 and the Gates belt is #8226. The order was taped to one of the fan belts and was for one of the fan belts and a 03861941 belt. Thanks for the info on the tire.

Glen

Glen-----


I'm sure the tire is original. For one thing, the original spec tires were not commonly available in the replacement tire market of the day. If one wanted them, they had to be special-ordered and usually did not come out of local warehouse stock. So, there could be quite a wait to get them. In addition, they were not the greatest of tires and had a very short tread life. So, few folks would really want another set. I recall that when my original set wore out in about 12,000 miles of absolutely no wheel spin driving, the last thing I wanted was another set of those tires.

What are the part numbers written on the parts receipt (or printed on the belt package)?

[Glen C.]

Re: Orginal Spare Tire

Alan,

It was a nice surprise. I just put the tire away as is for the time being. When the time comes I'll reattach it gently for sure. I hope the owner lead works out.

Glen

[Glen C.]

Re: Orginal Spare Tire

Thanks everyone for the tire info. Are these available as reproductions or do I need to be on the lookout for originals for judging?

Thanks again,

Glen

[Joe L.]

Re: Orginal Spare Tire

Thanks everyone for the tire info. Are these available as reproductions or do I need to be on the lookout for originals for judging?

Thanks again,

Glen

Glen-----


Available in reproduction from Kelsey Tire.

[Joe L.]

Re: Orginal Spare Tire

Joe,

The two GM fan belts are part #3991410 and the Gates belt is #8226. The order was taped to one of the fan belts and was for one of the fan belts and a 03861941 belt. Thanks for the info on the tire.

Glen

Glen-----


3991410 is the A/C belt for your model year with small block.

There is no GM #3861941. If the number is actually 3861946, that's the fan/alternator belt if your car is a base engine with C-60.

[Terry M.]

Re: Orginal Spare Tire

My experience with buying OEM Goodyear tires was somewhat different than Joe's. I found Gooryear RWL Speedway F70 x 15 in stock at about five or six Goodyear stores in the Chicagoland area in 1972/3. I bought them all, and none are for sale. Several are BLEMS, and thus are useless for judging, but I have a lifetime supply none the less. Joe is right about the road life, but that "feature" hasn't improved in more than 38 years. You can see new Corvette owners complaining about the lifespan of current Goodyears on that other forum all the time, and they last about as long as ours did 40 years ago.

[Joe L.]

Re: Orginal Spare Tire

My experience with buying OEM Goodyear tires was somewhat different than Joe's. I found Gooryear RWL Speedway F70 x 15 in stock at about five or six Goodyear stores in the Chicagoland area in 1972/3. I bought them all, and none are for sale. Several are BLEMS, and thus are useless for judging, but I have a lifetime supply none the less. Joe is right about the road life, but that "feature" hasn't improved in more than 38 years. You can see new Corvette owners complaining about the lifespan of current Goodyears on that other forum all the time, and they last about as long as ours did 40 years ago.

Terry-----

Your experience with the tires is surprising. I believe the tires used on Corvettes during the 68-72 period were not originally used on other model cars. I inquired about them (even though I was not really going to use them unless they were really cheap) when I replaced my original tires. The Goodyear dealer told me they were only available on a special, factory order. Are you sure the tires you bought were the exact tire originally used on a Corvette?

My first set of replacement tires were F-60-15 Goodyear Polyglas GT. These tires lasted about 50,000 miles and were the best handling tire I EVER had on the car. I replaced them with the same when the time came. When I needed tires again, the Polyglas GT's were no longer available and, by then, radials were in widespread use. So, I switched to Goodyear Eagle radials in size 245-60-15. They did not handle nearly as well as the Polyglas GT's but they rode a lot softer.

[Ron G.]

Re: Orginal Spare Tire

Glen,

I had a 1970 L-46 that had the original spare which I still have today. However, my experience has been that if the car came with for example Goodyear white stripes, then in most cases the spare matched the tires on that the car when delivered new, but I have seen original type cars with a spare being from a different tire manufacterer, but with the same configuration such as white stripes, black walls, or lettered tires.

[Glen C.]

Re: Orginal Spare Tire

Joe,

Thank you for the info. I just assumed it was a fan belt and the A/C didn't occur to me. Those were the two numbers written on the ticket. Under description just said "belts". I do have a small block base engine.

Glen

[Marc K.]

Re: Orginal Spare Tire

Glen,
Neat find! Someday when you gently, gently remove some of the dirt and grim from your spare tire, look for a molded 8-digit alphanumeric code in the outer sidewall near the rim. I have a chart for Goodyear tires manufactured in 1970 and 1971 which breaksdown the code (i.e. week of manufacture, tire size, tire configuration (BW, RWL, WS) and plant location). I have no doubt your spare is correct, but it would be kind of cool to verify the spare, versus the build date of your car.

I tried to post the documents on this thread, but forum told me the files were too big to upload. I'm not that great at comuters to make it work. I could email them to you offline.
Marc