I used to do this a lot, I used SealBest white elastomeric roof coating, for trailer roofs. I'd sand all the lettering down on the tire sidewall to smooth it out and I'd pick tires that had some kind of raised line to paint up to. Brushed it on. Takes a lot of coats, helps if the coating product is really old (it gets thick when it's been in the can for years), also helps if it's really, really hot outside and you do it in direct sunlight. Holds up way better than Porta-Walls. The result looks like a radial wide whitewall. The bias tires are more attractive for sure, but if you're broke and building on a shoestring budget it's OK. Tires on the '52 Ford were probably 6 or 7 years old when that pic was taken, tires on the '55 Dodge were more fresh. '52 is getting a set of "real ones" soon, '55 got sold years ago, but it worked for a while.
last year, I laid out a chunk of dough, buying Cokers WWW . They came up to Back to the 50s, weekend, I wanted 8.20x15 bias ply for the 53 Lincoln, they only had the look-a like bias. A lot more than I wanted to spend, ($1400 for four, at least i didn't have to pay shipping )but, they look right,
Just be thankful you don’t live 8000 miles away from the USA. I recently bought a set of wide whites and converted to USD cost me over $2k. But I knew they weren’t going to be cheap so had saved my pocket money and change the look of the car. Just have to make sure I don’t do any skids on them.
My problem is that my high cost white walls seem to have this stupid love affair with curbs. They want to kiss.
I wanted a set of WW for my '48 Ford but just couldn't step up for them as they were more than I paid for the truck. I've "sanded" a few sets to make WW. Any tire that has white letters or a whitewall have more white that what's showing. Normally the underlying white doesn't make it all the way to the rim as seen. Threre's old threads on the HAMB how to do it. The biggest drawback is it's a messy job. The sandings become static charged and want to stick to everything. Mine always turned out well though. First set were 215/75/15 and originally a 1" whitewall Ended up being 2-1/4" Did another set 235/70/15 white letter LT tires rear, 3-1/2" wide and some 225/75/15 front, about 3" wide Also did a set of 13" for my canned ham Bought all the tires at wrecking yard for $20-25 each
I had to chuckle. Back in the olden days, there were more how-to's on the HAMB and tire grinding and making white walls threads seemed as common as 'which oil should I use?' threads these days!
And two 25 year old bikini clad beauties to scrub them twice a year! (my luck runs.... one 75 year old to sit in a lawn hair and direct MY scrubbing activities)
Yep... Rustoleum matte white Peel coat spray. Sanded the words off the sidewalls with a Scotchbrite circular pad in a drill, masked off the rim and outer edge, cleaned with prepsol a couple of times, and about 4-5 coats of the spray goop. I have just re- coated 1 tyre after 5 years as the brown had leached through the tyre so I had a "beige wall" for a while. I thought that they would lift and peel off, but they're still hanging in there. I have tried all of the gunks and paints available, and "flappers" as well, but it always ended in tears. And they can be cleaned easily, but just like "real" whitewalls will tear if they hit the curb.
I can remember when whitewalls were not cool, getting out the black spray paint...lot less work than getting them remounted.
Looking at then from halfway around the world, it looks like the results were worth your effort. And they look right at home on that particular car.
I've bought whites from Diamondback. They use a mass produced black wall. Grind off the lettering on the outside. They vulcanize(?) the whitewall to the tire. They look really nice. About four years old and 15k miles. Still look like new.
Hello, If it is the look that you want on your Mercury, then the cost is relative. You certainly don’t want to paint whitewalls on your black tires and think that it will look good. You also don't want used tires, as that starts a whole new, unknown problem. So, the money set aside for such a new purchase is a reflection on you and your build. Plus, the new tires will satisfy your need and the cost can be spread out over months to get it less per month. It is important not to get in a tizzy, but get the right look for your desired Mercury. It does not matter that others think everything is too expensive for their style of build. Most everyone complains about something. But, the cost can be adjusted to fit your plan. Jnaki As others have said, the cost of new current tires for all of the newish cars cost an arm and leg. Safety for you and your family is important, so again, the cost includes safety and now the price looks less spent on your tires. My wife knows it is important to get where she wants to go, safely. Her daily driver will do that. But, if her tires need replacing, then it is relative as to how much the cost is as per who it is for and why. If it is what you want and need, then you can’t cheap out on safety or reliability. Since most of us haven't gone anywhere like we used to go on a regular basis, there seems to be more reasons to get what is needed for the times we have to go somewhere, safely. YRMV old Friday Art The whitewall version seems to be a nicer version of a custom, lowered Mercury. IOHO
Tires are a key component of a vehicles looks and performance so it’s pretty easy to justify the additional expense…
Well I always thought the same thing about superchargers. Do you think my wife will buy that line of reasoning? Seriously though, I do think tire selection is a major factor in the image of a vehicle...........but personally I'd wait em out and see if the prices come down. I'm sure with quite a few people, the decision will be made to keep existing tires a while longer since virtually all the necessities in life are costing more.
Absolutely agree. Nothing makes or breaks any car more than stance and wheels/tires. Great looking car by the way. ironandsteele.com
I bought Coker Classic WWW radials. 205/75R14. The radials look identical to a Cooper Trendsetter tire (generic) and after all the videos Corky Coker makes about being USA made....they are made in Mexico. Had them 3 years now, no issues.
I found some cheap tires that had a thin white wall on it, radial, of course... at least they look okay. Was less than 350 bucks including shipping!
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