Put Wide white walls on my radial tires

Got a vintage Cosmo 3000 whitewall machine. It worked great to prep the sidewalls on my Ford. Then I used some white wall paint to paint them.

 

The second pic of the tire is after 1 coat of white wall paint. 4 coats are required.

 

So you shaved them and then painted them? I've been thinking about doing that myself.
Keep us posted on how they hold up.

 

I thought those machines shaved them so you didn't have to paint them?

 

...yeah, what he said... I had shaved whitewalls on a car I had a few years back... looked just like regular whitewalls and no paint. they were only like 2" though,,,maybe that's the difference?

 

I'm thinking the reason that he painted them was to give them a smoother appearance or possibly just to make damn sure that they were white!

 

If you have a tire with some kind of white wall already there is some white in the rubber already. But it my case I went 3.5 inches wide. Which is wider than what was on there.
So I created the good smooth surface for the new width.

 

Hey Martino; They look great...

 

Thanks Scrap Metal 48 !

 

Looks good!!!

 

What did you use for the paint?

 

Looks cool. I'm a cheap bastard so I'm gonna try a method like this or shaving the walls

 

Martino,
So you're going into business shaving whitewalls for other Hambers? Sweet!
I'll drop mine off next time I'm in the D. Or DH.

 

The paint is available from guy here in Michigan. He sells it on E-Bay. Motor City White Wall Paint.
The trick is getting a good smooth surface with consistency from a machine.
Doctor Detroit let me if your ever in town with the car.

 

Where did you snag the machine? I would think you could make a pretty decent buck doing white walls for people. I had mine done and they look good but not as white as I would like. Lets see some pics of the paint after you get all 4 coats on. I may do that myself...

 

Yes Im going to grind for people. The machine was given to me by a family member that is in the tire business.
I will also offer to paint the whitewalls for a fee.

 

It's probably just me but the wide whitewalls on radial tires look strange since the lower part of the tire has that bulge of radial sidewall. Your work is good though.

 

Very interested. What kind of control do you have with the machine? Do you have the capability of cutting grooves (say a 1/4" wide) or does it just sand/grind the sidewalls down?

I want to grind a 1/4" wide groove to make redlines.

 

I'll take some pics of the tires with the finished appearence.

 

I've done the same with 80 grit DA pads to take the lettering and whatnot off. Probably more work that way but it gets the job done.

For future reference, that white wall tire paint is trailer roof coating put into a different can with a huge markup. I use the same stuff, a half gallon was $11. Some guys refer to it as Snow-Seal but my brand name was Sealbest white elastomeric roof coating.

Works great, and like you said, if it's prepped really well (that's the key) it holds up nicely for a long time. Have one set that must be close to 5 years old already, still looking nice.

A lot of naysayers will tell you how much better a bias type tire looks, which is kind of true, but you can get good results for way less money doing it this way. I think it's a real good option.

 

In regards to Flat-N-Low. The issue with doing a red line is the red paint. I asked the guy I get my paint from. He has tried to tint the paint red. But he has not had good results.

Yes I saw the trailer roof paint product. It will probably work. Just havent tried it. The paint I get here in Michigan is developed by a car guy. Just trying to keep it local.

Im sure using a DA works. But what about the swrils created by the DA? With the machine the surfacing is done on a rotating direction and has a smooth finish.

 

Looks great, interested in how they hold up!

 

The process doesnt cut the tires in any way. It removes lettering and any exsisting whitewall. But a disclosure is a good idea.
Thanks.

 

And a picture of the tire machine, sounds cool.

 

I don't get any swirl marks with the DA. I've actually cut the letters off of black sidewalls and ran them that way and they look smooth. For whatever reason, the rubber doesn't need anything finer to make a smooth surface.

It's just really messy and takes a while. If I had access to your machine, I'd probably use that instead.

 

Squablow that sounds good. Sounds like it will work.
Yea the machine really does a nice job. These machines were the real deal back in the day. Never had any tire failure.

 

I ran a set of NOS port-a-walls on a set of radials and the port-a-walls wore a groove into the radials. I guess, becuase the radials flex more? The treads wore out before the sidewall goove became a problem.

 

They still fo this at Warholicks tire on Wyoming and Magraw. Their dad and uncle did it wayyy back when. Cool ya have it. I might have something for ya to do

 

Loveoftiki just let me know if you want to do some tires.
Hey any spots left for The Midnight Mass?

 

Cool will do...a few spots left for Midnight Mass....if ya want one get on it!