"Twenty years ago, when concours restorations dominated the hobby, tire selection was simple. You chose either reproductions of the original-equipment tires from Coker Tire and Kelsey Tire or you installed a set of radials that looked close in appearance to original equipment--a modern radial tire with the correct-width whitewall band. Owners of '69-'73 Mach 1s or Bosses who wanted to drive their cars opted for BFGoodrich Radial T/As or Goodyear Eagle STs with raised white letters instead of the factory-original Goodyear Polyglas or Firestone Wide-Oval bias-belted ones".
On the 1966 here we have the Coker Tires.
Repo B.F. Goodrich Silvertown 660 dual redwalls in this size.
6.95-14 4 ply. NOT radials. They look cool and concurs correct, but are somewhat of a handful when driving. To add to my displeasure, they are 20+ years old. Time to find some radials and be done with this. I will not show the car anymore, I have too much to do and I would really rather enjoy driving her now. Squalling tires on Hawaii Five-0 (the old one)? I believe it. Driving around on these pizza cutters leaves much to be desired.
Time for replacement. Hmm.... Now it gets interesting. From the article: "If your '65 Mustang was designed for 6.95x14 tires, what do you install on it now? In 1965, tire sizing was based on section width and wheel diameter. A 6.95x14 tire was 6.95 inches wide (sidewall to sidewall) around a 14-inch-diameter rim. A 7.00x13 tire was 7.00 inches wide around a 13-inch-diameter rim, and so on....
What does all this mean when trying to properly size P-metric and ISO Metric radial tires to a classic Mustang? Your Mustang's original 6.95x14 tire size is easily converted to P-metric sizing. First, the aspect ratio of your Mustang's 6.95x14 tire sizing is around 83. All we have to do now is convert 195 millimeters to inches. One inch amounts to 25.4 millimeters. With that in mind, 195 millimeters is 7.68 inches. This is nearly three quarters of an inch wider than the 6.95-inch width of our Mustang's original tires..... Through the years, we've learned that P195/78R14 and P205/78R14 are ideal Mustang tire sizes if you're seeking original outside-diameter tire sizing. This keeps tire height close to original and your speedometer reading close to accurate. The P195 is closest when it comes to speedometer accuracy."
Well that is great if you can still GET tires in that size!
Time to improvise. Times 2: The 1971:
Tires even older than the 1966. These are on the 1971.
Where is my wine? The Woman in the go go boots and miniskirt? This used to be simple right?
Well, at least although these wheels are considered the ugliest made in Mustang history I can get tires for it without a mental exercise!
On the 1966 here we have the Coker Tires.
Repo B.F. Goodrich Silvertown 660 dual redwalls in this size.
6.95-14 4 ply. NOT radials. They look cool and concurs correct, but are somewhat of a handful when driving. To add to my displeasure, they are 20+ years old. Time to find some radials and be done with this. I will not show the car anymore, I have too much to do and I would really rather enjoy driving her now. Squalling tires on Hawaii Five-0 (the old one)? I believe it. Driving around on these pizza cutters leaves much to be desired.
Time for replacement. Hmm.... Now it gets interesting. From the article: "If your '65 Mustang was designed for 6.95x14 tires, what do you install on it now? In 1965, tire sizing was based on section width and wheel diameter. A 6.95x14 tire was 6.95 inches wide (sidewall to sidewall) around a 14-inch-diameter rim. A 7.00x13 tire was 7.00 inches wide around a 13-inch-diameter rim, and so on....
What does all this mean when trying to properly size P-metric and ISO Metric radial tires to a classic Mustang? Your Mustang's original 6.95x14 tire size is easily converted to P-metric sizing. First, the aspect ratio of your Mustang's 6.95x14 tire sizing is around 83. All we have to do now is convert 195 millimeters to inches. One inch amounts to 25.4 millimeters. With that in mind, 195 millimeters is 7.68 inches. This is nearly three quarters of an inch wider than the 6.95-inch width of our Mustang's original tires..... Through the years, we've learned that P195/78R14 and P205/78R14 are ideal Mustang tire sizes if you're seeking original outside-diameter tire sizing. This keeps tire height close to original and your speedometer reading close to accurate. The P195 is closest when it comes to speedometer accuracy."
Well that is great if you can still GET tires in that size!
Time to improvise. Times 2: The 1971:
Tires even older than the 1966. These are on the 1971.
Where is my wine? The Woman in the go go boots and miniskirt? This used to be simple right?
Well, at least although these wheels are considered the ugliest made in Mustang history I can get tires for it without a mental exercise!
So I am reminded of this line: " Ones for the money but I'm thru with the show".
.
Have you looked at TireRack?
ReplyDeleteThey seem to have tires in almost any size you can dream of.
I wanted an "oddball" for my Jeep Grand Cherokee, 10mm wider, 60 series instead of 65 series (gives me wider tire with same rolling radius), and they had them!