Quote:
Originally Posted by TAKerry
Not saying one way or the other but a lot of memories change, get enhanced, fog, over 40+ years.
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Can guarantee my memory hasn't changed in respect to the usage & style of 2nd Gen F-body mini spares.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ta6point6
I thought space saver spares came with t-top cars and non t-top could come with small donut tires. I have also seen the tread pattern is different on 79-81 Trans Ams, I think. Just like in the is auction on ebay
www.ebay.com/itm/224021116203 |
Know full sized spares were common up through the '77 model Birds. Can look at some original order forms & see what was up for '78. My Dad ordered a new solar gold '79 T/A hardtop, got it late Sept 78 . It had a collapsible space saver in it, just like both of our family's very early '80 Turbo T/A's (ordered in June of '79). . I routinely washed & detailed each of the cars, along with Dads pickup. The original space saver in my '80 SE, it is the traditional late 70's tread style, that spare was installed once for less than 5 miles, still looked in great shape when I removed it/ I was concerned at the time that the tread would be worn some.
Through the late 70's I regularly drove low mile GMAC repossessed late 70's F-body's to clean them up for my Dad. Then about every month, he auctioned them to licensed dealers. Cleaning up & vacuuming the trunk of those repo's was always part of the deal. '78 & 79 Z-28's, Berlinettas, T/A's, the occasional late '70's Vette, along with a ton of 77 model Montes, Regals, Cutlasses. Very popular cars in the S Okla/N Texas region. The Oil Boom was cranking, & there was a lot of new money types buying sporty appearing GM's. Problem was, a bunch got in over their heads in debt. Three military bases within an hours drive also rendered quite a few cheaper bodystyle GM repo's.
the X'ed style tread of the above eBay auction collapsible mini spares is not original to a 2nd Gen F-body collapsible style spare. Have had over 2 dozen collapsible type 2nd Gen F-body spares, & have quite a few today. For me, the earlier BFG mfg style collapsible spare seem to have been the hardest to find. Other first hand experience... from early '81 into the mid 80's I worked on (performed perf mods) on over a dozen '80 & 81 Turbo T/A's & two Turbo Formulas. The only larger diameter non collapsible mini spares I ever encountered in them were in '81 models , all of those 80 T/A's had the collapsible style spares.
Through the mid 80's, up into late 00's, spent a ton of time boneyarding & hauling in parts & project cars. During those years, also dealt with many dozen used tire/wheel shops buying oem "Original Muscle era" wheels. Grabbed many a like new correct GM & early Mopar style collapsible mini spare when I found them. The decade of the 80's brought a ton of mini spares being factory equipped in GM cars, even S10 Blazers, very few that I ever picked up.
"Roller tires/wheels".... One longtime local source wheel I dealt with for near 20 years often sold me, for next to nothing, non collapsible dual bolt pattern GM style mini spares. They worked great on my parts cars. Once I had a parts car off the trailer, & had removed the original wheels, 4 mini spares went on. The short diameter dual bolt pattern mini spares also came in handy when lifting body's (A-body's) off their rolling chassis. With the crude process I used at the time, did not have to raise the bodies as high as when equipped with full size tires.