[Rachelsdad]

Hi, all...

So, after last year's debacle on the way to the POCI convention in Arkansas, where one of my 19-year-old "new" Diamondback radials blew out and the other rear one was getting ready (belts shifted), necessitating an overnight stay in Greenville, TN and the procurement of four new Venezia Classics (big shout out to Rusty's Tire Shop there, for all the help and attention to detail!), I finally sprung for a set of Coker Classic Star Series bias-look radials, with 1" whitewalls.

Much as I hate to observe Memorial Day by taking advantage of sales, I got a great deal on these from Lucas Classic Tires (thank you post coming) and they arrived on Monday.

Breaking down and balancing 8-lugs is always a bit of a chore, but my friends at All Weather Tire in Huntington, NY did a great job (special thanks to Angel, who was a quick study when I showed him how to properly remove the trim rings and mount the balancing plate).

Anyway, in case it may not be clear from the pics, the 1" whitewall (which actually would be slightly narrow for '63) actually measures about 1 1/8", which is about right.

These seem to ride very smooth, though perhaps not as soft as the Venezias. Anyway, we'll see how they hold up.

[Keith Seymore]

What size are those?

Can you give us an idea on the price?

Lastly - if you have a special trick for removing the trim rings I'd be interested to hear it -

K

[Rachelsdad]

Hey, Keith!

Okay, so, the tires are 215/75R14, which is roughly equivalent to 8.00 x 14 bias-ply (pre-1965), or GR78-14 pre-metric radials. FWIW, Coker has a decent equivalency table on their site:

https://cokertire.com/blog/tire-size-cross-reference

They're a pretty good fit, if slightly wider than the original Uniroyal US Royal Laredos which came on the car (and which many people disliked).

Pricewise, Coker lists these at $178/tire. Lucas had them on sale for the holiday at $25 off per tire. Even at Coker's retail, these are less expensive than Diamondback, and look better, IMO.

Now, the trick to removing trim rings, straight from Service Craftsman News, is to remove the rim from the wheel and use a screwdriver or a pry between the trim ring and the wheel along the inside edge (not the outside). See pics. It's fairly easy once someone points out that the fingers which grip the wheel are toward the inside of the rim and not the outside.

[67drake]

Beautiful car.

[Rachelsdad]

Thanks so much. Yeah, she still turns heads. :-)