Homemade whitewalls

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olddrags

Member
Joined
Aug 21, 2007
Messages
11
Location
Livermore Ky.
Saw an article on another forum about making your own wide whites, tried it last night, took and old Mastercraft truck tire and about 20 minutes. What ya think?
 
Lets try this again!!
 

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Yea, pretty simple, any tire that's whitewall or whiteletters has a band of white laid into the sidewall, no two brands are the same width, I just happened to have a couple of Mastercraft A/T tires laying around.
I used a small angle grinder w/ a roloc type 40 grit disc, and finished off with 80 grit on a DA. On this particular tire the white is only the thinkness of a playing card under the surface. Just be sure to hold the disc as flat to the surface as possible. Caution: this makes quite a black mess in the garage!!
Wear a mask!
 
There used to be a machine that would complete this task for you. I don't think they are made anymore but I see them on ebay every once in a while.
 
Gastrick, how did this machine work? kinda like a lathe? can you describe it?

maddog, it was a machine that that let the tire spin while a mounted adjustable grinder did the work. The machine's make/model was Cosmo G-3000. I'm not sure that they are still made. And of course, I have a couple of pics for ya.



 
If I would have seen just the picture I might not have ever guessed that machine was made to take side wall rubber off. The airplane in the background would have thrown me off even more.
 
gastrick, you are an encyclopedia of automotive knowledge :D


In about 1963 I worked at a Ford Dealership, and every so often the used car lot would have this guy come in who would make whitewalls out of blackwalls on the cars for sale. It increased the value and they looked newer that way.

He had some vulcanizing deal where he actually heated the tire and glued the white on. Never got a chance to watch him closely or ask questions, so that is all I know about it.

Don
 
maddog, it was a machine that that let the tire spin while a mounted adjustable grinder did the work. The machine's make/model was Cosmo G-3000. I'm not sure that they are still made. And of course, I have a couple of pics for ya.




Of course you have pictures.:D Thanks. Something tells me its more trouble than its worth trying to find tires that are good enough to make into whitewalls. And it your gonna buy new tires, just buy whitwalls.

I just dont know, but I do like making something from nothing.:D
 
In about 1963 I worked at a Ford Dealership, and every so often the used car lot would have this guy come in who would make whitewalls out of blackwalls on the cars for sale. It increased the value and they looked newer that way.

He had some vulcanizing deal where he actually heated the tire and glued the white on. Never got a chance to watch him closely or ask questions, so that is all I know about it.

Don

Many moons ago there was some kind of inflatable wide whitewall. That might have been what you are talking about?

Portawides? Portawalls? Anybody remember those things? Or am I getting senile?
 
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Man Gastrick, you really do have pics of everything!:D I have heard rumors of this machine, but never knew it really existed. Thanks for confirming the myth. I'll be filing that picture for future reference.:cool:
 
I tried to make some old white walls, wide whites and it took a good while... They still make white wall paint and porta-walls... I looked into getting some for the s10 when I get my beauty rings...
 
Something tells me its more trouble than its worth trying to find tires that are good enough to make into whitewalls. And it your gonna buy new tires, just buy whitwalls.

I just dont know, but I do like making something from nothing.:D

Any tire with white will work. I've ground 8 so far. 4 different types of tires. Some are wider than others. I have WWW mud/snow tires on the back of my F100. Won't give you as quality appearance as a bought WWW, but I don't feel sick when I scrub a curb either - a little buff and good as 'new'! Some tires WW's get a little sloppy where the ends meet, but so far everything I've done is good enough for a driver. (I'd hate to have my tires upstage my truck!)

I just used a grinder, belt sander, dremel to do mine. I've seen where you leave the wheel on the car and fix the grinder in place. Spin the wheel and get a nice even grind - gonna try to make that set-up next time.
 

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