Fred Zwicker Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I just finished a body-off restoration of my '64 Riviera 2 dr HT and am ready to mount the spare tire, after completion of the correct striping. Need to know the following:a) Does the whitewall face into the trunk, or towards the right rear inner fender? According to my research, and based on the length of the small rod of my car and original '54 Buick wheel offset, it will fit ony with whitewall facing the right fender, as the rod is not long enough if tire is turned the other way. I have seen pictures both ways and prefer the whitewall to face towards the inside of the trunk, so that the nicely striped wheel and whitewall are visible, but keep getting back to the length of the small rod that holds spare in place. Should whitewall part of the tire be cleaned, or should the blue coloring from Coker be left in place? I have seen them both ways and want to have the spare tire and wheel be exactly the same as when delivered in 1954.c) Here are two pictures from ebay - showing each way (whitewalls are white - not blue).d) Also a picture of Steve's (i motors) outstanding '54 Skylark - whitewall is facing in and still has the blue color. However his car has the wire wheels, so offset mandates that the spare face into the trunk, unlike regular '54 Buick wheels where offset seems to have it the other way.e) I have recreated the spare tire label similar to Steve's label on his spare, but removed the words "radial tubeless" so as to be correct for the tire in 1954.Thanks for your ideas and comments. Car will be shown at the Buick Nationals in Charlotte in June and I am in hopes that I am able to get this correct for judging.Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buick5563 Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I'm looking forward to meeting you, Fred. I was the judging captain last year on Steve's Skylark, and while I don't believe points were taken off for the blue coating, I would recommend cleaning them up. The blue looks too modern to me. I kinda like the sticker showing, although that is probably not "correct" either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Zwicker Posted March 26, 2012 Author Share Posted March 26, 2012 Thaks for the info Mike. I talked to Lamar about this at Amelia Island and he also felt the the blue coating should be removed as well, so we will take care of this quickly (for once an easy fix). Any idea on the placement of the tire (whitewall facing in towards center of trunk, or facing out towards right rear fender?. The one picture that I posted thie morning showed the spare with a wheel cover, which I feel certain is incorrect. I have spent a lot of time doing research on this car and it sure is looking good.Thanks again, Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithbrother Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 I noticed that the 54 Skylark appears to be POWDER BLUE, we had a new Power Blue Lark in 54 with bright RED fender panels, would yours by chance have RED panels? I am still trying to track it down.Thanks for hearing me out,Dale in Indy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrEarl Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) Thaks for the info Mike. I talked to Lamar about this at Amelia Island and he also felt the the blue coating should be removed as well, so we will take care of this quickly (for once an easy fix). Any idea on the placement of the tire (whitewall facing in towards center of trunk, or facing out towards right rear fender?. The one picture that I posted thie morning showed the spare with a wheel cover, which I feel certain is incorrect. I have spent a lot of time doing research on this car and it sure is looking good.Thanks again, FredFred, I believe my last word on that was that I would be investigating it some more. Well I did, a good friend called someone who has been making tires since probably before I was in diapers and they said the blue treatment was definitely used back in the fifties and probably earlier on whitewalls to protect the white from getting scuffed and especially when they were stacked with white against black rubber. BUT, he could not say whether or not car manufacturers left it on the tires when installed on the car or in the trunk as a spare. I strongly suspect that in those days it was likely a common practice that it was removed during new car make ready. I will check some old Jim Handy film strips that talks about getting cars ready for the showroom floor and new buyers and see if any mention is made. Personally, I'd wash that sucker if it was mine. Edited March 27, 2012 by MrEarl (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buick5563 Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 I have posted before that (at least on a 55) the whitewall is IN (towards the trunk). I have never been able to mathematically make the nut work with the tire "backwards". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrEarl Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 (edited) Oh and if I had a spare tire with a nice rim freshly painted in Matador Red with correct 1/16-1/8-1/16 inch wide French White stripes and a new wide white wall tire I'd have that sucker facing out for EVERYBODY to see, whether the nut fits on the bolt or not. Every factory photo or sales picture I have ever seen has had the whitewall facing toward the center of the trunk, not toward the fender.We're talking about the same direction aren't we Mike?:confused: Edited March 27, 2012 by MrEarl (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Zwicker Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Thanks Mr. Earl,I agree ,and on the 54 Buick Forum, Father Buick said it will fit either way. My first try didn't seem that it could be bolted into place with whitewall facing into the trunk, but I will try again later this week. Maybe I can "stretch" the angle threaded rod a bit! LOL. There may be one other option. The rod has two holes at the bracket end and maybe I can change holes in the pin to make it fit. Or a simple solution would be to slightly lengthen this rod. To face such a nice whitewall/wheel setup to the inside just doesn't seem right.Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Zwicker Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 I noticed that the 54 Skylark appears to be POWDER BLUE, we had a new Power Blue Lark in 54 with bright RED fender panels, would yours by chance have RED panels? I am still trying to track it down.Thanks for hearing me out,Dale in IndyThe car pictured in my earlier post (Skylark trunk picture in powder blue) is NOT my car. It was a 20-year body-off restoration and senior winner at the Nationals last year. The owner is from PA, but I don't have his email address. Check the 1954 Buick Forum and see some posts in the Skylark section. He posted many pictures of the car on that forum. If you can't find this, send me a PM message and I will dig further.Here is an exterior picture of that car taken after the restoration.Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buick5563 Posted March 27, 2012 Share Posted March 27, 2012 Every factory photo or sales picture I have ever seen has had the whitewall facing toward the center of the trunk, not toward the fender.We're talking about the same direction aren't we Mike?:confused:Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Zwicker Posted March 29, 2012 Author Share Posted March 29, 2012 Mike,Here is my "revised" spare tire label, which was reconstructed from the ones that were on the new tires from Coker. I removed the bar code and centered some of the copy and then removed the word "Tubeless" I have this saved in my computer and if you want one of these, let me know. For comparison, shown is the same label before revisions.If I could locate a picture of a very old tire label, feel that I could make further changes in the copy to be more accurate for 1954. I really like little things such as this, as well as the INSP mark under the hood and the numbers on the frame. If I can locate these, I will add another post later.Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrEarl Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 I just finished a body-off restoration of my '54 Riviera 2 dr HT and am ready to mount the spare tire, after completion of the correct striping. Need to know the following: Should whitewall part of the tire be cleaned, or should the blue coloring from Coker be left in place? I have seen them both ways and want to have the spare tire and wheel be exactly the same as when delivered in 1954.FredFred, I believe my last word on that was that I would be investigating it some more. Well I did, a good friend called someone who has been making tires since probably before I was in diapers and they said the blue treatment was definitely used back in the fifties and probably earlier on whitewalls to protect the white from getting scuffed and especially when they were stacked with white against black rubber. BUT, he could not say whether or not car manufacturers left it on the tires when installed on the car or in the trunk as a spare. I strongly suspect that in those days it was likely a common practice that it was removed during new car make ready. I will check some old Jim Handy film strips that talks about getting cars ready for the showroom floor and new buyers and see if any mention is made. Personally, I'd wash that sucker if it was mine. I emailed the following to Fred as soon as I found it but thought others might be interested in hearing what I found. Pay close attention at minute 3:20. 1954 Buick Promos Part 7 - YouTube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buick5563 Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Thank you Lamar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buick5563 Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 ....now tell those speculatin' 54 dummies to shaddup!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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