Ford V8 sedan 1946

[bypass]

Hi everyone,

 

What is your opinion about whitewall tyres for a 1946 Ford v8 Sedan (4 doors).  I'm undecided between 

 

Firestone 6.00 - 16

 

And

 

Firestone 6.50 - 16

 

I think that the two measures are applicable in this car.

 

 

I realy like to see the white wall...and the Firestone 6.50-16 is bigger...but I don´t if I could have other disadvantages....

 

 

 

Thanks a lot!

[bypass]

"but I don´t know if I could have other disadvantages...."

[kgreen]

Whitewalls have been done before and look great.  This is not my car but one of several I found with an internet search.  If you don't get any help on this forum, you might ask this question on the Ford Barn (a Ford dedicated forum).

[Dave Henderson]

600 16 is the standard tire size.  Using 650 16 would cause the speedometer to be off. 

[Curti]

I wonder what percentage of 1946 Fords were sold at the dealer with white wall tires ?

[Paul Dobbin]

IMHO, Whitewalls improve the looks of almost any car.  Especially big black cars!

[46 woodie]

If you plan on having your car judged, then you will have points deducted, as whitewalls were not offered in '46. That being said, I have WWW's on my '46 Station Wagon and it really makes the car stand out. Look at the #3 post and try to imagine the car with black-walls. As Paul states, I also think the WW's look great especially on a black car. It's your car and if you like them, who cares what others say.

[bypass]

The question is...wich one do you choose in my case..

 

6.00-16

 

or

 

6.50-16 (largest white wall)

 

 

[Pilgrim65]

Like the white walls and the car  but this car has bad memories for me . When I had just started school at 4and half ,my mother would cross me over the main busy road we lived on and I would walk a mile to school , but on the first day on my own I had to cross a road that joined the main road , it had traffic lights and not knowing the code crossed on the green for go , hit by a ford V8 pilot , luckily for me the driver had seen me coming and only knocked me over , a policeman saw the accident ,picked me up ,checked me out walked me the rest of the way to school saw the headmistress and the next day came to school with a dummy traffic light and taught us the code.

[DavidAU]

What ever you put on it, black is my preference,  use radial tires.   Owning early Fords I can tell you the difference in handling and ride between radials and cross plys is night and day.  I would never put cross plys on one of my cars again.

Edited September 28, 2018 by DavidAU (see edit history)

[Rusty_OToole]

13 hours ago, Curti said:

I wonder what percentage of 1946 Fords were sold at the dealer with white wall tires ?

In 1946 you were lucky to get tires at all, or a car. I am not kidding. Cars were in short supply and some new cars were delivered with no spare tire. You got a spare wheel with no tire in the trunk and an coupon for a tire. After a couple of months when shortages eased, you got a letter from the dealer to come in and have your spare tire installed.

 

I don`t know if whitewalls were even available. Chrysler made special white trim rings to give a whitewall effect when they could not get whitewall tires. If whitewalls were even available on a 46 Ford they would have been very rare. That is not to say owners did not put them on later, when the original tires needed replacing and whitewalls were available.

[46 woodie]

As for Ford vehicles, whitewall tires were non-existent on 1946 and early 1947 cars. The first post-war whitewalls became available in the spring of 1947. In fact Ford announced in August of 1941 that the white side walled tires shown in their 1942 catalog, were not going to be available, except from left over dealer stock. This was because the Japanese capture of sources of raw material use in rubber production.

[Rusty_OToole]

On the other hand it is your car and if you get a kick out of having whitewalls, go ahead. They would go well with a car that has a few contemporary accessories or dealer installed options like fender skirts, bumper over riders, fog lights, backup light, deluxe hood ornament  etc.

[SC38dls]

I remember in the early 50’s my grandfather using whitewall paint on his postwar car tires. He use to say “ we couldn’t get whitewalls when it was new why pay for them now?”  

He was a character to say the least 

Dave S 

[Curti]

On 9/27/2018 at 8:12 AM, Paul Dobbin said:

IMHO, Whitewalls improve the looks of almost any car.  Especially big black cars!

I have the exact opposite opinion. I like the cars the way they came from the factory.  I actually saw whitewalls on a new Toyota  about a month ago,  it looked quite strange.

  Some how the whitewall tires draw attention away from the car. I think it is a blond brunet thing. 

Edited September 28, 2018 by Curti
upd (see edit history)

[JF Vaughan]

I got 600-16 put on my 46 and they were whitewall radials from Diamondback in Conway, SC. 

 

[Marty Roth]

On 9/27/2018 at 7:54 AM, Dave Henderson said:

600 16 is the standard tire size.  Using 650 16 would cause the speedometer to be off. 

Dave, of course, is absolutely correct -

but if the speedometer were off in the first place, and reading high (as so many do),

the next size could correct the incorrect reading - just sayin'

 

also, a slightly larger contact patch on the pavement can't hurt,

and clearance should not be an issue-

did the convertible, or the wagon use the larger size?

 

Also, modern aftermarket tires, despite the numerics emblazoned on the sidewall, are frequently less in overall size than original counterparts

 

And I like whitewalls on most applications,

but have blackwalls on our 1915 Hudson, and Corvette-

other than that, white look "right" on all of our other cars

 

Edited June 16, 2022 by Marty Roth (see edit history)

[JF Vaughan]

Where can I get windshield wipers and blades for this make and model?