Anyone ever try removing 51 year old rock hard tires

[jiminbartow]

I am finally getting around to replacing my 51 year old Universal tires on my ‘26 Coupe since 1971 with New 21” Goodyear tires with flaps. Anyone ever try removing rock hard tires from rims? It is a bear! I had to cut a 4” section out of the tire with a plunge saw to gain access to the bead on each side of the rim to grind the reinforcement wires of the beading so as to get the tire off. Jim Patrick

[Moxie26]

Jim.. were your tires not holding any air seems like you had some tread life left in those tires.

[Rich Eagle]

Well I can certainly sympathize with you. I spent weeks in 1980 trying to chisel, saw and pry these Goodyears from their 24" rims. Rust had permanently bonded to the rubber. It flaked off the rim only after superhuman effort and stayed with the tire. The "rock hard" rubber as you mentioned was 1/2" thick in places. If I had only had my Sawzall then. The difficulty can not be imagined until you experience it your self. It is right up there with other horrors of the workshop.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery and forgetting the pain.
Rich

[jiminbartow]

The one I just cut off just developed a leak at the base of the stem, so it had to be changed and the right front one in the photo, is bald. That is only 2 good ones left and I don’t think it would drive very well with 2 brand new tires and two questionable 51 year old tires. Since I will be selling the car, I think 4 brand new tires will be a good selling point, plus it will be safer. Can 21” steel wire beaded tires be mounted on split rims that remain locked in place? Jim Patrick

[Burger in Spokane]

The answer you all are looking for is "fire".

[jiminbartow]

I watched this video and it is very inspiring. So much so, that I went to Auto Zone and got me a set of the tire irons he is using. Check it out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s-iD-CH7yg. He makes it look easy. I’m almost looking forward to replacing mine. Unlike him,I am using thick rubber flaps. By the way. My new tires are 21” Goodyear. Not Firestone. Jim Patrick

PS. Are tires as hard to get as everything else?

[John kuehn]

Tools needed to remove old rock hard tires are theses:
A good reciprocating saw with all purpose metal cutting blades.
Some tire irons to pry with and a good pair of fairly large bolt cutters to be able to cut the beads.
Once you cut through the first bead then you can begin to pry off the tire.

You can bend or ruin a rim by heavily prying on old hard tires. You have to be careful.

[Scott_Conger]

My question is: "why put all this work into a "T" if you're getting out of the hobby, like you've mentioned recently?" I am not sure that $800 in new tires is going to fetch $800 more in price, quite frankly. And this in addition to bending pedals and the myriad of things you have been doing or asking questions about lately.

My advice to any new T owner, whether they buy a rustbucket or a restored car is "Plan to spend $1000 at a minimum to make it drive and be the car you want" and that would go for the guy/gal that buys this thing.

A seasoned "T" owner will recognize the value of the tires and STILL offer 75% of whatever price you're asking, new tires or not, and an unknowledgeable newbie will NOT recognize the value of the new tires and would have been thrilled to buy the car even if it was still sporting Maypops.

Either way, I think you're out $800+ that you didn't have to spend, not to mention the hard work and aggravation...this is the sort of thing you leave for the buyer to do...(and knowing a little about your other interests and collections, it's $800+ that could have been put to good use elsewhere)...FWIW...

BTW, been there/done that...it's a bear of a job...good luck.

[Norman Kling]

The picture you are showing indicates you have split rims. Would you have been able to collapse them with the split rim spreader? Were the stuck to the rim all the way around? I have been able to collapse tires of all three types of rims by jacking up a heavy vehicle such as my pickup and putting the jack over the tire next to the rim and lowering the vehicle. This pushes the tire away from the rim. If that doesn't work, try the edge of a tire iron or a chisel between the rim and the tire to get it started. Usually works.
The hardest tires to remove are usually the clincher tires when they get hard from age.
Norm

[Bryant]

Use some penetrating fluid to. Work it into the bead. It takes some time. Not a fun job. I think adding new tires shows it’s more than just making a sale even if you don’t break even on them. Well done sir

[jiminbartow]

Thank you Scott. The one tire I have cut off so far, had developed a leak in the tube at the base of the stem and would not hold air. Of course The new owner will want to test her out and go for a drive, so I had to replace that one. Since I bought the tires, tubes and flaps for the coupe a couple of years ago and was planning on including them with the car, I figured the least I could do is to go ahead and put the new set on which would be especially helpful if the new owner was a novice or past his prime, like me, LOL! Whoever buys it, I want them to get the best and safest Model T I can provide them and I want for them to enjoy their new purchase immediately instead of being faced with one of the most daunting jobs in the Model T hobby. Since I have the necessary tools and experience and have an idea of the best way to do challenging jobs, with the help and advice I get from you guys and, since I have owned my coupe for 52 years, it is something I want to do before letting her go, sort of as a crowning touch. Jim Patrick

[TXGOAT2]

A guy who ran a glass shop around here and did a lot of work on old vehicles would soak old, hard windshield rubber with lanolin-type hand cleaner for a few days before trying to work with it. He used the pink stuff in the big cans, and slathered it on. It would slowly soften the sun-baked rubber.

[Dan McEachern]

Let the air out of the tire and drive the car around the block a few times. Pretty sure your tire will not be stuck to the rim after a few laps. After that, collapse the rim and peel the rim out of the tire. The video you posted shows mounting 30 x3 ½ clincher tires. Your car has non-clincher split rims. You don't mount the tire over the edge of the rim with tire irons as you do with a clincher.

[varmint]

Yes, I have, but this one was a little easier to remove from the rim.

[varmint]

I saw the video and would do a few things differently:
1) I choose to use baby powder
2) Start from the valve stem as he did but work the tire clockwise and counterclockwise, alternating
3) After the tire is full of air pressure, release it all, work the tire on the rim and then refill it again.

[Allan]

I have posted this before, but feel it needs repeating. A fellow I was helping with the restoration of his T found some beaded edge rims and old, hard tyres. He proceeded to cut them off with a saw, and completely ruined a set of as new butyl rubber tubes in the prpcess. At least air up any tyre, and if it holds air, proceed with caution.

Allan from down under.

[joe.wal]

I stick to the cutting method

[Shelbycsx]

I have a 26 oldsmobile that still has the original 1926 spare tire on it hard as a rock. The car sat from 1929-74 74-2020 the original tires were rock hard and the previous owner cut them off the only way.

[jiminbartow]

Amazing hat the air in my tires is 51 years old. I don’t remember the air in 1971 smelling so bad…LOL! The scientist in me would be interested in seeing a comparative analysis between the 51 year old air in my tires and today’s air. Jim Patrick

[jiminbartow]

With the help of my Hercules rim spreader, I got all the new 21” Goodyear tires, tubes and flaps mounted on the split rims. By the last one, it got so much easier than the first one. Before mounting each one, I repaired any broken rim locks and removed all rust with muriatic Acid and neutralized with baking soda, then painted the rims silver with very durable “Sherwin Williams Silver “ metal roof paint. They couldn’t have turned out better and it is a relief to get this job done. Now I can concentrate on getting the engine in good running order and am very anxious to take it out for a drive once I get ‘r running. Thanks everyone for your help. As usual, your advice was very helpful. Jim Patrick

[Moxie26]

Nice job on those tires there Jim... With the smooth ride those new tires will provide you may end up not selling!!

[Moxie26]

Nice job on those tires there Jim... With the smooth ride those new tires will provide you may end up not selling!!

[jiminbartow]

You may be right, Robert. After working on my T for the past 2 weeks after 7 years of letting it just sit, the old love is starting to return and she still looks fantastic. Once I get it running and start driving it again the old obsession may return as well. We’ll see. The fact remains that I’ll still be 68 my next birthday and need to seriously consider selling it so as to find it a suitable home for its’ next 52 years for if something were to happen to me, my wife would be lost as to what to do to sell it at a decent price, hopefully to Model T lover. Jim Patrick

[RGould1910]

You've got a lot more Model T left in that 68 year old body!
I had recent major heart surgery and a large rotator cuff repair that kept me out of the garage for 16 months. I returned with a vengeance and am completing the restoration of a 1912 roadster that had been sitting 20 years. I'm 76 and loving it. The restoration, not my age!

[Russ T Fender]

Jim, maybe it's just me but I don't worry about what would happen to my T's when I'm gone. I worry more about how to enjoy them while I'm here. I plan to enjoy my cars until the day I die or get so infirm or incompetent that I might just as well be dead. The thought of giving them up to make things easier when I am gone just doesn't fit into that plan. Why would anyone want to give up the things they enjoy while they can still enjoy them?

[jiminbartow]

Val (or Russ Fender), every good family man should hope that the needs of his wife and family will be provided for after he is gone. Of course I could keep my Model T until I die leaving my wife with the task of selling it, but I am the most qualified one put it on the market, convey its’ history, demonstrate how to drive it and get the best possible price for it. Even though I am in pretty good health, I cannot assume the contortionist positions I used to in order to work on my T and the fact that it has sat for 7 years does not say much for the passion I have or no longer have for the hobby. In owning 6 rental properties and one three story residence that I must maintain, my interests and responsibilities have changed. You are correct in saying that, I should not worry about what happens to my T after I am gone, but after having spent two years of my youth (aged 16-18) restoring it, having owned it for 52 years of my life and it being almost part of the family, I can’t help it and if I have the choice of selling it to a Model T lover who will preserve and enjoy it as a historical artifact, or a Boyd Coddington type who will destroy it to make it into a rat rod, I think you know who I will choose. I think most people on this forum who love their Model T’s feel the same way as I do, but unfortunately, like most Model T’s, I’m afraid it will eventually end up in the hands of someone who will destroy it, but I will be gone. Jim Patrick