original size tires for alpine

[lotsafords]

Hey folks,
I am getting rid of the aluminum wheels on my 67 Alpine and going to stock wheels. What size tire is comparable to the original?? I looked in the manual and it said 6.00 X 13. Any help appreciated.

 

[64beam]

Hi,

That looks correct for wheel size. The original tyres I think worked out to be 165, 13" with a 65 profile, maybe even 70. That size tyre may be hard to find, so a 175 or 185 may be required.

Regards, Robin.

 

[Nick Farrow]

The overall diameter of a 6.00x13 tyre is 23.78" (BF Goodrich Silvertown crossply/bias ply). The closest radial tyre size to that is either a 165R13 @ 23.39" or a 175R13 @ 24.02". Some people over here is the UK fit 155R13s which don't look right as the profile is too small. My car is currently fitted with 185/70R13s @ 23.2" as fitted by the previous owner. IMO these are a little too wide for the 4" rim diameter, but I'll be fitting 165R13 whitewalls soon anyway. I would say that 175 is probably the widest you want to go; anything wider will probably result in sloppy handling.

 

[John Boggis]

BF Goodrich Silvertown

If you scroll down to near the bottem of the photo gallery page you will see five pics of a Series 1V. The tyres on the car are 6.00x13 BF Goodrich Silvertown crossply.

I think these are the closest match you will find to the original 6.00x13 Dunlops that were supplied on the car from the factory.

 

[puff4]

I'm going through the same ritual - trying to find decent radial tires with a modest white wall, like I have on the car presently. So far, the only thing even remotely close I've found are Hanook H714 tires. The Corvair folks like them and say they perform well - they are made in South Korea, I think (the tires, that is, not the "Corvair folks" ). Anyway, have a look here at their website.

PDF Chart: http://www.hankooktireusa.com/product/H714 4 Groove.pdf

Looks like the closest size is 185/80R13. I had wanted to stick with the stock wheels, though I know the rim width is a bit narrow for that size.

Does anyone have tires about that size on their car, and are they a problem?

Here's a pic of my car with its current (and very old, hard & dangerous) boots:

 

[jumpinjan]

185-80/13 are a good size. I would go with those.
(you want the tallest and narrowest tire)

 

[alpine_64]

185 will look FAT on a stock rim. 155 or 165 will look correct, but offer less grip (and most likely be a cheaper tyre rather than a sports tyre) I ran 155's on my alpine on wires.. looked very period.. and the car was also lots of fun to slide around. If i was running stock steels i'd get a set of the michelin or pirellis in 165 series.. nice tyres and a good period look

 

[Nick Farrow]

As I mentioned below, according to the measurements 165R13s and 175R13s are the clossest to the original 6.00x13s. IMO 155s have too low a profile and just don't look right.

Here in the UK you can get 165R13s OR 175R13s with a witeband or whitewall. Have a look here:

http://www.northhantstyres.com/RTS final/1658013.htm

I'd be very suprised if you can't get these tyres in the US as most of the tyres this supplier have are from the US.

Have you tried Coker Tire? http://www.cokertire.com/

 

[Duke]

Have you tried Coker Tire? http://www.cokertire.com/

Yep, they got them - https://store.coker.com/prod/600-13-bfgoodrich-1-ww.html

In 1" or 2" white wall, Overall Diameter: 23.78. $133 each though.

 

[Nick Farrow]

Yep, they got them - https://store.coker.com/prod/600-13-bfgoodrich-1-ww.html

In 1" or 2" white wall, Overall Diameter: 23.78. $133 each though.

$133 lol!!! Think yourself lucky. In the UK I'd have to pay £130 each - thats $260 a tire!!!!

 

[puff4]

Thanks, guys. The Silvertown is a bias-ply, but I'd really like to have a radial... less flat-spotting, better handling, lower noise, etc.

Now, that "Hercules MR IV" might be the ticket if I can find it here in the US. At 165/80 it's a lot smaller diameter than the originals (23.82" vs 20.54") but it's not a bad price.

 

[Nick Farrow]

At 165/80 it's a lot smaller diameter than the originals (23.82" vs 20.54") but it's not a bad price.

20.54"?? Where did you see that? it says 23.2" on the spec, so it's only fractionally smaller! 175R13s are closer in diameter terms, but are slightly too wide if you have 4" wheels....although I've got 185s on mine at the mo! (not through choice).

BTW, the spelling of 'Tires' in the brand-wording suggests to me that Hercules is a US company as we spell it 'Tyres' in the UK!

 

[puff4]

20.54"?? Where did you see that?

I woopsed. I didn't see the size there on the link, so I was trying to calculate it instead... I think I'll take an "F" in maths on that one, thank you.

BTW, the spelling of 'Tires' in the brand-wording suggests to me that Hercules is a US company as we spell it 'Tyres' in the UK!

Indeed, they are available here (LINK)... and they're also available in 155/80, 165/80 & 175/70 sizes, all with white-walls... and with prices between only $35-$40, they are an excellent choice.

Thanks!!

 

[Nick Farrow]

It's good that you found a supplier! The company I gave the link earlier for (North Hants Tyres) are the sole UK importer of Hercules apparently, and they're out of bloody stock!!! Anoying too as they're less than 5 minutes down the road from me!! Those are the tyres I'm after too! $40 is an amazing price; you can't buy any tyre in the UK, even a remould for that price!!!

 

[puff4]

Rich Gordon was nice enough to post his tire size calculator spreadsheet to this forum, and I found it to be very useful. After playing with for a while, however, it I decided to throw in a few improvements to the spreadsheet. I've sent those improvements to Rich, and, with his approval, I am reposting this 'improved' tire size calculator in case anybody might also find it useful:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W4rE2P8RMhhSspiAsA5eP5klj1HFIuQ0/view?usp=sharing

Just use the radio-buttons to input your car's current setup, input your the tire's width and height, and the calculator will give you a pretty good indication of the size, MPH per RPM, and potential top speed. Then you can play with the radio-buttons to see what a different axle ratio, adding an overdrive or changing tire diameter will do for you, and you can similarly change tire sizes.

If you have any suggestions on corrections, changes or improvements, please drop me a PM.

 

[alpine_64]

Would it be possible to modify this excel sheet to have a non-od version and have rear end ratios of:

Crown Wheel and Pinion 3.07:1
Crown Wheel and Pinion 3.31:1
Crown Wheel and Pinion 3.54:1
Crown Wheel and Pinion 3.73:1

 

[puff4]

Would it be possible to modify this excel sheet to have a non-od version and have rear end ratios of:

Crown Wheel and Pinion 3.07:1
Crown Wheel and Pinion 3.31:1
Crown Wheel and Pinion 3.54:1
Crown Wheel and Pinion 3.73:1

Sure. But the OD is already in there... just select either 'yes' or 'no' for overdrive and it will automatically calculate in the .803:1 reduction for 'yes', or leave it at 1:1 for 'no'.

I'll see about adding the ratios. I didn't know these ratios were available for the Alpines?! Are they?

 

[alpine_64]

Sure. But the OD is already in there... just select either 'yes' or 'no' for overdrive and it will automatically calculate in the .803 reduction.

I'll see about adding the ratios. I didn't know these ratios were available for the Alpines?! Are they?

No they werent.. but along with the stock 2.88 they were available on tigers...

 

[puff4]

Can you get me the information from your workshop manual for the tire size and speeds chart (under where it says "Sunbeam Alpine Series V")?

Also, I've long ago forgotten - what is the red-line for a stock Tiger?

 

[puff4]

OK, Tiger girls and boys, I've made one for you too (even though this is technically the SAOCA website! )

I'm guessing at the factory specs - perhaps someone can let me know what was really 'stock' on Tigers? - but for now this ought to do the job. I used the red-line of 5800, which if memory serves me is the proper figure for a Tiger (but then I'm old and memory ain't what it once was!).

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze3rjzs/images/tire-speed-calculator-tiger-v1.xls