Seems to me there was a thread not long ago about the scarcity of the above tires.
I just bought 5 of them, narrow whitewalls and the tire manager said he had 120 of them in his Portland warehouse.

The tires are Hankook (yeah, I know, Chinese stuff) Tread wear 380, traction A, and Temperature rating B

I bought them from Mark Lisac, Manager, Lisac's Tires here in Butte, Montana The store is an American Car Care Center so maybe that type of store near you will have them. If not, Mark can be reached on 406-782-4294. $55.00 each out the door and you do your own mount and balance. My Corvair is in Arizona so I'll get mine mounted and balanced there.

Jim Johnson
63 Corvair convertible - a genuine 100 foot car
06 Silverado diesel
03 Windstar (wifes)
84 F150 XL sb

Now you need to have the white Widened... should be white unter the black that's left.

Stock restorers want the look of the wider white.. but not the old Full white sidewall

I'm not going to have the white widened, too many other defects on the convertible need work first. There are about 20 years of therapy there, hope I live that long. The good news is that I can take the 175/70/R13 black walls off the convertible and maybe have the speedometer read a little closer to reality.

Jim aka Geezer 43

I have these tires on my vert. Yeah, at first I was skeptical since they are not "name brand", but after driving them for a while, I am impressed and like them quite a bit! I got em for $35 a tire mounted and balanced at Town Fair Tire. I put them on the car myself because I just couldn't trust the kid who thought my Corvair was a Chevette! I mean, common...

Dave

A few guys in our club use the Hankook 185/80x13 and are very happy with them. We did a rolling circumference measurement and they make the late model 825 speedometer read correctly. The company is S. Korean, not Chinese. If we don't support this company, they could stop making them (like all the American companies). By the way the ONLY 185/80x13 tire made in the U.S. is for trailers AND IS NOT RATED FOR AUTOMOTIVE USE.

66 Convertible
66 Sport Sedan (4 door)
L.A. ,CA

Apologies to the Chinese about the origin of these tires. I feel a lot better knowing they are S. Korean The tires are going on my EM vert which now reads 50 mph at a calibrated 37 mph.

63 convertible - a genuine 100 foot car

Is the Hankook P185/80R13 WSW the best quality available in this size? I recently heard of a Firestone FR380 WSW (made in Costa Rica) in the above size but found very negative comments about the Firestone's quality from purchasers.

I went to Sears to get Firestones in that size and they said they would be whitewall. Not the case and they don't carry whitewalls in the FR380 anymore according to the clerk. So, if your looking for whitewalls, you'll probably not be able to find them in the FR380s. I've got a bunch of miles on the Hankook 185/80x13s that I bought a few months back. I don;t know if they are the best tire you can find in that size, but the travel well for me.

Dave

Thanks for the info. Only tires I can find are the Hankook H714 4 and Firestone FR380 in P185/80R13 in WSW. Some FR380 were found in WSW but may not be available anymore.

Thanks for the heads up Jim. I spoke with Chad at Lisak's Tire Center yesterday and he is going to send me a supply of the 13 inch Hankook whitewall tires. To say that these tires are hard to find is like saying Congress may be a little out of touch with the rest of us. I had been looking for some of these for a while and I appreciate you sharing your find with us.

CB Finley
63 Spyder Convertible
Tomball, TX

I was at Wal Mart the other day, and they carry a Douglas ww in p185 80 r13. At least it was one of the sizes listed on the display tag. Something like 39 bucks. Didn't ask if they had them in stock.

Paul Abel
Rochester, NY

66 Monza 110 4sp.
61 Lakewood wagon 80hp pg.
2010 Chevy HHR

I looked at the Douglas tires and then checked on line to see what people thought of them. Lot of not so good reviews. Looked pretty good on the shelf though.

Dave

Canadian Tire has these "entry" level AW in 185 80 R13. $46 each + 15% sales tax, most stores have 4 in stock. They don't ship, so y'all need a friend in Canada...

Product #03-1813-4

[www.canadiantire.ca]

Didn't Larry Claypool of The Vair Shop say in one of the Communique's that he stocks this size tire?

Hankook makes excellent tires. Please be sure to, before any tire purchase, regardless of brand or whatever vehicle application ---BE SURE TO CHECK the DATE STAMP that indicates the week number and year of date of manufacture for the tire. NEVER BUY ANY NEW TIRE THAT IS OLDER THAN 1 YEAR OLD. Age matters as rubber compounds deteriorate with age and really are worsened by UV light exposure etc. Also don't forget to always get new valve stems and be sure proper balancing is done. Every tire sold in the USA for at least the last 20+ years has this date code, as it is a requirement.

Gentlemen:

I went to the garage and checked the date stamp on the tires I purchased which are the subject of the initial post. They were made the second week of January so they are current manufacture. I expect no deterioration since they are in a very cold garage till they go to Arizona in October to meet with the 63 convertible.

I would bet all of the tires being sold by my dealer came over in the same container and are similarly dated.

Jim Johnson
63 convertible - a genuine 100 foot car

Wouldn't it be nice if the Gov requ'd code read "manufactured July 4 2007", not

"2907". What about air pressure? Tiny black on black. Most folks still think 32 lbs.

Newer tires are up to 44lbs max, cold. Try read it...

Well finding tires was the LAST thing I thought I'd have problems with after buying a 66 Monza convertible a month ago.

But my Goodyear dealer is having trouble finding a whitewall (it has to be) in a size to replace the B7813s that are on it now. He has been looking for a 175-80-13 with no luck. I told him about this thread and he wanted me to ask how Corvairs handle with larger sizes. With the bias tires on my car now, the car wants to follow any deviation in the pavement, which is really annoying, and he said a new set of radials would pretty much take care of that problem. But he's thinking a higher sidewall might not.

mistertudball - You won't be happy with 175/80x13s - too "small". Although you might have to order something in, stick with the 185/80x13s that most people have been using. You probably won't find anything in a "Goodyear" or "Firestone" branded tire but the "independent" tire manufacturers (Cooper, ElDorado/Douglas, Kelly/Springfield) all have the 185/80x13 in their tire line, albeit with a "narrow" whitewall.

CB Finley of Texas bought some from the source mentioned in the first post. I don't think he bought all 120 that were in Mark's warehouse. Call the Montana phone number in the first post and help yourself. My wife is going to buy another one or two for me for Father's Day. Nice gift!

They are narrow whitewall!

Jim Johnson
Butte, Montana (summer)
Chandler, Arizona (winter)
63 convertible - a genuine 100 foot car