Re: John's 41 120 Convertible

Posted by Brian Wilson On 2019/8/6 18:41:54

Hello

I have a 41 Club Coupe, which I'm happy to say is free of most of the issues described here. That's a lovely looking convertible, but I'm glad I don't have to deal with the roof opening mechanism! The cross I bear is that my car was converted to 12V by a previous owner.

My tuppence worth on tyres (or tires, as you say). The biggest difference between bias and radial ply tyres is what happens when they fail. It's often to do with the presence of tubes, but not always. As a motorcycle rider, I'm familiar with the catastrophe which usually follows failure of a tubed tire - including bias ply. Failure of a radial tire tends to happen more slowly, so even I have time to understand what's happening and pull up safely. That's the reason I use modern radial whitewalls on my Club Coupe - yes, in the correct sizes. I've found that virtually all vehicles perform better with the original tire sizes they were designed for. Fitting larger tires may look better, but there is no other advantage in my experience. This is especially true of vintage race cars, where suspension loads are magnified.

It's true that modern tires deteriorate faster than older ones. It may have to do with the construction, but is mostly about modern compounds. A race tire which is say two years old will be much slower than a fresh one. It's surprising how fast the modern ones deteriorate, but I would always opt for modern radial construction. I buy my race tires from US dealers with large volume turnover - the tires are invariably freshly moulded. Unlike the stuff available from local dealers where they are likely to have sat in a shed for a couple of years and are well past their prime.

So, in normal road use it's not so surprising that a useful life of 7-8 years for modern tires is the norm. I have owned vintage cars whose tires were not much younger than the car itself! They often looked fine, but were an accident waiting to happen.

This is a controversial topic, and everyone has an opinion (including me). I dare say others will hold different views!

Cheers Brian