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I had to get my sidemounts tire on my 35, and I can tell you I'm glad I didn't have to do it on the side of the road! It's a major league pain in the @$$! The tire will not clear between the sidemount bracket and the edge of the fender! So you have to deflate the tire to get it off. Then after taking the side mount cover off, what are you going to do with it when it's nicely painted and you dont want to scratch it up? I always liked the looks of sidemounts but the more I look at it, the car looks a lot better without it, and its a major headache to get it off the car without damaging it.I think I'm healed of sidemounts maybe I should look for some unwelled fenders?

Two flats on the road in 50+ years and about 40,000 miles with the '34, both occurred on the Tappan Zee Bridge over the Hudson which doesn't have a breakdown lane or shoulder, and both flats on the traffic side! No cops to come along behind you with flashing lights, all I had was one of those little plastic red triangles. Would I do such a tire change again - NO, I'd call AAA.

But the tires came out of the fender wells fully inflated and without interference; perhaps your tires are oversize or in some way a bit wider than the originals?

IIRC the Tappan Zee bridge is a steel graded bridge (no blacktop), so everything you drop by accident falls right into the Hudson River!
I'll check on the tire size.

IIRC the Tappan Zee bridge is a steel graded bridge (no blacktop),

No, it's paved (concrete, with lots of poorly done joints!).

7.00-17 which should be the right size.

That's the right size but what brand are the tires? I bought six 7:00-17 Coker Classics for my 1002. When it came to the spares, I couldn't get the metal tread or side covers to fit correctly, so I thought I'd have to have uncovered spares. Then I found the tire and wheel wouldn't fit in the well, either. Coker wouldn't take the one spare tire back because it had been mounted. How would I know that it wouldn't fit if I didn't mount it? I wound up buying two Firestone tires from them, the covers fit and they fit in the wells nicely. The Firestones are about two inches shorter than the Coker Classics when side by side and the tread is visibly wider on the Cokers also. I guess the C. Classics were what Coker thought a 7:00-17 ought to be; they also rub slightly in the front when making sharp turns. Coker no longer lists Classics in the 7:00-17 size. Perhaps you have a similar situation unfolding there.

Mine are Firestone tires

My '34 7:00-17 tires are Lesters and fit nicely into the wells. One of my spares years back was a Lester 7:00/7:50-17 (a combination size later discontinued); it fit as well. I don't know if a 7:50-17 as used on the Twelve would fit or if the Twelves had a larger well; answer is probably in the parts book but I never bothered to look it up.

It really defeats the purpose to have sidemounts and you can't use them on the road. If I had a 4 door car I could put a spare in the trunk but with a coupe that's a different story unless you are set up to carry a spare on the back but that eliminates the trunk rack.
Car looks so much sleeker without the sidemount. In the back ground the cadillac with the spare on the back.

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You spur a thought - I have five good 16 x 5" rims (plus a wonky one) for my 41. An extra postwar 15 x 5.5 - could it be stashed in the trunk as a "compact spare"?