Hello. I looked closely at the tires on my 65 Pontiac Bonneville today. They are Michelin 2 ply nylon. They look brand new, even having the little tits all over them. they are 215-14 x (not sure about the x). They have the number 18 T-20-22628 (not sure if the last digit is an 8 or something else.)

Anybody have an idea how old they are?

I did not think Michelin made anything except radials.

Also there is an oil change sticker dated 6.30.99 and an alignment sticker dated August 22, 1979. Mileage 29,598 and 22,676 respectively.


There is also a pair of paper floor mats from Wilmann Pontiac at 200 center street, Johnsonburg PA. Its a really tiny dealership with about 12 to 15 cars out front according to the picture on google earth, in a building with an office area of maybe 40 x 20 and about five bays with overhead doors. The building looks to be from about 1950 or so.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Does it not have DOT before a number somewhere? Most decoders I see assume that DOT.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

28 at the end might possibly mean the 2nd week of the 8th yr of the decade. 1968, 78, 88 or 98?

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I'm guessing by the date of the alignment they may be 78?

Thanks Kerry!

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I have a similar tire as a spare in my '69 Jag. I'm pretty sure the tire is original to the car. The size is 185 15. X is the model ( I think current Michelin tires still have X model designations). It's a two ply radial with two steel belts under the tread. Mine is rayon. If it doesn't say DOT, this is a pre-DOT tire: the serial number is just a serial number, and it's a radial, even though it doesn't have the R designation. If it was DOT, the serial number would end with either a three or four digit group which codes the date. It's very dangerous to use such old tires, I keep meaning to replace mine.

http://www.adclassix.com/images/69michelinxtires.jpg

This seems like a safety issue/vehicle flaw, you should probably cut your loses immediately and take this entire thing to the scrap yard while metal prices are still reasonable

The tires look amazingly good. No cracking or checking, the rubber looks slightly shiny just like a brand new tire. The window rubber on the car looks the same. it appears to have been sitting in a climate controlled storage all its life....and driven sparingly.

I doubt they could be original to the car. I would expect a traditional American brand on it such as goodyear or general.

I've ordered an extra set of wheels. My plan is to remove these wheels and tires and save them for shows and install the best new tire I can find for the car. The 14" size offers very limited choices in this tall configuration. I am probably going to buy a narrow whitewall Hancook in a 215/75r14 size.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

How about a pic - car - not tires.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/open-discussion/375856-getting-another-car-quiz.html

Check there.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

The danger in old tires is when they are driven on they heat up. And the heat build up causes them to blow out.

Original would not have been Michelin, and would not have been metric. Maybe a 8.55x14 bias ply. You can get period correct repro's if you want, but they're costly.

https://www.cokertire.com/catalogsearch/result/?header_year=1965&header_make=PONTIAC&header_model=6-25&q=855-14

But does this supposedly sexy car wear a thong?

The Cubans tried a similar thing recently but it didn't go so well, notice the tow vehicle doesn't have enough lugs to be sexy

Hint: only 4 lugs - and you thought I was talkin' wheels

lug1
verb

carry or drag (a heavy or bulky object) with great effort.

During the late 60's I drove a full sized Olds, a 98 Luxury Sedan. It had 14 inch tires which I am pretty sure were 8.25x14.

These were undersized tires for this 4,200 pound car and I would go through a set of them after about 15,000 miles. But bigger wheels were not available or something. I just remember looking into it and there were a host of reasons to not switch out to bigger wheels.

Later, like 35 years later, the story came out that GM was saving almost $3 per car by going with the 14 wheels on the large cars as opposed to going to the 15 inch wheels.

You might do some research into this area. Someone has very likely found a set of 15 inch wheels that will take a tire that will fit this car in a safe way. It would be interesting to see what they had to say about such a change.