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FWIW I purchased a set of BFG's last year and have put 3000-4000 miles on them and have had no problems with them staying white other than normal road dirt that washes off with tire cleaner. maybe I got lucky.
The blooming that turns the letters brown is an anti-oxidant. This subject has been beat to death across all the forums for several years.
I recently had a buddy with a really nice 68 firebird who said he had tried everything from cleaning and scrubbing to sanding & painting- and his letters kept turning brown.
His tires were only a year or two old, and had virtually brand new tread. He was so upset he told me that he was buying new tires.
I told him about the known problem, and that BFG had acknowledged the issue and was discounting or replacing the tires.
He was in fact able to get 50% off the purchase of a new set.
He gave me the old tires.
After he dropped them off, I hit them with a wipe of acetone, and they came right back to white. That was few months back, and they are still white.
I put the tires on my 69 Z28.
In all the forums I visit, I'm amazed nobody ever mentions Acetone. Closest thing I've seen is folks trying mineral spirits- and that doesn't work.
Bleche-White used to be a good product for white letters- but they changed the formula years ago- and it doesn't work nearly as well anymore.
Give Acetone a try. I showed my buddy who gave me his tires, and asked him why he never tried that. He was shocked & dumbfounded.
There's also a new paint pen out now, one of the racers I tech through weekly told me about. They come in all different colors, and are permanent.
He has red letters on his red Corvette, and I have to say it looks pretty killer.
I believe it's called "Tire Ink"
Thank you for this reply.
I will try acetone as Discount Tires has refused to replace my tires.
They contacted BF Goodrich and they said NO replacement. Not even a discount.
Thx again Steve.
Acetone has been discussed it past threads. The concern is that what it might be doing to the tire as far as longevity and despite using it not all tires stay white.
There is a wide variety of results from different products on different tires with different long term results. No two match. I had trouble with a set of two different sizes bought at the same time. One set was worse in every way. Despite the acetone the tires browned back quickly. If yours are not you got lucky.
Steve go directly to the company rather than discount tires. Print of this info and send it to them. No way should you have to deal with this nonsense!! Ike
Last edited by general ike; Oct 27, 2021 at 08:16 AM.
Steve they tried to pull the same nonsense on me years ago. Every individual I spoke to told me something different. When it finally came down to it they offered me 50% because their system calculated as much. 20 miles on them. I refused and moved up the ladder to a manger. It took a while but they finally caved in.
I can’t believe that we are still discussing this a few years later. You think they would have fixed the issue by now.
Both the 71( 1974 Porsha Red ) and 72 ( Targa Blue) tires letters have stayed white. My friends 60 series have turned brown. I wash them with Awesome from the Dollar store . Then Maguaris tire shine from Wally World.
Gliptone wax on both cars. Been using it since 1968.
Last edited by BLUE1972; Oct 27, 2021 at 08:57 AM.
From: Arizona - If you don’t know CFI, STOP proliferating the myths around it...
Like mentioned, this issue on Goodrich tires has been around for a VERY long time, decades. I even had issues with several sets of Goodrich ATs on my truck. I only use Goodyear Eagle GTs on my C3. I love the tires as an original type of tire that came on the car back in 82. I have had at least three sets over the 30 years maybe more since owning the car and never have had an issue with the white letters. Just clean them up as normal and they are good to go. My Goodyear tires go bad mainly because of just sitting and getting flat spots that will not ride out, not even in the Arizona heat. You would think that by now Goodrich would know what the issue is and would have fixed it by now, guess not.
Last edited by Buccaneer; Oct 27, 2021 at 10:33 AM.
So if anyone is still around; here's what I used on my Cooper Cobras. Seemed to work pretty well, but still labor intensive. The TireInk pen seemed to have delivery issues at the point of the pen, so I went with Sharpie markers. I used a medium point to out line the edges, then came back with a bold point to complete the fill in.
Acetone is the answer and it does not damage the tire. Tirestickers.com requires it to prepare the surface for their glue and it easily cleans their white letters.
From: Loud, Raw and Dangerous 1968 327 4S in Southern California
I have tried all the remedies and it seems like brake fluid worked the best. What I found is that it is important is to make sure the whole face of the tire is totally clean first or you just move the other dirt onto the white areas as you clean.
I used Acetone and paper towels on the letters. The sponge (with brillo-like green side) sitting there is what I used to apply the Meguiars Endurance Gel to sidewalls after I was done with the lettering.
