I’m removing spare tire cover,so I can get to the differential pulled spare tire out,I’m assuming this is original.

 

For an '81 that's stock...

 

When you put it back, put the lugnut side down, then you can store jumpercables, maybe a fan belt or some light tools etc...

60

 

If you intend to keep it, leave it uninflated to prevent it from blowing due to age. Replacing it would be best.

 

i ahd same tire on my 78, only the rim was YELLOW so you couldn't miss it as being a spare.

 

Also correct for 79. There are many perspectives on the forum--some want you to throw everything away and replace it. Others appreciated factory-installed parts. That has value to some people in the hobby. Don't get rid of the tire or wheel.

 

Ok,got the whole thing down except the upper piece,their are two shiney head one on each side toward the back,it’s like a screw of some kind,but only has a tiny hole in center,and can’t pry it apart without tearing cover up,it has 1/2 inch slot where the top slides,will get a picture,but need to get it off,although I could cut the head off.

 

Yea,I wouldn’t use it,but definitely wouldn’t throw it away.it will stay with car.

 

Is the tiny hole designed for a torx bit, 6 sided hex?

 

It looks like the top section is riveted to the frame on an '81:



On the earlier cars (like my '78) it's bolted. Possibly not good news for you?

I recently replaced my original spare tyre, in an effort to make the car a little more "breakdown proof", and safer. I thought long about retaining the original tyre, but in the end I let it go, after taking a few photos! Though the car is "matching numbers" I wouldn't say it's entirely original and certainly no NCRS car, so in the final analysis lack of storage space won out!

 

Look here for the date, week and year.( In this case 5th week 1978). Yours looks like 31st week 1981?

 

You can replace the spare with a 205 x 75 x 15 tire. It will fit in the 1978-82 spare tire carriers and allow them to fully close. This is the closest size to the original 255 x 60 x 15 tires.

 

The original "space-saver" tyres were 195/80D15. I found quite a few options available in that size over here, for various applications, both car and light van. I went with a light van tyre, just to be safe, the downside being that it is a good deal heavier than the original, clearly very thin(!), tyre

Interestingly, my original '78 tyre did not carry a date code that I could see, but the wheel did, and is documented in an NCRS paper.

 

No doesn’t look like torq.more like a square,could be a rivet though.

 

Yes, those are rivets. Take a 3/16 drill bit and start drilling into the hole. The rivet heads will pop off. Watch your head. You can re rivet or use a couple 1/4 inch self tapping bolts to reinstall.

 

Who here has actually CHANGED out a flat with a working spare tire from the spare tire cover recently - in the days of AAA and cell phones???

Aside from the infrequent long distance road trips where there always seem to be remote areas with no cell service (as I assume someone will rebut with), which is always a good idea to have a spare in that case. Way back in the day before wide cell phone coverage (where even kids have cell phones), it was a NECESSITY to have a functional spare, but times have changed.

For the typical drives we usually take our C3's on, there is simply nothing like AAA and a cell phone for assistance in the generally rare tire failure event. I pulled the spare tire out of the cover last year during chassis replacement, and it was an akward dirty job - not one I'll be doing if I am wearing dinner clothes or a suit. I'll just call AAA.

 

Unless you find yourself out in the middle of the ******* desert in the middle of the ******* day. I'm not going to wait around and hope some AAA shows up multiple hours later.

 

Hey, why hold back? Tell us how you REALLY feel. LOL!

 

My first line of defense is having "new" tires meaning less than 5 years of age and regular visual checks. The backup plan is a good modern spare. While the original 1978 spare tire in my car had never been used and holds pressure throughout the year I do drive my car both locally and long distance so I got a new spare tire. I was surprised at how easy it actually is to drop the tire carrier and slide the tire out. I thought it would be more like a pickup truck spare in effort. It isn't. I'd much rather put the spare on in a matter of minutes than wait two hours or whatever for a tow truck to come and either do it for me or drag my car down the road to some place of business that it either closed or more than likely doesn't' have a replacement tire of any sorts. Last night I had dinner with friends that have a brand new Honda with 2,000 miles on it that hit some debris and got a flat tire (sidewalls can't be plugged). It was in an urban area with lots of stores but it was late Saturday afternoon and took hours to find a shop that was open and had the tire. Yah, nobody had a 2024 Honda tire. As for cellphones, I've had a cellphone for 30 years (thirty). Cellular service went from bad to better to pretty decent and now, since the drop of 3G equipment and the rush to move to 5G service, is back in the dumpster. Unless you are in a very urban area good luck. My cellphone is an expensive brick as far as phone calls and even texting is concerned most of the time.

 

Our "typical" drives in our C3 are here in France!😄 Having experienced the result of calling the breaks=down assistance company I subscribe to via my insurance I know that I'll be better off by changing the wheel myself! Hence, the recent replacement of the old tyre. And, I had a full practice run and maki g the change - it went OK, but I accept that it wouldn't be a great deal of fun by the side of the road!😱