A couple of years ago, Don Garlits was host for some of the Super Chevy Shows around the country. These were being aired by either ESPN or Speed Channel. Anyway, he featured a glue that was being sold at the Aftermarket Area that could be applied to the end of a broken V-belt and then reinstalled. He showed the car running with the repaired belt. He also bonded a piece of rubber to a 2x4 and let people try to seperate them. I'm looking for this stuff. It didn't harden to a hard surface but more like rubber. The reason for the search is I have a chunk taken out of a the sidewall of one of my new KDW's. I want to fill it in with something that is strong and safe. The chunk is an oval shape about 1" long by a 1/4" wide. If you know what the glue is or can recommend something, let me know. Thanks!

 

You're probably talking about cyanopoxy. Cool-chem makes it and sells it at a lot of trade shows. I use it and it works really good, but all it really is is a high quality CA (super glue) with an accelerator agent. I would not trust my life or my car to it.

 

Thanks! I'll do some research.

 

wesilva, I do not know the glue you speak of and maybe I don't totally understand what you're going to use it for, but no way would I trust any kind of glue for the sidewall of my tire. Call me crazy, but I would re-think that.

Good luck.

 

I understand your concern but the gash is not very deep at all. I would like to cover it with something that would allow me to use a tire black for appearances more than safety. Safety is not really an issue. I'm looking more for a tire bondo...LOL! Something than can expand and contract without cracking.

 

umm, yeeea.

if you were my friend or my family, id just slash your tire now so that you'll HAVE to replace it.






but since i dont know you, care, or drive around where you live.. go for it.... but im soo linking your "wrecked my car" post to this one.

 

Use some black super weatherstrip adhesive from 3M. You can spread it like bondo and it will stay put.

This is assuming that the tire will only see the stress of car shows.

 

Thanks. I'll give it a shot. The tire is almost new but it's an older design Goodyear Gatorback. So the replacement would have to be more than one tire, it would be four. The car only sees shows where it's trailered because it's not licensed.

 

If its just a cosmetic thing, there are any number of glues that will bond with rubber quite well, if you were to color them appropriately, probably most will not notice such a small blemish. How deep is it? Can you see the inner cord at all?

Anyway, last time I checked typical passenger car tires have inner and outer layers of rubber with either nylon or steel cord inbetween, leaving the air holding capability with the inside rubber and the cord. Its not like a slick thats rubber only. So... a blowout is as unlikely as one with a plug in the tread area for a removed screw, and IVE DONE THAT. So by the logic any sidewall failure requires replacement, I sure as hell hope you dont run around with tire plugs if you're worried about a failure.

 

Oh no....far from exposed cords. It's about 1" long by 1/4" wide and about
1/8" deep. I'm thinking it caught an exposed corner of my trailer during loading or off loading. I just don't want to apply something that will react with the rubber soft making it soft and cause a bubble or something.

 

Could you swap your tires and mount the gash inside? Probably cost $40.00 at tire store? My.02

 

I guess I could. By the price you quoted, I can see that you recognize that since Gatorbacks are directional, it's a mulitple tire swap.

 

Swap the tires or replace it. Bad, bad idea to mess with tire sidewalls. I especially would not apply harsh chemicals to rubber on my tires and risk degrading the rubber. Again, BAD idea.

 

Geez....All he wants to do is fix a cosmetic item for a show car, that MIGHT see 5 mph, and people are ragging on him about how "dangerous" it is...how unsafe it is...If it was a street car, MAYBE. But I ran my old 4x4 Off-Road Jeep for a long time with way worse cuts/gouges than that, with nothing going wrong. Was it the smartest ting to do? Maybe not, but it lived quite happily, on daily driving.

Black RTV/silicone should work, for what you are doing.

 

That's fine, please don't ever drive near me with unsafe tires. No amount of money that tires could cost is worth risking the lives of yourself and drivers around you. Thanks for the courtesy.

 

Black RTV would probably work fine. I would hate to have to replace the tires as it is a 1986 Corvette that is shown in Concours events. It's bone stock, super low mileage and show judges like era correct tires. I don't even think they sell Goodyear Gatorbacks anymore even if I did try to replace it. (I did mistakenly refer to the tires as KDW's on the original post. They're Gatorbacks.)

No worries, 327, the car is not even licensed. I'm too young to afford driving a 'Vette because of insurance. But if I pass you with a trailered 1986 Corvette...duck! You could be hit by flying black RTV sealant!

 

Silicone doesnt bond to rubber, FYI. It may stick but for how long is an entirely different question.

Unsafe tires. lol. To think you guys drive on the roads, you should be more worried about some of the 'drivers' out there than a superficial gash in a tire of a car you've never seen.

 

This is the kind of dialogue I was hoping to get. I'm learning something here. I had no idea that silicone didn't bond to rubber.

 

i vote for swapping tires, it is only a 2 tire swap, not a problem what-so-ever. If it's on the right side, swap it with a left side and vice versa.