1969 Camaro Spare Tire Questions

[sdkar]

What kind of spare tires were correct for 1969 Camaros and Convertibles?  Obviously there are full size spare tires.  Did you get the same rim that was on your car?  (ie: rally wheels, SS wheels) or did you get a regular steel wheel?  What was available, both factory and dealer installed, as far as compact spares?  I see deflated spares that came with fill canisters.  Are these proper for 69 Camaro?  Was there a donut spare like we see today, the smaller wheel/tire type.  What color was your spare tire if it was a steel wheel?  Was it body color, black, or argent silver, etc?  Also, what about spare tire covers.  They sell a matching aqua/black houndstooth cover that matches the trunk mat.  Were these factory or dealer installed or just something the suppliers sell today?  Also, on a side note, what were those fill canisters?  Were they refillable, how often could you fill a tire, and what did you do once you fixed your regular tire?  How did you get the air out and put everything back and did you have to replace the canister or was it good for a few fills?

I know, lots of questions.  Answer what you can.  Ultimately, I would like to get rid of the full size spare I have in my 69 convertible and possibly replace it with a tiny donut spare.  How can I do so and still keep a factory look?  Can I buy a small matching cover for it?  Maybe paint it rally wheel argent silver, etc.  Any suggestions.

Thanks as always for any and all help.

Steve

[Mark]

You got exactly the same tire and wheel combination that was on the car.  If you had full hubcaps you had a black steel wheel, if you had dog Dish caps, you got a color keyed steel wheel, if you had rally's you had a rally spare.  There was an inflatable spare, but it wasn't a donut like todays, It was called a space saver spare.  It was the same width as the rest of your tires, it was just collapsed down on the rim so it had a smaller diameter.  The inflator was good for one use, and it probably is refillable, but back in the day it was probably cheap enough to just buy a new one.  Don't think you could find anyone to fill one today.  Once you were done with the spare, you just pull the stem out of the valve and deflate the tire, you can push it back into its collapsed shape, or you can put a vacuum pump on it and it will collapse back to its compressed shape.  Don't beleive there wer spare tire covers, those are like the ford "caution Fan" stickers.  Space Saver spares were not available foe Z28's, or COPOs with 15" wheels.

[jmcbeth]

The space saver spare tire was an option, Code N65.