VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1965-1970 "Liquid Tire Chain"

How many out there remember "Liquid Tire Chain". One of my '69 parts cars has it as an option.

For those who aren't familiar with it, it is a factory and/or dealer installed AC option that is installed in the truck, on the wheel wells with a hole drilled thru it to apply a Tire Traction liquid on the tires when stuck in ice or snow. There is a red button under the dash to activate it.

Bill

A very rare option,that I have only seen on one 69 Caprice.It's nice to see someone talk about the 69s around here,not very much interest in them here.Do you have any running 69s? my other car is an Impala that I've had for a few years.I don't visit this forum much as activity here is limited.There is not much action on Chevytalk either,unfortunately they are under apprecited cars that nobody wants.If it is not a 69 Camaro,chevelle or corvette,nobody bothers with them.I showed my Impala once and someone looked at it and said.."too bad it's not an SS".I think I'll turn mine into a low rider.

I think that you meant that the Liquid Tire Chain was installed in the trunk not in the "truck". At any rate, I still have some new old stock cannisters of that stuff on the shelf in my shop. Got the cannisters years ago from my local Chevrolet dealer for our 1969 Impala Sport Coupe. Also, picked up some new old stock seat belt holders for the '69 and other accessories as well.

My wife purchased the car used in 1971 from the local Chevrolet dealer. The car was sitting on their used car lot and I found the car for her since her 1965 Ford Galaxy was on it's last legs and she needed another vehicle. We were dating at the time. Anyway, she is still driving Mabel (the '69 Impala) on a regular basis and the old girl (the car, not the wife) now has 400,000 miles on her and she is still going strong. My wife took Mabel out again today to do some Christmas shopping as a matter of fact.

Everyone in the local area knows the car since it is the only one like it around and my wife is recognized all over because of the car. Mabel also sat in front of the Eagle Point Junior High School for 30 years on a daily basis since my wife was a teacher at that school. The kids that she taught way back when, who are now married and have kids of their own, still recognize the car and they can't believe that my wife is still driving the '69 after all of these years. Heck.......the electric clock on the instrument panel is still running too!

:) :grin:

Hey JYD,do you have any specifics about the car,just curious as I am always interested in the 69s.

what was the chemical applied by the system and how did it work?..bet it wasn't too good for the environment...


epi

Yes the liquid tire chain is very rare today in 69 B cars and very early 70 B cars.It was available from the factory under RPO V75.Also dealer installed.
I love the 69-70 full size as well.Unless a 69 is an Impala SS 427(RPO Z24)it usually does not garner much attention.Both of my 350 powered 70 Impala's go largely un-noticed at many of our large local cruise nights.But I love them anyway as I did not buy them for attention<g>. Jim Downum VCCA/NIR

epi,
would it be possible to add the 70 model year to the 65-69 forum group?The 70 model is the last year of the 65-70 group where the B cars share much in common,especially the 69-70 models.The 70 B cars have little to nothing in common with the 71-up model years.Just a thought here.Jim Downum

Sure! Mabel is a 1969 Impala Sport Coupe with a 350 V-8, 255 Horsepower, and a Turbo 350 transmission. She came from the factory with a white body and a black vinyl top. The interior is Turquoise. Accessories include AM radio, four-season air conditioning (which still works great on the old R-12 by the way), vacuum trunk opener, day and night mirror, door edge guards, electric clock, underhood light, cigarette lighter, power steering and, get this......manual brakes! The paint is still all original, though it has seen better days. We have the accessory catalog, parts book, dealer's album and etc. for the car as well. Also have a '69 Caprice parts car and a ton of spare parts in stock, including new old stock grilles, a new old stock speedometer assembly, three complete instrument panels, and the list goes on. Gotta do what it takes to keep Mabel on the road you know!

Mabel, without a doubt, is the best car that we have ever owned. She loves to cruise on the freeway around 80 MPH and she has never given us any major problems in the last 400,000 miles of driving. My wife is always guaranteed that when she is driving Mable she will get home safely since Mable has never left her stranded anywhere. Even when her fan belt broke about 12 miles from home, Mabel still made it home before overheating. We have never had a bit of trouble with this car and my wife is not afraid to drive it anywhere!

About 5 to 10 years ago we used to see two other '69 Impalas on the road in this area on a fairly regular basis. Now, Mabel is the only one left and when my wife drives the car in town Mable gets a lot of stares from "lowriders" and even a few have approached my wife over the years trying to buy the car. That will never happen since Mrs. Junkyard Dog wouldn't trade that car for a new one.......period!

:) :grin:

Liquid Tire Chain was invented/developed by the Dow Chemical Company and sold by them as an aftermarket aerosol spray can. It was a major event when Chevrolet agreed to add it as an accessory.

Chemically it is a polymer (Styrene butadiene latex) dissolved in a solvent (primarily methanol). I still have a couple of cans around here somewhere. Instructions are to apply while rotating the tires (best if tires were a little warm from spinning or driving), let stand a few minutes (to evaporate the solvent and adhere the polymer) and then slowly drive away. Worked fairly well if conditions were right, best on ice. Was not as good as studded snow tires (which were introduced about the same time).

You can be thankful that you live in a "rust free" area. Around here any 1969 car that would have been driven on a daily bases would have turned to rust. Only the tires would be remaining.

True that the 1970's should be in with its "kin". The 1965 was the first of the breed. They were not the best cars, especially the early ones.
The 1966 was a good car, more of a 1965 with the bugs removed.
The 1967 was my favorite. Was a much quieter car as far as the Impalas go. Like the dash and exterior. The 1967 had too little bumper protection. If you pulled behind a 1967 with another 1967 the hood mould ing on the rear car would hit the trunk moulding on the front cat. The hoos mouldings and front fender tip mouldings were great sellers.
The 1968 was the same but had more problems with the 307 engine. We replaced a lot of 307 short blocks and heads under warranty.
Everything good in 1969 and Turbohydramatic 350 was getting popular. Only dumb thing they did is attach the rear bumper to the body rather than the frame.
1970 was the same in that area. A tap in the rear and the quarter panels would buckle. Other than that a good looking and good running car. The engines were not choked off like the 1971's and had great power and driveability. The small block 400 that I had felt like a 396, can't say that about the following years.
.
The 1971 was all new. Drive line, suspension, frame and body shared with all GM full sized cars. This was a first.They were really smooth and quiet on the highway. Caprice looked and drove like a Cadillac. Engines felt dead. Would cough and die during the warm-up period.

I had them all as new (demonstrators) and for second cars for the wife when they got older.

Hi JYD,

Mabel sounds like a wonderful car,my Impala has the same engine /transmission combo,but mine labors to get past 60 mph.Is it possible I need to reset the timing?The carb was rebuilt last year,didn't help."Jane" was originally sold to a gent in Eugene,OR from Joe Romania Chevrolet in November 69.I am the second owner and travelled accross the country to buy her.
She is Cortez Silver Sport coupe with a blue vinyl top,turquoise interior 350/255 PS PB clock and AM PB radio and door edge guards.Unlike Mabel,my car has not even scratched the surface regarding mileage.The odometer sits at 45,672 and counting.I drive it about 1000 miles a year,so I may never see it hit 400k like yours did.That's also probably why it does not get to 80mph!! When I drive on the highway it feels like at 60 that's all there is and there aint no more,very strange......

There is something very wrong with you car. The T.H. 350 should down shift at 60 MPH and not up-shift until around 80 MPH. Even without down shifting it should have plenty of power.
The 1965 and up cars had a lamenated exhaust pipe. It consisted of two layers. If the car was driven through deep water when the pipe was hot the outer layer would contract and squeeze the inner together, pinching off the exhaust. The engine would loose power and the exhaust would hiss or whistle.Would act just like a governor. Replacement pipes sold by Chevrolet had this also but not other brands. This was done to make the exhaust more quiet. Most GM cars had this "feature".

At 80 MPH Mabel is just cruising! It is really hard to keep her below 60 MPH because she loves to run. I even had her up to 120 MPH once! At any rate, with the same powertrain Jane should cruise down the freeway at 70 or 80 easily. What gear ratio do you have in the rear end? As I remember Mabel has 2.73 gears. Also, the car has an aftermarket exhaust system so you might want to look into changing your original exhaust system.

Yes, you definitely need to check your timing and also your vacuum advance to make sure it is working. The stock timing for your car should be 4 degrees advanced. Because of today's fuel I run Mabel between 6 degrees and 8 degrees advanced. She also has a Quadrajet. Is that the same carb. you have? The Quadrajet on Mabel is original and it has only been rebuilt twice....and the last time was about 200,000 miles back. Also, I keep the dwell exactly on 30 degrees. You might want to have a good mechanic check out Jane because she should go like Hellfire down the freeway. As I said, those cars can cruise at 80 MPH all day long!

Another thing, and you are probably aware of this, the original AC spark plugs for these cars are discontinued. I bought a life time supply before they became discontinued.

I have heard of Joe Romania Chevrolet! Mabel was sold new at Courtesy Chevrolet in Medford, Oregon. That dealership was bought out way back in 1978 and it no longer exists as Courtesy Chevrolet.

:) :grin:

Junkyard,
Assuming you are running stock ignition,check your dwell first and carfully inspect points.Remember,dwell changes timing.If you have a uniset points/condenser I'd change it.
On fuel side,carb was rebuilt so I'd test fuel pump pressure,looking for 6-7 psi.
Also test charging system for proper voltage at idle and at 1,800 rpm to simulate 60 mph.
Also I'd check the pass side exhaust manifold heat riser to make sure it's not stuck partially closed.Some idea's. Jim

Junkyard? Jim, don't you mean "The53TwoTen"? His '69 Impala has the problem of going faster than 60 MPH.

:) :grin:

I'm sorry.Yes you are correct Junkyard.My eyes are getting tired<g>. Good night guys,Jim

See Ya Jim! Have a good one.

:) :grin:

Interesting.

I stopped back for a minute to see if anyone replied and there is 16 of them !!

Junkyard, you're right, the option is installed in the trunk not the truck.

I've been over at the truck forums too long and have trucks on the brain.

Bill

chipper,

thanks for the details about the chemical process...wasn't familiar with it, as I don't see this option being too popular in ca & hi...


epi

Sorry to high-jack the thread I have also seen boxes of unused canisters of the stuff at swap meets,only a few of us know what they are for....never inquired as to how much the vendor was asking for them...this was way before the internet!!

The canisters most likely will be useless as the propellant would have leaked out. As a display item they might be priceless to get conversation started.

I have a running '71 and '72, but my 3 '69's are parts cars. Also have 2 70's.

A lot of people will modify them, but I love them original. They will gain more and more popularity, as well as value, as time goes on.

Bill

I'll usually show the LTC option to anyone who shows interest in these old cars and it is a pretty good conversation piece. Most people are really impressed, some have a hard time believing it.

Bill

While we are on the subject of traction accessories is anyone familiar with the accessory available from 47-50 called TIRE TRACK UNIT pt#986108.(this may be the wrong forum but it is on the same subject)
I have a pair of these hanging on the wall in my shop.

DD

Yep, and I have a pair as well. That is a neat accessory.

:) :grin: