Deep dish & Tubes

Please bear with me on this one. . . as I'm getting more and more frustrated.

I have 'deep dish' 6J fuch all round. When I bought the car it had 12 year old Dunlops on, so for safety sake I wanted to replace them. I wanted to keep the correct size tyre which was 185/70/15. As you may be aware, the tyre chose in this size is very limited. I chose Vredesteins classic sprints, as there had a classic look and were reasonably priced.

So I bought 5 new tyres and tubes and had them fitted a couple a week ago (cost around £500). The car was tucked away in the garage (in preparation for a trip to Le Mans). The day before I was leaving I went to get the car out and one of the tyres was flat. I took it back to the fitter and found out the tube had been nipped during fitting . . . their fault . . . they got another tube and refitted it.

Anyway, on the way down to Le Mans the tyre rapidly deflated and now the tyre is ruined (as are my underpants). I took it back to the fitter yesterday. They took the tube out and we discovered that the inside of the tyre sidewall had rubbed away at the tube and created a number of holes. The inside of the sidewall is ripped.

Note, I bought the tyres and tubes independently (i.e. not from the fitter), I know the tubes were the correct size and were good quality Michelins. The fitters replacement may not have been (and I'm not certain he rebalanced it) . . . why have all the others survived?

Questions:
1. The Vredesteins tyres were designed to be tubeless. Is it dangerous to run these with tubes?
2. Is there anyway round this, i.e. by using some kind of tube sock?
3. Is it dangerous to run tubeless tyres on a deep dish wheel (i.e. without the safety beading on the rim)?
4. If I were to run them tubeless, has anyone got any ideas on how to deal with the valve ?
5. Re. the valve, could I cut the valve out of a tube and bond it to the inside of the rim (couple of inches of rubber around the valve stuck to the rim)?

I was scared when I had the 12 year old tyres on and now I'm scared again. Please help me with this safety problem, so that I can get on with enjoying the car again.

Regards Phil

First of all, I would suggest that you check the straigtness of that particular wheel. Using a dial-indicator, check how much run-out there is (I can´t remember what the maximum should be) - if excessive then you will have to replace that wheel. If it´s straight, then maybe there was a fault with either the tyre or the tube.

I do not know all the answers to your questions, but to your number 3;
Yes, it is dangerous to run without tubes on early Fuchs. You MUST always use tubes.

I've run early Fuchs without tubes for over fifteen years. I've gone to the Monterey Historics (6 hrs @ way) and Cambria (4 hrs @ way) without any trouble. And on old tires!! If I'm so lucky, then why haven't I won anything from Lotto???

Fuchs for a few years without tubes. No one I know in the states runs tubes in these rims!!!!

I've been Vintage racing on 6" deep dish w/o tubes on my 67S for 10 yrs and no problems.