Thanks for the replies.
So, Mike, your postscript has kind of helped me piece this together. Not really knowing any of the history, I didn't understand why CT Wheels built a two-piece wheel that required inner tubes. I mean, if I buy a new two-piece wheel now, I don't need to add inner tubes. I thought it might have something to do with the US market being slow to move from bias to radial tires (late '60s?), but your note about the tire sealant makes me understand this a bit better (I think). I also just found a person selling a set of CT wheels on eBay, albeit a different design than mine, and he said his also required inner tubes.
I think the above might have been obvious to y'all, but like I said, I'm the mechanically illiterate son! I previously suggested my dad added inner tubes to the tires on the Avanti because the wheels were porous, but, well, that didn't really make sense because I can't imagine why he'd rebuild the engine, add a new braking system and lots of NOS parts, and then use a band-aid on the wheels.
I've been shopping for new wheels, but now I'm wondering: should I be comfortable using inner tubes in radial tires and keep the CT wheels? I've read people will use baby powder on the inner tube when installing, and that just makes me panic and think it's not a sound idea. And are you losing some of the benefits of radial over bias tires when you add inner tubes? Then again, the car had inner tubes inside 205-15 radials for decades and logged thousands of miles.
Briz: if I may contaminate a Conestoga forum with an Avanti pic, here's what the CT wheels look like on an Avanti. Poor shot and bringing the car out of hibernation for the first time this millennium, but you get the idea.
- Avanti with CT Wheels Redux 2.jpg (152.73 KiB) Viewed 91718 times