Well when I bought the car it came with these "hub caps" that I thought I'd hate the look of. They've been collecting dust so I started searching the forum to get some details on how much $$ I could get for them.

Altho I never found a good asking price, I did see that an awful lot of you guys are big fans of my "hub caps" fashionably called P02's. So is that what I have here? Are there numbers on the wheel covers that I could confirm their originality? And is there any way to know if my '72 was wearing these when it left the showroom floor?

And, as I see some pics and the pride some people have in these wheel covers, I'm beginning to come around... still on the fence tho!









*****As for condition. The one above looked pretty good. The other two have only slightly faded flags, and this is one is completely faded and has a small crack in the cover.

 

Yes those are PO2 option wheel covers. Look up how much reproductions are selling for at Wilcox or Corvette America that will help you price them out. Here is a link to a set for $200 on Ebay

Link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1970-...item5884587569

 

No repro PO2's,just the center caps are reprod from Corvette America and Paragon.

 

Caps are available, but the wheelcovers and spoke inserts are not.

Your P02 wheel covers were the only optional cover for 68-73.

FWIW: you should consider keeping them.

 

Be careful there are two different styles of hubcaps one for passanger cars like Impalas and the other for Corvettes. They look similar but they are two different animals. The Corvette ones are worth more. As stated above the center caps can be replaced so that is no big deal. It's to find a pair with no curb marks, that's how you know you have a good pair. I saw on ebay a couple of months ago a seller had a perfect pair, nice centers, no curb marks, and nice black paint. Believe it or not the bidding was up in the thousand dollar range. I like them they are a nice change and give the car a different look. What's nice is that they used the same rim as your ralleys so a swap half way through the summer is a nice option.

 

They're called PO2s because that was the GM RPO option code for ordering then. Chevrolet called them "Deluxe Wheel Covers", when PO2 was ordered on a new 68-73 Corvette. That is a set of Corvette PO2s you have.

There was no number on the actual wheel cover, that I'm aware of. The chrome diacast part of the center emblem does have a part number cast into the back side of it. This can be found by removing the ornament, but it is only the part number for the emblem assembly, not the whole wheel cover.

Without the window sticker or tank sticker, there's no way of knowing if they're original to your car, but they were an available option in 72. Cars equipped with PO2s still came with standard 15x8 ralley wheels with the full wheel covers installed on them, inplace of the ralley trim rings and center caps.

Value is a tough car anymore. 10-15 years ago, they were much more popular and easier to sell for a premium. Other than the plastic emblem inserts (which are available), yours seem to be in pretty nice shape, which is a plus. Curb rash and damaged fins from curbs, are the biggest problem with PO2s. The plastic inserts for the center emblem are repro-ed and cost about $26 ea. The whole emblem, with plastic insert, is available also for about $56 ea. These parts are made by Trim-Parts and available from most Corvette Vendors.

Similar covers with the same PO2 RPO were offered on full size Chevys, Camaros and Monte Carlos; but the center emblem was different. The center emblem on the covers for these cars did not have the recessed area for the plastic emblem. On the passenger car covers, the center emblem was completely smooth with just a beveled edge.

 

So, can you make PO2's by getting passenger hubcaps and buying and installing the correct centers?

 

Wow. Thank you.

I thought from my readings that these did show the "recessed" plastic emblem but I wanted to make sure. And I understand that the P01 option for the '68 is similar but not AS recessed. And then the last option would be a flush plastic emblem that does not represent a corvette wheel cover.

I may just keep them. As one poster said, just try them on for size half-way through the summer or so. The fins are in great shape and I don't know that I see much curb damage. There are some scuffs around the outer edge that look like mounting/dismounting wear (maybe of the cover... or tire mounting with the cover in place...?).

Thanks for all the info! I'll take better care of them, maybe even replace the plastic emblems.

 

To my knowledge, the 68 PO1 and 69-73 PO2, are the same cover. The Corvette Parts books only ever listed one part number for Corvette PO2's, 3923630. Prior to 69, the Chevrolet RPO for any full size wheel cover was PO1. When Chevrolet offered the finned "Deluxe Wheel Covers" on the Corvette in 68, it was only logical that PO1 was used, as it signified a full wheel cover to GM. In 69, Chevrolet offed the Corvette style "Deluxe Wheel Covers" on the full size car as an option. Since PO1 was the code for the regular full wheel cover (remember that "dog dish" caps were still standard then), PO2 was assigned to the second optional cover, the finned Deluxe one. Since the full size car initially used the same cover as the Corvette (see below) Chevrolet probably changed the Corvette Deluxe Wheel Cover RPO to PO2 to avoid confusion and coincide with the full size lines use of the Deluxe Cover.

The PO2 cover with the flat emblem, actually did not go into production until late 1969. The regular Chevrolet Parts book (for Impala, Chevelle, Nova, etc.) listed the same 3923630 cover as "1st Design" for use on 69 full size Chevrolets (Corvette was the only GM car to use this cover prior to 69). The 3923630 cover is described in the full line parts book as having a "convex ornament" and the Corvette Parts book also lists it using the "convex ornament". The passenger car PO2 with the smooth ornament is part number 3963405 and is listed for "69 (2nd design) and 70-73 w/deluxe wheel trim cover" and has the following notes "flat ornament only".

At the start of 1969 production, full size Chevrolets ordered with PO2s, got the Corvette style cover with the recessed emblem. At some point in 69, the emblem used on the passenger car covers was changed to the flat style. I don't know why Chevrolet changed them. It might have been to differentiate the Passenger car cover from the Vette one? Maybe it was done to make the passenger car one cheaper? I don't know if Chevrolet planned on having two different covers all along and the flat one just wasn't ready at the start of 69 passenger car production. Whatever the reason, some full size Chevrolets used the Corvette style PO2s, but no Corvette ever came with the passenger PO2s, with the flat emblem.

 

yes. I bought a set of the passenger car PO2's (flat center) that were much cleaner/straighter than the PO2s' that came with my vette, so I just transferred the raised centers from the vette to the better set of wheel covers.

 

Hi N,
You mentioned that you don't know if you like them or not.
I expect to see them on cars that had white-stripe tires but not on cars with RWL or blackwalls. As gbv said about the covers... you'd need to see the window sticker or tank sheet to know if your car had white-stripes originally.
Regards,
Alan

 

The center cap on a 68 PO1 was different than the center cap on the 69-73 PO2.

 

Correct.

The ends of the P01 spokes at the emblem are also different -- but difficult to see. P02 on left has squared off spokes; P01 on the right has more pointed spokes.



Actual P01s were early and there is the possibility P02s replaced P01s during the '68 model year. Last thing I read, the NCRS folks were still chasing down the possibility of P02s being phased in during '68 production.

 

Any idea on how to replace the emblems on the PO2 wheel covers? Mine are somewhat faded, but the rest of the wheel cover is in great shape.

 

Gotta love a Blue shark with PO2's...

 

....IF it has thin-stripe sidewalls (red/white/gold).

 

Any idea what a set of NOS PO2's are worth today???

 

Two or three years ago at Carlisle I spotted a set of NOS P02 wheel covers...the vendor was asking $1800 for them. Another vendor had a restored set and was asking $800.

In 2008 I found a near perfect set at Carlisle and the seller (divorce forced the sale) and bought them for $400 to keep as spares for my '69.

With today's economy I would guess the going rate would be depressed, but it all depends on how badly one person wants them to complete a restoration.

 

And to confuse matters even more, GM made 14" deluxe wheel covers for those cars so equipped. They used a third style of center cap that was somewhat domed.

cc