gregmuzila

GOT THE ANSWER..... From Corvette Restoration Guide Book

"Aluminum wheels were offered as an option in 78-82. In 78 and 79, the aluminum wheels on all corvettes except the Pace Cars have semi-gloss black painted center sections and small chrome-plated hub caps with semi-gloss black painted centers.

Also, the 78 and 79 aluminum wheels are unpainted inside the edges of the rectangular slots, and are not clear coated."




Kinda strange, looks like my car wheels are from Pace car due to the painted black rectangular slots, even tho my hubs are blacked

73Corvette

I was the PO and we took it to Bloomington where it Benchmarked.....the Judge that was a NCRS Judge as well said to take it to get it Top Flighted that it was a terrific example of a unrestored, original silver anniversary car...... here is a pic of the wheels at that show. They came on the car NO Question.....it's a 10,000 mile car.....
I am not saying I am an expert or they are correct, I'm just saying what is....they have blacked out slots but, that's it.....

atikovi

I'm no expert but I don't think they had GT II tires in '78 so I would say your PO did some swapping of at least tires and then probably wheels.

oh1vette

Here's some advice I got:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...storation.html

73Corvette

I put those tires on those wheels... I had the original tires too...

Clams Canino

BEWARE!!! - Muriatic acid will eat bare aluminum like butter.
I use it in my work to clean melted pistons off steel cylinder walls.

Domobomb

Hey, noob here.

What if the black paint is in good shape on my wheels, and I just wanted to polish up the aluminium. Will polishing with one of those power *****, and the mothers mag + aluminum polish ruin the black paint? How can I protect what is already there while I polish.

Thanks.

Mooser

If the wheels are off, find a plastic lid off of a margarine container the right size (doesn't have to be perfect, just enough to keep the ball from going into the flat, even 1/2" smaller should be fine)
Put a carriage bolt through the center with a 1x2 or something on the back to hold it and buff away
Mooser

gbvette62

The wheels shown here, are not 78 wheels. The center caps on the wheels, aren't 78 either. The caps on those wheels are 80-81's, and the wheels appear to be too. 78 cap emblems used the traditional, Corvette crossed flags, while 80-81 caps used the flat stylized flags, first introduced in 1980.

It may be a 10,000 mile car, and it may be "un-restored", but that still doesn't mean that someone didn't change the wheels. That it received a Benchmark, does not guaranty that the wheels are correct either. It's possible that they were missed by the judges, or that they gave the Benchmark, in spite of the wheels.

The first image below is of a 78 Silver Anniversary from the center spread of the 1978 sales brochure. You can clearly see the black center aluminum wheels, and the "traditional" flags on the center caps. The second image is of an 1980 Corvette from an '80 issue of Corvette News, showing the 80-81 style wheels and center cap.

The third image is a 78 center cap. This is a Pace Car cap, but the emblem is the same as used on all 78's.

The final image is of a 80-81 center cap and wheel, from my 81. This picture was taken in November 81, 3 days after I took delivery of the car.

The flags used in 80-81, are quite different from the ones used from 76-79.

Domobomb

Thanks. The slots are also painted black on my 78. Which I'd like to keep since it looks cool, even though this thread is telling me it's not original. Any tips on protecting the slots?

Mooser

The powerball things won't really go into the slots much unless you try. Take some masking tape and just tape off the first 1/2" or so would be lots. I'd try one without masking or anything, you'll probably be fine

I'd probably find something foam like (pool noodle?) and cut it more or less to the slot shape, and stuff them into the slots.
You really just need something to prevent the ball fingers from going into the slot and polishing the sides on the way out
Mooser

73Corvette

[QUOTE=gbvette62;1580689351]The wheels shown here, are not 78 wheels. The center caps on the wheels, aren't 78 either. The caps on those wheels are 80-81's, and the wheels appear to be too. 78 cap emblems used the traditional, Corvette crossed flags, while 80-81 caps used the flat stylized flags, first introduced in 1980.

It may be a 10,000 mile car, and it may be "un-restored", but that still doesn't mean that someone didn't change the wheels. That it received a Benchmark, does not guaranty that the wheels are correct either. It's possible that they were missed by the judges, or that they gave the Benchmark, in spite of the wheels.

The first image below is of a 78 Silver Anniversary from the center spread of the 1978 sales brochure. You can clearly see the black center aluminum wheels, and the "traditional" flags on the center caps. The second image is of an 1980 Corvette from an '80 issue of Corvette News, showing the 80-81 style wheels and center cap.

The third image is a 78 center cap. This is a Pace Car cap, but the emblem is the same as used on all 78's.

The final image is of a 80-81 center cap and wheel, from my 81. This picture was taken in November 81, 3 days after I took delivery of the car.

The flags used in 80-81, are quite different from the ones used from 76-79.

Thank you for the info..... I learn something everyday... I would have bet, those were the correct wheels.....I wonder where the heck the originals are?

Domobomb

Thanks for the help, Mooser. I will try this!