DN5014

I do not have the correct rim/wheels on my 1969. What date code Rims should I be trying to buy? I see a local listing for some "AZ" rally wheels date coded K-1-2 2 AZ 14

They are 15x8"

Any idea on what I should be looking for?

Thanks.

Alan 71

Hi DN,
It appears the wheels you're considering were made in a year ending in 2.
Here's the info needed to 'decode' the various stamps on the wheels.
Remember the date on the wheel would have been before the car's build date…. if that sort of thing matters to you.
Regards,
Alan

Kelsey is the manufacturer.
Romulus is the location of the plant where the wheel was made.
AZ indicates an 8"x15" wide wheel.

ed427vette

The date code for the rims you need for your car depends on when your car was made. NCRS allows 6 months before your cars build date to be correct. What is the build date for your 69?

DN5014

My build date was September 17, 1969.

Also, will the spare tire rim and wheel be the same as the others, size and date code?

I have the spare tire but that is it. The spare has a date code of K18 8 17 AZ.

No doubt that is what I should be looking for....Allen spelled it out for me in his photo so I think I know what I need to look for now.

Alan 71

Hi D,
Yes, the wheel the spare was mounted on was identical to the other 4.
The dates on the wheels could be the same, similar, or quite different.
You can be pretty sure the St.Louis fellow mounting the tires wasn't looking at matching date codes!
Regards,
Alan

ed427vette

If you typed your build date and the wheel date code correctly above for your spare which is K18 8 17 then the wheel is NOT correctly dated for your car. The wheel date translates to August 17 1968 (or 1978 depending on if it has the BB weld or not) you need a wheel that has codes from K19 4 17 thru K19 9 16 for a car built Sept 17 1969.

Easy Mike

FWIW: There were two September production months for the 1969 model year. September 68 and September 69. What does your trim tag say?

DN5014

Trim tag: B17

Spare tire: K18 8 17 AZ

VIN 194679S7018XX XX=Numbers

Thanks for the help guys!

jhudec

I believe you have a Sept 68' car. Congrats so do I, Sept 11 68' for me. It looks like you have the original spare, what other rims are on the car?
Unfortunately early 69'(68' built) rims are hard to find and expensive compared to say the k122 rims you were looking at.

ed427vette

Ahh. A September 68 car. As Jhudec said, the rims for an early build 69 are very hard to find for the reason that you don't have too many months of production behind your build date as do people with later cars that can use rims for the prior full 6 months.

Also you will need to be careful if you want to keep your car original that you do not buy 1978 rims. The 78 rim will differ with a 68 dated rim in two ways that I'm aware of. One is that the 68 rim will have a BB sized weld ball on the outer rim to identify the low point of the rim. This was carried on the first few years of the C3. I don't know exactly when it stopped. Also the font of the metal stamp is different.

Best of luck, and your spare rim is good to go.

Ed

Rowdy Rat

On a related note, the date on your spare is perfect for the car... Wouldn't be surprised to learn that it is the original.

Most wheels/tires seem to be dated about two to four weeks before the build date of the car, but as with any mass produced vehicle, there are exceptions.

Regards,

Stan Falenski

Rowdy Rat

Ed, the weld bead ended in early 1972... February or March 1972 from what we have been able to determine so far.

Regards,

Stan

Revi

FYI - If you want four correctly dated road wheels for your car, that's a matter of preference. The NCRS does not judge the four road wheels on your car at their judging events, only the spare wheel gets judged. So dates on the four road wheels do not really matter. Any 15x8 "AZ" wheel will work.

DN5014

Here is a photo of the wheels that are on the car. They are called Sunspoke 3 Keystone. I also included a photo of the spare which I firmly believe is the original. I would like to find the correct "looking" wheels for my car but most likely will not wait for the correct date coded wheels. I just want the car to run, drive, and look the part. I love the car, it drives great, it runs great however the current wheels that are on simply don't do much for me because anyone with Corvette knowledge knows they are not correct.

ed427vette

Thank you Stan,
Ed

Easy Mike

15x8 AZ coded Corvette rally wheels. There were a couple of sets recently in the Parts For Sale forum. Post a Want To Buy. If you don't want to go that route, the wheels, trim rings and center hats are all being reproduced.

7T1vette

If you KNOW that nearly all of the other parts on the car are "correct", maybe bothering with correctly date coded wheels is OK.

If you don't know that all the other 'stuff' is factory correct, maybe it would be a good idea to make an inventory of the accuracy of all the date coded parts in the car. Once that it done, you may decide that there are so many 'issues' to deal with that the whole process is too much for you. Just sayin'....

{most folks have no clue how many parts have been changed in their cars...}

DN5014

Any chance you have a spreadsheet showing which parts are date coded so I can start inventorying which parts are correct to the car? I know the engine, tran, ect are date coded but how about other parts like, brake calipers, seats???


Any idea where I can find out which 1969 parts were date coded so I can start checking


Thanks for the help.

PRNDL

You can say that again!



I have bunches of "correct" parts on my 68 that are not correctly dated, and therefore I am pretty sure not original to the car. Correct, 7" wheels are all different (and unlikely) dates. I thought the exhaust manifolds were original - "correct part numbers" until I checked the dates. I have a correctly dated expansion tank. Problem there is an expansion tank does not belong in my engine compartment!

Easy Mike

The NCRS 1968-69 Technical Information and Judging Guide will list some of the dates. Not all dates are judged. As a general rule, the NCRS will accept dates up to six months prior to the assembly date of your car. To be honest, almost any part on your could have a date code.