whyndman

My polyspare from my 1980 appears original but the rim is painted yellow. Were there original spares painted yellow in 1980? Thanks.

gbvette62

It sounds like you have a 78 spare wheel and tire. All 80-82 Corvettes came with a semi gloss black painted wheel. From what I remember, the yellow wheels were only used for a portion of 78.

The wheel will have a date code on it, near the valve stem hole. The date code should start with a "K" for Kelsey-Hayes, be followed by a "3" for the plant code and an "8", if it's a 78 wheel. Example: K38

hunt4cleanair

As GB notes, yellow polyspare tire rims were introduced in 1978 but by April 1st, rim color was changed to black. I maintain that some GM muckity muck was driving a Pace Car, got a flat tire and raised hell when he had to drive it around with a yellow rim. It was changed within a week or two of Pace Car production.

Here's link to article written before color was introduced into the Corvette Restorer magazine.

The Polyspare Yellow Tire Rim