Question for owners of C3s with Original Rally Rims

[Gregory M.]

For any C3 owners who know for a fact that their car has its original Rally Rims, how many sets of 4 are actually all dated the same?

Thinking about buying a set for my 6/14 built vehicle and (2) are 4-23 and (2) are 5-13...would prefer 4 of either of those dates but was wondering if they were likely placed on a vehicle together due to the dates being only 3 weeks apart.

[Daniel K.]

Re: Question for owners of C3s with Original Rally Rims

All five of my wheels have the same date. My car is a '71.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Question for owners of C3s with Original Rally Rims

One of my cars has rims dated 4 years after the car, but since the dates on rally rims can't be seen (except for the spare) it doesn't really make a difference.

I would think that late April and mid-May are close enough that the could have been used together. Since they're not the original ones, I'd buy them and look for more of a "matched set" over time if it really were an issue to me. As they're not original to the car, you're kind of faking it anyway...

[Jim T.]

Re: Question for owners of C3s with Original Rally Rims

My 1970 original owner Corvette has it's original tire rims. Is the date easy to find? My 1968 original owner has the original rims.

[Terry M.]

Re: Question for owners of C3s with Original Rally Rims

My 1970 original owner Corvette has it's original tire rims. Is the date easy to find? My 1968 original owner has the original rims.

Gregory

My 1970 has all 5 wheels the same date.

Jim,
The date on the wheels is by the valve stem hole. There is a drawing with the de-coding information (not that it is needed) in the TIM&JG.

[Mike E.]

Re: Question for owners of C3s with Original Rally Rims

On 5 of the 6 pretty original C3's I have owned, all 5 wheels were the same. The other had two that were 2 days apart from the other 3.

[John S.]

Re: Question for owners of C3s with Original Rally Rims

Gregory, all five of the rally wheels for my '73 match up on the same day. November 14th, for my December 13th, '72 chassis build date.

[Gregory M.]

Re: Question for owners of C3s with Original Rally Rims

Wow...so most known original sets are matching...Jim, if I am reading your post correctly you have a 70 and a 68 with original rally rims? I would be curious to know if they match...

While the dates are not judged, if I am going to the trouble of acquiring correct AG rims for the car, they are going to match the assembly date.

I would assume that like most mass production these rims were made and date stamped in batches...I am sure that as delivered to the factory more than 1 date sate in piles waiting for installation on cars, and no line worker checked the dates of the 5 selected for any particular car. I would imagine that would result in most matching, but not uncommon to find a set that was mixed, like the 2 here that are 4-23 and 5-13.

Does anyone have any actual knowledge of how/when these rims were produced? I know of another set represented as original with four 2-1 and one 2-2...did they make and stamp rims daily?

[Terry M.]

Re: Question for owners of C3s with Original Rally Rims

Wow...so most known original sets are matching...Jim, if I am reading your post correctly you have a 70 and a 68 with original rally rims? I would be curious to know if they match...

While the dates are not judged, if I am going to the trouble of acquiring correct AG rims for the car, they are going to match the assembly date.

I would assume that like most mass production these rims were made and date stamped in batches...I am sure that as delivered to the factory more than 1 date sate in piles waiting for installation on cars, and no line worker checked the dates of the 5 selected for any particular car. I would imagine that would result in most matching, but not uncommon to find a set that was mixed, like the 2 here that are 4-23 and 5-13.

Does anyone have any actual knowledge of how/when these rims were produced? I know of another set represented as original with four 2-1 and one 2-2...did they make and stamp rims daily?

I doubt the Kelsey Hayes factory (I believe in Romulus Michigan) made Corvette wheels daily. I expect they made them in batches and they were shipped to St Louis in either trucks or freight cars (I would expect freight cars) in batches as well. I have no idea what the daily output of the Romulus plant would have been, nor the number of wheels a freight car might hold so it is hard to draw real definitive conclusions about typical wheel dating practices. Drawing far reaching conclusions from the small sample size here may not statistically valid either.

[Frank K.]

Re: Question for owners of C3s with Original Rally Rims

Where are the dates located? Also i have original shipping cartons dated 1973 and i see no dates on those trim rings.

[Terry M.]

Re: Question for owners of C3s with Original Rally Rims

Where are the dates located? Also i have original shipping cartons dated 1973 and i see no dates on those trim rings.

There are no dates on trim rings or center caps; however, the configuration of the trim rings and attaching hardware allows judges to infer a date. The WHEEL production date and style code is stamped around the valve stem hole. There is a drawing in the TIM&JG showing the date and code arrangement. There is also an explanation of the trim ring configuration features in the TIM&JG.

[Rick T.]

Re: Question for owners of C3s with Original Rally Rims

Gregory, all 4 of my original wheels are dated the same. My cars build sheet is dated Dec 1st 1971, the car was shipped on Dec 16th and the wheels are stamped,

K-1-1 12 (valve stem) 7 AZ

My dad was the second owner of the car and I don't know why but the spare wheel is gone. I found an old original dated Nov 9th 1971 so I may use that as one of the drivers and put one of the originals as the spare.