Original 1968 Z/28 spare tire?

[69SSZL1]

Trying to confirm that this is an original spare on my 68 Z
I think its March 1968 date code? Car is 04A LOS. Original owner painted all the wheels Fathom Blue at some point, but tire looks like it was never off the rim or on the car, still has nubs.

https://i.ibb.co/n86d9G26/IMG-9895.jpg (https://ibb.co/BKcWbpDc)
https://i.ibb.co/HpPjBs9c/IMG-9898.jpg (https://ibb.co/HpPjBs9c) https://i.ibb.co/hFnf865W/IMG-9896.jpg (https://ibb.co/hFnf865W) https://i.ibb.co/0pn8zBsN/IMG-9892.jpg (https://ibb.co/0pn8zBsN) https://i.ibb.co/27hJmLDN/IMG-9899.jpg (https://ibb.co/27hJmLDN)

[Hawkeye]

I also decode the date to be March of 68. But, I can’t speak to whether it is original to your car.

Thanks,
Marty

[69SSZL1]

The 5 rims all have this stamp by valve stem: K18 3 20 DF

[69SSZL1]

https://i.ibb.co/KpMZcbsS/RE-IMG-9890.jpg (https://ibb.co/G4KwfnMN)

[69SSZL1]

I might just sell this tire

[1967Z28]

There are numerous examples of early Zs that came with body colored rally wheels from the factory. They were not all painted silver only.

[Billohio]

I have a 69 Z that had the original spare seperated from the car several years ago on ebay. Before I owned the car. I would do about anything to have that spare back in the car. Tire looked like it had never been on the road. I would never put it on and it would be like candy for the trunk to me. I do know where the spare went but will never get a chance to put it back in the car

[Canuck]

I might just sell this tire

I am interested.

[juliosz]

There are numerous examples of early Zs that came with body colored rally wheels from the factory. They were not all painted silver only.

This is an early 68 (Nov 67 build) wheel off of an RS Z which I believe was the original spare. Norwood car, large "DF" stamp.

[Charley Lillard]

I would paint your other wheels Fathom Blue as that is probably how the car came. Cool !

[L72Chevelle]

Any chance of posting a car pic? Thanks

[69SSZL1]

There are numerous examples of early Zs that came with body colored rally wheels from the factory. They were not all painted silver only.

I never knew this, I don't see anything in google about the wheels being available in body color, no RPO either. How is this verified? My shipper has Special Paint on it, but nothing about the wheel paint.

[X66 714]

quote. "My shipper has Special Paint on it"

That meant, anything that wasn't the norm....Joe

[William]

I would paint your other wheels Fathom Blue as that is probably how the car came. Cool !

The photo of the backside of the wheel shows what appears to be argent overspray.

Clean it up and get a better pic.

[1967Z28]

I never knew this, I don't see anything in google about the wheels being available in body color, no RPO either. How is this verified? My shipper has Special Paint on it, but nothing about the wheel paint.

It doesn't show on a shipper but if you have a Body Broadcast Copy it will show in box 109 what the color of the wheel was from the factory. X would be for standard silver paint but the attached example shows A for Tuxedo Black and this was on a black '67 Z.

[69SSZL1]

The photo of the backside of the wheel shows what appears to be argent overspray.

Clean it up and get a better pic.

I don't see any Argent, even in sunlight. The inside rim edge is also Blue, hard to do with the tire on the wheel, but not impossible.

https://i.ibb.co/xqFC12dj/IMG-9979-re.jpg (https://ibb.co/TMWv4wd8)

https://i.ibb.co/j9sgw6KB/IMG-9980-re.jpg (https://ibb.co/vCRZdw5g)

[69SSZL1]

I would paint your other wheels Fathom Blue as that is probably how the car came. Cool !

Charley I would certainly do that if that's the way it came!
The other 4 wheels on the car were painted black at some point, I rubbed through the layers and started black, then primer or silver, then blue, then bare metal. I would think black primer would be under the blue, maybe I rubbed right through it.

https://i.ibb.co/3XbgNr8/IMG-9846-re.jpg (https://ibb.co/Y9SHkRK)

[1967Z28]

It's pretty apparent to me based on the pics provided, and others I have seen, that your spare is a factory issued body color rally wheel.

[69SSZL1]

quote. "My shipper has Special Paint on it"

That meant, anything that wasn't the norm....Joe

Since Fathom Blue was discontinued in January 1968, it was only available as Special order. LOS cowl tags still used the old codes, so my tag is PAINT E-E

[69SSZL1]

It's pretty apparent to me based on the pics provided, and others I have seen, that your spare is a factory issued body color rally wheel.

Wow, thank you very much, I never heard of colored Rally wheels before on a early Camaro. And now I have one. All wheels are the same date code DFs, with Blue under black, so I will paint them Fathom Blue when and if I get the car repainted.

[Too Many Projects]

How long ago were they painted black ? If many years, they may well be lacquer paint and you might be able to slowly wipe it off with lacquer thinner.
Is the entire car now black as well ?

[69SSZL1]

Any chance of posting a car pic? Thanks

The car was painted silver a long time ago, but not a very complete color change, plenty of Fathom Blue around door panels, trunk edge, etc. so easy to fix. So the wheels were probably painted black at that time, I guess. The cowl was painted black over the white on top, but white still shows in some areas.

https://i.ibb.co/VYTmcwZW/side-re.jpg (https://ibb.co/8g9cLYpD)
https://i.ibb.co/hJryzgfX/tag-re.jpg (https://ibb.co/ycKXjNSh)

[1967Z28]

Very cool car. Thanks for posting the pics.

[69SSZL1]

Very cool car. Thanks for posting the pics.

Thanks for the help, I doubt I'll find a Body Broadcast, pretty rare, but my interior and carpet are all original so who knows. Shipper:
https://i.ibb.co/MDmsKRH3/Shipper-no-vin.png (https://ibb.co/Rpq9tCKV)

[Kurt S]

Charley I would certainly do that if that's the way it came!
The other 4 wheels on the car were painted black at some point, I rubbed through the layers and started black, then primer or silver, then blue, then bare metal. I would think black primer would be under the blue, maybe I rubbed right through it.

https://i.ibb.co/3XbgNr8/IMG-9846-re.jpg (https://ibb.co/Y9SHkRK)
Coming back to the order. The rallys were painted (dipped IIRC) black and then sprayed silver.
If the wheels were painted body color, then they should have black under the blue.

[69SSZL1]

At the time of that photo, I was just trying to get to the DF numbers, I will do a better forensic removal to see and photograph the black primer.

[1967Z28]

You don't have to do any more forensics. The black on the backside of the wheel is clearly the original dipped factory black and the blue on the front of your untouched spare is clearly original. CRG has seen a fair number of examples of this and it is not a question "If" this was ever available. It is a fact that it was.

[Too Many Projects]

I can see the hint of black on the edges of the blue, the colors aren't all that contrasting to differentiate and with dip, that coating could be so thin as to be nearly transparent in one area and running with drips on the opposite side from hanging on a rack for the dipping process.
You've heard from one of the foremost authorities on Los Angeles built, first gen Camaros and especially Z28's. When Jon says there is no doubt, the discussion is over...:biggthumpup:

[69SSZL1]

Great to hear. I have only seen old pictures of Camaros with colored Rallys, are there any cars currently in existence today, restored or original, with painted Rally’s? How many are know to still exist? Have any been judged at the Nationals or MCACN? It must be a low number for it not to be commonly known. Was there a line on the Dealer order form or some other way to order your wheels painted? Was it only available and had to be specified when special paint was ordered?

[JoeC]

I see the 1001HA special paint on your car shipper sheet

I have seen the "1001" code used for special paint on Chevelle and Impala/Biscayne build sheets

Here is one for a F&SO cop car where they put a note to paint the wheels with the same body color lacquer (Beige)

[1967Z28]

On the car order form there is a place in the lower right for special instructions like painted wheels, stripe delete, special color request, etc. Attached is a picture of a low mile, special order paint, stripe delete, body color wheel '68 Z that Jerry MacNeish certified. I believe the original owner/purchaser died and his wife had it certified before selling it. It is impossible to say how many cars got body color rally wheels. Early Camaros did not have the same kind of build sheets in them like Chevelles and other car lines from 1970 onward got.

[Billohio]

I really like that

[Kurt S]

As to my comment above, I forgot about the black backside. Thanks for correcting me. ;)

As to the body colored wheels, I'm only aware of 6 cars with them. One 1967 and five 68's. No 69's.
4 of those 68 cars were special paint, built in April or May. For non-rally wheel cars, the wheel color matches the body color. It's not a big leap that the special order color was inadvertently applied to the wheels, even though they were rally wheels. I mean who would think to order body color rallys?
The 67 car had a broadcast sheet that survives. Jon, are there any pictures of that 67 with the original wheels?
That leaves the other 68. October build, just a regular paint code on the trim tag and POP. Dunno.

[1967Z28]

No, I don't have a photo of the '67 with rally wheels. It was a Gorries Black Panther Z-28 that was immediately modified to go road racing and got mag wheels.

[JoeC]

hard to document if custom painted wheels where done at the factory or done by the dealer.

here is an interesting photo of a mod top Camaro with body color wheels.

the car looks to be new at the dealer

[Lynn]

Very interesting. I had no idea ANY cars came with Rally wheels painted body color.

On the ones that have been found, were they painted the same as silver was done? Dipped in black primer, then painted body color on the outside only?

[69SSZL1]

I went ahead and used fine sandpaper to get through the blue paint very carefully and I did find it has black primer under it.
Yes its only painted blue on the outside, and black inside.

https://i.ibb.co/768VRSr/black-1.jpg (https://ibb.co/XvNp3WF)

https://i.ibb.co/0y29RYLz/black-2.jpg (https://ibb.co/b5mvMNVG)

[1967Z28]

I was told by somebody that worked for Jim Funston Chevrolet that the Mod Topper Z-28 was originally painted L-L Tahoe Turquiose from the factory and that it got changed to a custom Apricot color (not Granada Gold). As such, the rally wheels were painted to match the custom paint job.

[68camaroz28]

This is most interesting as last week at the Camaro Nationals Bruce (Bergey) pulled me over so a person could show me a picture of his 68Z he purchased from original owner in 1974 (I think that is correct) and it was stripe delete with color painted rally wheels. I told him I had never seen that before and wish I had gotten his name and pic of car which the first owner had given him. Picture was taken by original owner so it was an oldie.

[Kurt S]

On the ones that have been found, were they painted the same as silver was done? Dipped in black primer, then painted body color on the outside only?
Yes. But there is a detail that bothers me. Cars were painted in lacquer. Wheels were painted in enamel.
I'd assume the body colored wheels were painted with the lacquer body paint. Else the paint supplier would have to provide a small supply of colored enamel.

[69SSZL1]

Yes. But there is a detail that bothers me. Cars were painted in lacquer. Wheels were painted in enamel.
I'd assume the body colored wheels were painted with the lacquer body paint. Else the paint supplier would have to provide a small supply of colored enamel.

I am sure a company like GM, that makes million of cars, could figure out how to put lacquer on top of enamel primer. Since lacquer dry's in a minute, a thin layer, then final layer would work

[69SSZL1]

Anyway, I need to sell this car so if anyone wants to buy this spare tire, all you have to do is buy the whole car!
I put it on eBay since I don't know exactly what this car is worth to list on the For Sale thread.


https://i.ibb.co/HpNwb05x/IMG-0171.jpg (https://ibb.co/qF0qczTW)

[Jonesy]

Heres the auction

https://www.ebay.com/itm/226889930412?_skw=1968+camaro+z28&itmmeta=01K19FNEJPDZ3TBTA003TZZXXC&hash=item34d3b196ac:g:YsgAAeSwLj9ohlyx&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA8FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1fIIiKOJ A4ZI2WxgtU6Y3F0xtBqgRnMXAM2aHmvInqtA8ZCvkYdwpHhABk wB%2B6HGuBOB3sKKIOQSvtrrCfuz%2FYk%2B6xEI9FBINc0xv7 9xba6w%2Bba5PdEzXF7XRnBDvEd24bVm1dMG%2BMixgziWNo%2 F49zoZkRaBut9E39NUrM5NGy%2FhsoRAI8gkOkm6i0PplEd%2B 9IHTRdz4RBfyjL%2FK131gyK0ULw5a8EspPgvcq13QTw1I1GVC nB5UeFD4IbWWRRgjfYsSgAh6JdK0WF%2BDBq2dq%2B8%2BTTKk IihG9Pdzabaa2Kdow%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9Dp1a-KZg

[scuncio]

That is a GREAT Z, would love to own it. Any idea if it was ordered with or without stripes?

[69SSZL1]

That is a GREAT Z, would love to own it. Any idea if it was ordered with or without stripes?

Yes, the cowl was painted white for the white strips, so it had them. When the car was painted Silver, the cowl was painted black, but there are white areas still visible. The last photo of a 1969 Z is how it would have been painted from the factory. As you probably know, LOS painted the entire cowl white, and some white paint gets on the cowl tag letters that stick out.

https://i.ibb.co/ZzM5L7yB/IMG-0216.jpg (https://ibb.co/9Hr68SRb)
https://i.ibb.co/FqHTZLYS/IMG-0214.jpg (https://ibb.co/XkYR0r5h)
https://i.ibb.co/TpLG7Sc/IMG-0215.jpg (https://ibb.co/FNV1yM6)
https://i.ibb.co/ycyh8N1D/IMG-9670.jpg (https://imgbb.com/)

[69SSZL1]

Video if the Z running
https://youtube.com/shorts/voBa-ODa3iE?feature=share

[SMS]

Very cool thread. Thanks for all this guys.