69Z trim rings - late build car

[enio45]

i have a 10D (late 69) build car - which trim rings were installed at that time?   

I see the 4 clip rings or the small  inside clips as possibilities. 

Any advise is appreciated

[BlackoutSteve]

Thought the only the 4 clip were GM and the small clips that continue right around the ring were repro..?

[enio45]

Heck, i dont know either, thats why im asking??  I'm confused as to the correct assembly line issued trim rings!!

[68camaroz28]

i have a 10D (late 69) build car - which trim rings were installed at that time?  

I see the 4 clip rings or the small  inside clips as possibilities.  

Any advise is appreciated

Realize its not a Z but have a late 10D SS350 survivor car other than repaint and the trim rings have 4 clips. All orig. trim rings that I have ever seen are 4 clip.

[Steve Shauger]

i have a 10D (late 69) build car - which trim rings were installed at that time?   

I see the 4 clip rings or the small  inside clips as possibilities. 

Any advise is appreciated

On later Z's the second design trim rings were used. The transition from 4 clip to the internal(second design ) occurred late june/july time frame. Your car would have come with the internal clip trim rings. 

[enio45]

Thanks for the info steve.....are they avail today new gm or elsewhere?  I need a new set of 4 if you know where to get them.   

I assume the second design your talking about is the 4 small clips rivited toward the center of the height of the trim ring. 

[tmodel66]

Chick I sent you a PM

[Steve Shauger]

Thanks for the info steve.....are they avail today new gm or elsewhere?  I need a new set of 4 if you know where to get them.   

I assume the second design your talking about is the 4 small clips rivited toward the center of the height of the trim ring. 

I believe they are GM part# 9796696. Here is a link to a set on camaros.net  http://www.camaros.net/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=44141&cat=all

[BULLITT65]

I have a unrestored 69Z 08C car that came with 3 trim rings of the outer clip design, and 1 with later style small finger design. Is it possible that they were transitioning to the new design at this point?

[enio45]

the view is the late june / july timeframe is the transition timeperiod - however, with transition, nothing is cast in stone.....so very possible or possible a change at the dealer for some reason??

[lynnbilodeau]

My late 08A car only had two trim rings left when I got it in 1976.  They both have the outer four clips.

[69Z28-RS]

and my 09C Z car had the 4-clip trim rings when I purchased it in '76..  on the original wheels....?

[69pace]

Even if your vehicle came from the factory with original designed clips on the rings, they may have been changed out by the dealer on a regular service visits. As explained to me by a longtime GM parts manager...

The original clip design was the subject of an Federal safety recall for all GM vehicles using them. The original design clips were prone to failure and the rings then would disengaged from the wheel rims on highways at speed, or in turns such as intersections, causing accidents, loss of life and personal property damages. Several owners were killed as they were hit by vehicles in traffic retrieving their rings on the side of the road. 

As a result of the federal mandate, GM quietly redesigned the ring clips to the second more aggressive design and these new clip rings were phased into factory production, but for existing vehicle owners these were implemented as part of an low-key GM safety service recall.  This recall campaign was not well publicized to owners if at all, and relied on dealership service managers processing paperwork as vehicles returned to the dealership for normal servicing, the rings were to be swapped out free of charge. Grody Chevrolet in my town at one point had a small store room on the second floor by the sign tower with new rings on one side arranged neatly in wheel sizes and the already recalled rings on the other side just in a heap on the floor.  Some dealerships were better at these types of recalls then others - still the case today.

While I have my original rings in deep storage I use a set of second design on my rims since they are near impossible to remove without tools, the originals you can pop off with ease.

[69Z28-RS]

in the late '70's, for a short period of time, I ran 8" Corvette wheels and F60 BFG tires on my '69 Z28..  

I purchased new 8" wheels and trim rings from Chevrolet (local dealer in Huntsville, AL).    The trim rings I purchased were/are the 4-clip design, same as the earlier wheels, and same as which were on my Z28!

If these type of trim rings were deemed unsafe for 6", and 7" wide wheels, WHY weren't they also recalled (and NOT sold anew) for the 8" Corvette wheels???   (Note, I still have those 'almost new' Corvette trim rings, in the original boxes they were in when purchased).   Since the fronts scrubbed my inner fenders and actually damaged one of my wheel lip mouldings on my '69 Z28., the 8" wheels came off pretty soon after installing them;  I put the 8" trim rings back in their original boxes and kept them..  I probably have the receipt somewhere for when I purchased them in the late '70's...

[69pace]

As I said it was a low key recall with no real enforcement. Factory supplies of the old rings were used up and new stock phased in. Several folks have claimed that their factory ring sets are a mis-mash of first and second design, which I can see happening as rings were just pulled from supply bins.  As far as service and counter parts go, Grody had a large supply but did a high volume of Camaro, Chevelle and Corvettes in the late sixties so "OMG" - "Old Man Grody" liked to do the right thing and participated in the recall actively swapping rings. I recall my Uncle who was parts manager had one new ring on display at the counter for a long time.

As for other dealerships, rings already out in the natural world were not recalled, but were expected to be exchanged with new stock dealerships ordered as part of the exchange campaign but again not required by GM. The stack of exchanged rings was upstairs for years so I don't think GM expected them to be returned for scrapping. To be noted that the reduced inventory of new design rings up there also was there for a long time after the recall was long forgotten. The set you bought could have been on the rack at your dealership for years already by the time you purchased them.  I still have the original boxes my second design rings came in and they are dated 1971, but I purchased the rings in 1982. With such a low turnover item such as these rings, it is believable that they all had a very long shelf life until GM stopped producing them and the supplies dried up.

I have bought three other sets since 1982 for other peoples projects, and one as a gift and all but one set have been GM NOS in the same or similar boxes as mine. The third set I picked up used on eBay for cheap without boxes. All three sets were second design. 

[canadair]

what is the GM part # of the second design or is it the same.

[69pace]

The numbers below are all from the 1972 GM parts book.
14 by 7 wheels
In the blurb below The first number is the replacement second design part number with the improved and safer clip design. The "sup" superseded number is the part number before recall - the design with the "suicide" clips just for cross reference.
So we have this info for 2 1/4" rings:
3934892(sup by 475020 inside clips) - 1969/ALL WITH 14 IN STD WHEEL /OPTION P06
3934892(sup by 475020 inside clips) - 1969-71/ALL WITH 14 IN RALLY WHEEL /OPTION ZJ7/ EXC 350 /300 HP/ AND 396 ENGINE

And we have this info for 2 3/4" rings
9796919 (sup by 2251945 ring clips) - 1969-70/ALL WITH 14 IN RALLY WHEEL /OPTION ZJ7/ WITH 350 /300 HP/ AND 396 ENGINE
9796919 (sup by 2251945 ring clips) - 1969/ALL WITH 14 IN SUPER SPORT WHEEL /OPTION N66/

To me that reads that for the 69 Camaro the 3934892 ring was used by standard 14" wheels and rally wheels EXCEPT for the 350/300 and 396 engines. Which means to me non-SS rally wheels, ergo 14x6 rallys.

And the 9796919 ring was used on the N66 rim (SS wheel) AND option ZJ7 rally WITH 350/300 and 396 engines (SS models!)

from these threads:
http://www.camaros.net/forums/showpo...6&postcount=32
http://www.camaros.net/forums/showpo...22&postcount=4

15 inch Z-28 ring numbers as follows: Second design part number= 9796696 Before recall original part number = 3901708
Z28 Thread:
http://www.camaros.net/forums/showth...nch+trim+rings
Z-28 post with the part numbers :
http://www.camaros.net/forums/showpost.php?p=1640010&postcount=16

[Mark]

Heres a little more in depth discussion on trim rings from a few years ago.  The above is excerpted from this discussion I think.

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=112918&highlight=TRIM+RING

[sixt9x33rs]

The original paint 69 Z that I just bought came with 5 matching YH wheels and the four trim rings look to be original too. They are the second design with the clips all the way around the diameter. The original spare that is in the trunk has the paint chipped off the diameter of the wheel like the second design trim ring was on it. The car is a 05C.

[BULLITT65]

Do all your wheels look like they have ever been repainted? Reason I ask is,  I got both styles of trim rings with my car, and my wheels have the original paint on them, and you could see where both styles have been used at one time or another.

[69Z28-RS]

My '68 and '69 Z28s had the 4-clip style when I purchased them in the '70's.   at that time, the 4 clip style was the only kind I'd ever seen on original Z28s.   Monte Carlos also used a 15x7 inch rallye wheel from '70 thru '77 which also had similar trim rings (looked pretty identical but were held on by the 'continuous fingers'..    I purchased a new MC in '77, and by then my Camaro trims had a few dents/scrapes around the periphery, and at one time, I *swapped* the trims between the cars (because I wanted the Camaro to look 'better'.         Before I sold the MC, I awoke, and swapped back the trims (fortunately) because by then I was becoming concerned about the 'originality' aspects of early Z28s, knowing that would be an issue as time went on..  so my wheels also have 'marks' from both styles of trim rings, and I'd bet (with the numbers of MC s sold over the years, that sort of thing happened a lot, both with original Z28s and with the thousands of 'clones'...).
PS:  The '70 MC *may* have used the same 4-clip style rings, but I'm positive that by '73 or so, the MCs had the continuous finger style), but I don't know exactly when that changed.

[sixt9x33rs]

Do all your wheels look like they have ever been repainted? Reason I ask is,  I got both styles of trim rings with my car, and my wheels have the original paint on them, and you could see where both styles have been used at one time or another.

The wheels on the Silver car have not been repainted is my guess. I was told the original wheels were stacked in the second owners garage and had been sitting there since 1971. The car had Cragers on it all these years. I will call him and ask him, but my guess this is accurate because they are not in great shape. They should be repainted except the spare wheel.