WM are 1971, I’m certain about that. Not sure if they were on ‘72’s. WP are 72 and up if I remember correctly.
That table is for 15” A-body Chrome wheels only. There were a lot more tables then this in the optional 14” & 15” wheel articles that I wrote. As far as I know all the 15” factory rims during these years had rim codes. Replacement rims may not have come with them. Also if memory serves me correct there were some early 65- ? 14” wheels with no codes. But if I remember correctly, they would still have date codes to ID the years they were made. Duane
Thanks - that's what I thought. I picked up 4 15" chrome wheels 4.75 and I'll be danged if I can find any codes. No tires on them. I'll have to get some younger eyes to look!
I have some '70 14" chrome wheels here that I cannot find the "WE" code on. I have some '70 painted wheels where the "WF" code is clearly visible in the same place (rear flange) as WG, WF, etc.
The rim codes (rim numbers) are generally stamped on the inside of the rim, towards the middle, and are covered up by the tire when mounted. The “wheel assembly” codes, as in either the numbers 6.0 or 7.0 or the letter codes like “WG” started in I believe 69 and they are either on the front near the valve stem (on the rims that get covered by a trim ring) or are stamped along the outside rearward bead edge of the rim. The letter codes did not start until the middle of the 1970 model year. That is why the early 1970 15” Chrome rims say “7.0” while the later wheels say “WG”. “7.0 or 6.0” stood for the nominal width of the rim. (Both are the identical wheels, just with different ways to designate them.) The wheel assembly codes are for the entire wheel assembly, not just the rim. Like the radiator tags are. With a SW radiator being made from an IA & CF tank and the core. You need to make sure you are not mixing up the wheel codes & the rim codes, as they are 2 very different things. The early chrome rims may not have a rim code stamped into them. They were referred to as “unistyle” rims. Then you have other codes stamped into the hubs, which are date codes. Also don’t be surprised to see a hub date code predate the wheel assembly date by 5-6 months. That is very common. Duane
The wheel pictured above has the following wheel assembly codes stamped in; M4/9 6 1 WP That decodes out to Motor Wheel plant #4 Assembled on 6/1/?9 and is a WP wheel. The “9” under the M4 is the last digit of the year it was assembled, and in this instance would be for 1979, as they were not making that style wheel in 1969 or 1989. The rim code would be in the middle of the rim under the tire. Duane PS, You guys are making me write a book here.
I'll look again/closer for the wheel code on the 14" chrome. I cleaned one up & didn't see it but didn't clean the others. On the WF painted/trim ring 14", the "WF" wheel code is on the back like on Chrome wheels. @Duane: So the early '70 14" (chrome or all?) wheels followed the same convention as the 7.0 & WG?
Yes, The early 1970 production year 14 " rims will have the "6.0" designation and then they switched over to the Letter Code designation in mid production. None of the wheels had letter code designations until mid production of the 70 model year. Duane
This is very important. The other thing to note here is the chart posted out of the assembly manual. If the assembly manual was printed sometime after a part was made, then the part will often not have the info on it you are looking for. In the case of wheels, the info referenced was from the later half of the 70 model year, and does not show the "6.0/7.0" designation. If you are looking for GSX info in an early assembly manual you will not find anything as that model had not been developed yet. The Wholesale Car Order Forms also were changed thru the model years and they, like the Assembly Manuals, reference the option codes/parts procedures in place at that time. The Sloan Museum found this out the hard way, when as they decoded the option codes off the microfilm, some 72 cars were showing 4-speed cars with the Long Automatic consoles. The Codes had changed on the Order forms and the Assembly manual and they did not spot that. Some of the guys sent me their Sloan info and I was able to figure it out. I helped Sloan by sending them a later version of the Wholesale Car Order form, and once they used it for the later 72 cars, everything was fine. Remember EVERYTHING, including the parts, cars, and reference material all depends on WHEN it was produced to be used properly. Case in point, If you have a mid-year 1970 car then the only way to get everything right is to get one of the later assembly manuals with the revisions that run till the end of the year. Then look at the revision notes and remove the revisions from that page, until you get to the time when your car was built. The resultant "sheets" will show the info used to build your specific car. If you have a really early 70 car, as in what they called "first jobs", then the assembly manual that works best would be the early incomplete one. (Unless you are willing to use the later one and work your way back to the beginning for each page.) The above info is more important for the 72 cars. There were so many changes during the 72 model year that almost every page was revised heavily. Although there were some serious revisions for the 71 cars, ie. when the batteries/cables changed from the top mount to side mount, and when the brackets/parts on the top of the motor changed completely and ended up looking more like a 72 motor then a 70 motor. You should try building a late 71 car correctly. With scant factory info to go on it makes for a big challenge. You end up looking at un-restored original cars built during that time period to get everything right. Duane
