[vwmailman]

Are there numbers on the 15x8 snowflake wheels to identify year & application? I was told I have a set from a Y-88 gold edition car. thanks nick

[milly]

Since the Y88 cars were '78 only, here are the codes for gold snowflakes from 1978.

15x8 jf
15x7 kh

[J-Train]

The Y88 Snowflakes that I have seen are all gold painted in the center accept for the lip, at least the WS6 wheels are anyway.

[milly]

I've seen both styles on Y88 cars. Not sure which is the most "correct" though, probably both, given the plant of manufacturer and availablility.

[2manyT/A'S]

J-train is CORRECT!
In 1978 ONLY,ALL 15 x 8" Gold snowflakes (Y-88 included) had a fully painted face with the exception of the outer lip where the wheel weights went.
The showroom brochure (78 Pontiac) showed a Gold 78 (non Y-88) with full face machined wheels,but they WERE not a production item until 1979.

[68ragtop]

Originally Posted by 2manyT/A'S

J-train is CORRECT!
In 1978 ONLY,ALL 15 x 8" Gold snowflakes (Y-88 included) had a fully painted face with the exception of the outer lip where the wheel weights went.
The showroom brochure (78 Pontiac) showed a Gold 78 (non Y-88) with full face machined wheels,but they WERE not a production item until 1979.

I think that the 78 brochure is legit. If I remember correctly, It shows a solor gold, Non S/E with the gray 8" machined wheels? For whatever reason the 8" wheels in 78 were solid color if they were gold, & machined if they were in gray. I never really understood why they were produced like that.

68RT

[David Holmberg]

All of the Y88 cars that I saw with the WS6 pkg had solid gold painted wheels. All of the cars that were non SE had polished wheels with gray insets.

I did see an early black TA, non SE, with solid gold WS6 wheels from the factory.

I do remember a black WS6 SE 78 that did have polished wheels with the gold inset. But it was a LONG time ago, and I forget everything.

['ol Pinion head]

'78 Y88 15x8 snowflakes have the sharp edge on the inner edge of the outer rim & the tops of the "veins" are not machined. All '78 15x8 snowflakes I've ever had (have) were made by mfg by Western Wheel.

The '79-81 15x8 snowflake will not have he sharp edge, but a slightly radiused edge, & the veins are fully machined. Western produced most of these, but there was another vender which cast a version of the later style fully machined wheel, if one has a pieced together set, examine the machined veins towards the caps for difference in casting & examine the back sides for the manufacturer name.

[2manyT/A'S]

Originally Posted by David Holmberg

All of the Y88 cars that I saw with the WS6 pkg had solid gold painted wheels. All of the cars that were non SE had polished wheels with gray insets.

I did see an early black TA, non SE, with solid gold WS6 wheels from the factory.

I do remember a black WS6 SE 78 that did have polished wheels with the gold inset. But it was a LONG time ago, and I forget everything.

I agree!
I don't believe that there was a specific Y88 WS6 Snowflake.The centers were NOT machined on the 78 Gold 15 x 8's.

[68ragtop]

Originally Posted by 'ol Pinion head

'78 Y88 15x8 snowflakes have the sharp edge on the inner edge of the outer rim & the tops of the "veins" are not machined. All '78 15x8 snowflakes I've ever had (have) were made by mfg by Western Wheel.

The '79-81 15x8 snowflake will not have he sharp edge, but a slightly radiused edge, & the veins are fully machined. Western produced most of these, but there was another vender which cast a version of the later style fully machined wheel, if one has a pieced together set, examine the machined veins towards the caps for difference in casting & examine the back sides for the manufacturer name.

your just talking about the gold wheels correct? The gray wheels had the sharp edge you mentioned, but the face was machined simular to the 79 style.

If you read my post above, I was just commenting about the 78 pontiac brouchure that Brian spoke of. Pretty sure that solar gold car had the gray machine wheels, but was not an S/E. No doubt about the Y88's, the gold wheels were a part of the option, just like the gold T-tops. As all of us know.

In the past, I had seen a black, & a blue car with the solid gold 8" wheels. Pretty sure you could order gold wheels on other colored WS6 cars. But maybe it wasn't a popular option?
I have to say, the blue one I saw, wasn't the best look with the solid gold. There is a member on this forum that owned, or ownes a black one. I remember seeing the pictures. I thought that looked pretty good.


EDIT::

I just dug out the 78 brochure. Sure enough, Like Brian said it does have gold machined wheels, not gray like I thought. Weird thing is, they are the "bright" gold like the 79's & look to have the rounded edge. I wonder how that happened?
I was wrong on that one.

[68ragtop]

scanned picture

[vwmailman]

thanks for the info!!

[2manyT/A'S]

Originally Posted by 68ragtop

scanned picture

That is such a GREAT picture.

I remember drooling over that picture/brochure while I was shopping & dealing for MY new 78 T/A. (I think I wore the brochure out)

[72 Street Bird]

My yellow 78 T/A WS6 came with the full gold paint on them, no machining.

[ScottD3]

What about a black SE WS6?

[David Holmberg]

Originally Posted by ScottD3

What about a black SE WS6?

A friend bought a new 78 Black SE WS6 car, it had the solid gold wheels on it.

I agree, I do think they were available on all colors, just not widely chosen.

68, don't get to hard on yourself, the sales books have been known to be incorrect.

[PonchoV8]

I've only looked at one other than mine, and it had solid gold painted webbing with the lip not painted. And they were not machined on the face of the webbing either. The non WS6 I sold this yr had paint so flaked off, I couldn't tell what it was supposed to be.