Topic: Y88 rims

[tonyuh60]

Did all Y88's have the "dirty gold" face painted rims or did some come with the face left unpainted and only the inlay gold?

[dfred]

yes for the 8" rims anyway, but then all early  78's with 8" had the solid color rims

In 1978 when the gold rims first came out, they were painted all gold except for the outer lip of the rims.  Typically you see this style of gold rim on the Y88 Gold Special Edition rim, but this was also true for any gold rim ordered in early 1978.  As you can see from the photo below, the rim on the left was the all gold rim used in early 1978 that was painted except for the outer lip, and the gold rim on the right used late 1978 through 1981 is painted gold only in the recessed areas of the rim.

check here
http://www.78ta.com/wheelspec.php

[tonyuh60]

thanks for the info

[ta78w72]

The dirty gold rims had nothing to do with Y88's or any other special edition Trans Am's.  That's a myth that simply won't die.

The 1978 15X8 dirty gold rims came with the WS6 option and the ribbed edges were not machined.  All Trans Am's in 1978 got those rims if they had the WS6 option and got gold rims.

Y88's with the WS6 options got those 15X8 dirty gold rims.  Y88's without the WS6 option got normal 15X7 snowflake gold wheels with machined ribbed edges like other Trans Am's without the WS6 option and with snowflake wheels.

If you read the car distribution bulletin on the above link it clarifies this.

[tonyuh60]

the car is a ws6....the rims that were on the car is painted the solid (dirty gold) .  I have a set of restored rims with just the inlay gold...just trying to decide which way I want to go ....restore the original rims or just put on the rims already restored.

[ta78w72]

Personally, I don't like the dirty gold rims.  Those are on my Y88 now because it has the WS6 suspension.  I'll probably keep those anyway....but they don't look as nice as the machined ribbed edge rims.

My black 78 four speed came with 15X7 snowflakes but had aftermarket rims when I bought it.  I replaced the aftermarket rims with 15X8 gold machined ribbed snowflakes.  I think they look better on a black car than the dirty all gold rims.

It's all what you like best.