I have a 1969 442 hardtop coupe. car color is crimson red (original color) rims are painted same color. do I have ssIII or ssII? What color was my car borned with? Thanks

 

In 1969 the wheels should have been argent grey rather than body color, and they should have had the bolt on center caps. I know 1968 used a 14X6 wheel, and that 1970 had a 14X7 and think but am not positive that 1969 was 14X7 too. I also believe these would be the SSII's. That's if you want original, but I've seen a lot of cars with wheels painted body color that would have been grey from the factory... and the body color looks nicer! John

 

Original '69 SSII wheels will be 14"X6".

Henry

 

X2 on the 14X6 for '68 and '69; the '69 trim rings are different than '68, '68 trim rings had a small lip on the inner diameter.. also '68 did not have the funny trims around the five holes...just silver paint

 

Thanks All! So i should have gray. Saw a car just like mine in a 1969 sales booklet that the dealer gave out and It had gray rims. Looks like I need to paint mine to be"As borned with" haha..... Thanks again, Eddie

 

These are 15 " H/O wheels but you get the idea. No clear coat over argent grey.

 

Got it.... Gray they'll be. She needs to be like my women....Original...Already really close... Thanks Jamesbo

 

Actually, the '68 and '69 trim rings are same except the '68s are more of a brushed finish and the '69s are more polished finish. I see very few correct ones out there of either year, but even less of '68s.

 

The original 14 x 6 trim rings for both years were superceded around 1970. The NOS ones that are still around (at least those I have) are definitely different than the original 68's and I think are also different than the 1st type 69's.
If I remember correctly, some of the early 69 pictures had the thin lip on the inside of the trim ring. I read somewhere else (maybe ROP) that early 69's were brushed finish as well.
I have a parts catalog from September 1968 (PA-310) that lists different part numbers for the trim rings for 68 and 69; however, it is never real clear which wheel they are talking about for 68, so don't read this as being definitive evidence.
If anybody else has an earlier catalog and/or wheel pics maybe that would help shed light on the 68 and 69 years.

 

I see "correct" rings are being repopped. Correct for '69 as they are a shiny finish, but not done in the more brushed '68 finish. I supposed with the right touch, they can be made into a more brushed finish.
I got the pics from Ebay not too long ago, but I didn't note where they came from.

 

UGH!. Those four clips were perhaps the worst design ever. I remember fighting with them. At least one clip ALWAYS lines up with a wheel balance weight. Correctness be damned, I'll only use the later multi-finger trim rings now.

 

Yeah, you'd think they'd put the "multi-fingers" on the back and still have the correct look. Guess they wanted to recreate the PIA aspect too!
"I know they're correct, I had to fight with them".