Porsche 4.5x15 part number change

[Alan.uk]

Hi,

Does anyone know when, during the 67 production year the 4.5x 15 fuch changed from ink stamped part number to stamped/forged part number?

I have had quite a few rims of each but the early ink stamped wheels did not come with a date stamp, or at least the 10+ ones I have had did not.

Any idea?

Thanks in advance

Alan

[Soterik]

Not sure how to pinpoint from individual wheels.

However, I think this can be done with original cars known to have their original wheels. I have 2 cars that I believe came with their original wheels, and I'll take a look at them this weekend.

Eric

[Alan.uk]

Thanks Eric.

I also have some in storage that I will check to see if they have any date stamps. Anyone else have any date stamped 4.5s?

Alan

[ttweed]

I am no expert by any means, maybe a guy like Harvey could chime in on this, but I have never seen a "conventional" date stamp on the 4.5" Fuchs, at least not like the month/year format that came into later use with the larger sizes. I have, however, seen some kind of 'Alpha" codes stamped around the hub along with the usual fox head logo. These are not on the raised ring (as the later date codes seem to be, usually), but in the little depressions next to the hub hole. Perhaps these mean something about the manufacture date, I don't know. I have seen what appear to be the letters "A", "B" and "K" stamped in various places (see below).

From what I have gleaned, some of the very early production rims had no raised part no. or size designation, just red ink stamps, like some of the 7R wheels. All the rims I have now do have the raised part no. on the back of the spokes, as well as the 4-1/2 x 15 size designation. One of the rims, however, the spare in my car, also has a red ink stamp on another spoke as well! The ink stamp is in bigger letters, so maybe they stamped them to make them easier to read for a far-sighted mechanic to pull of the shelf?!?!? Who knows?

I'm not sure this is going to be an easy mystery to solve, as just the sheer age of the wheels and their usage has caused corrosion, staining, etc., that can make it difficult to even find and read some of these markings. I am sure that the red ink, if used, has been rubbed off from cleaning, abrasion, etc., over the years in many cases.

The timing of this thread is kind of serendipitous, as someone named Chuck called me from Nor. Cal. yesterday and bent my ear for an hour about what these alpha codes meant, and whether they could be a date stamp code. I told him finally that I didn't know (or care) and to call Harvey.

Here's some pics. See if you can see the letter stampings.

[Alan.uk]

Hi,

I checked through the 7, 4.5 wheels I have here and none of them has any date stamps. 5 were like those pictured in the last post, in that the part number and size are in the forging and have similar stamps around the center.

The other 2 wheels have no markings, bar a very faint "fox" stamp near the centre and the original red ink stamp which shows the part number and wheel size.



Alan