What version of AppleWorks are you running?
They advertise the ability to update ProDOS to make it Y2K compliant, and also to make most versions of AppleWorks Y2K compliant.
You should check with the TAC folks on the post above yours. They may be able to help, or at least point you in the right direction.
In the mean-time, you could also roughly approximate the same dates and days, just with different years. 1978 = 2006, for instance. So to get today's day and date, Monday, September 11, 2006, you would do Monday, September 11, 1978.
And if AppleWorks is picky about such early dates, you can try 1989 or 1995. If you reset the clock to 1989, it will run correctly for 1.5 years (until Leap Day 2008.).
What are you trying to do with Apple Works? Version 3.0 was more stable that was until 4.01 and 5.1 came out.
I was actually using it for word processing a while back, but the incorrect date bugged the $h17 out of me. I was also using it for keeping a journal and inventory of all my apple hardware.
I just want to find some way to get y2k compliant with this awsome software. I'd even buy a newer version if I could find one reasonably priced.