Hey all, I am getting my 71 painted at the end of this month and presently the taillight area is red and I don't care for it as much as a darker color. The car will be rosa corsa red <ferrari red> and was hoping to get some imput from you on which color choice or ideal for the rear section. I was thinking a flat or eggshell black . Anybody have any expierence with upkeep with any particular colors or finishes ? The car will be stored in a garage covered and driven maybe once a week. Thanks

Black is always a winner for that area. It sets off the rest of the paint qute nicely. Mine's flat black.

Mine as a gloss black and I think it looks great. I can't stand the color coated rear section much.

Definately a darker color.

A gloss i find gives it a little more definition or you could always go with the original gray(grey) depends on what you want more.

I think that either black (Semi-Gloss is what I choose) or the OEM color are best. As others, I'm not much of a fan of body color in that area, unless the car is silver.

Yeah i was gonna say earlier i know a guy who chromed that panel and his car is Silver looks really good but I think it only works on his car. He keeps telling me to do it but i think it would look strange on a red Z.

This is the color I got from Les at Classic Datsun. He sells rattle cans for $35.

Be aware that the original color was a very hard match. That's why Les is able to sell the duplicated color spray cans. Additionally, due to it's rather "coarse" finish, it was a bugger to keep clean AND it was impossible to clean if you got wax on it. So if you go original, be very careful when waxing the back part as any wax on the OEM is very difficult to clean off and shiny spots on those panels don't look good.

In the past, many owners would paint it flat black, with the same problems with waxing.

Others used SEMI-Gloss with better luck with the wax, but unfortunately the beginnings of shine which wasn't the original look.

Carl's suggestion of SATIN Black is better. It will have a smoother finish and allow the wax without shining up too much, and it still has that dullish look.

2¢

Enrique

How about a CF tail light panel assembly! Not anywhere near an original look, but pretty cool looking by my standards.....wait a minute, I have no standards. I actually have one of these assemblies coming for my 1970! I think it will add a really nice touch to my ride...you know, a little mix of the old and new. Kind of like the rest of my Z.