late71-76 z hubcap restoration write-up

[v12horse]

This is for people that are interesting getting a set of Z hubcaps to restore. The hubcaps I refer to are for the late 71-76 model years.

I mainly restored my own hubcaps instead of buying already restored ones or nos ones as I wanted to save some money. I bought a decent set off of ebay for 50USD including shipping. The paint was not in great shape and there were a few dings in the painted areas, but there were no dings or scratches on the exposed chrome areas. This is key because a lot of that will not be able to be removed without damaging the chrome. The backs were also quite rusted too. All of the emblems were present as well as the pins with clips on the back. Watch out for the clips that hold the hubcap to the wheel; make sure they are all there. If they are bent, you can bend them back without too much trouble. Mine were not perfect, but I bent them to the original position.

1. Remove the emblems from the back. Very carefully, twist the two clips off and save these. Put them in a Ziploc bag with the emblems.

2. Start to tackle the rust on the back. I used the most course steel wool to accomplish this. The result was not a perfectly smooth metal surface, but it was a lot smoother than before. It is near impossible to remove all of the rust so just remove what you can.

3. Remove the paint on the front of the hubcaps with an aerosol paint remover. I used “ Tal-Strip II” AIRCRAFT COATING REMOVER. Let it sit for about 5 minutes and the paint will wipe right off with a rag. Use gloves and work in a well-ventilated area because this stuff is really caustic.

4. Remove any of the dings with a small hammer. Fill the areas that are not level with filler. I used plastic model filler that did not shrink, but I have heard that JB-Weld works really well too. Let it dry completely and sand it smooth with 220-400 grit sandpaper.

5. The trick to this is the taping. I used blue 7-day clean strip painter’s tape found at the hardware store. Be very careful about taping, as every edge will show after painting. Tape all the chrome trim areas off and burnish it with your nail. Cut very carefully around the trim with a NEW x-acto blade. You will need a lot of blades for this, as you want to let the blade do most of the work. After all the edges have been cut, make sure that the tape has no lifted edges. For the smaller trim ring, use 1/4” tape and use one piece for a constant width.

6. Now check the tape again for quality and contact.

7. Get a good primer that is rust resistant and use as directed on the label.

8. After the primer is dry, sand any rough areas without going through the primer.

9. To seal the back of the caps either use rust resistant primer or POR black or clear.

10. The paint that is closest to the original color that I have been told is Dupli-Color HIGH performance wheel coating Graphite (WP102 GRAPHITE). Use as directed. I bought this from autozone.

11. Within 1-2 hours, paint clear coat over to get the matte finish of the original hubcaps. The paint that I used with great result is Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch 1902 Matte clear. This I bought at Ace hardware.

12. Now you are done painting. Let the paint dry for 24 hours before removing the tape.

13. Carefully, cut around the tape before removing to prevent the tape from lifting any paint with it.

14. To restore the emblems I used nevr-dul to shine them up.

15. Put the emblems back on the wheels.

16. Put the wheel on your hubcaps and people will be amazed.

This is a tedious task, but the results are remarkable. My caps are not perfect, but I am extremely happy with how they came out. I was worried about how the paint would hold up, and so far they are great. I have driven through heavy rain and there is no chipping. I have had them on for a few months now and they look just as they were when I finished painting them. Find a nice set and be very careful during the whole process. Set out a few weekends for it. If anyone is doing this I would be glad to help. DatsunZguy has done this as well. He taught me everything I know on the subject. Take care and get those hubcaps on your car! They look really great if you are going for the oem look. They have not fallen off either…yet…

Good luck and take care,

Ben Yount

:classic:

[v12horse]

These are exactly how the caps looked before I did any restoring.

[v12horse]

This is a before and after picture of the back of the caps. As you can see there was still quite a bit of rust when I was done, but I sealed it with a good primer.

[v12horse]

To clean the rim area where the clips are, I used many SOS pads. It is not rust free, but it looks a lot better than before. I just plan to take them off every now and then to keep them clean front and back.

note:

IKI Japan is where they were made. IKI is short for Ichikawa. Courtesy of Kats Endo. It even says 5J on them, does it say 5 1/2J on the 75-76 hubcap I wonder?

[v12horse]

Here are pictures with the paint completely stripped off. The second picture is of the wheel that has a few dents filled before sanding. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of them taped off :disappoin .

[v12horse]

Here are the center emblems. They are made of plastic, so be very careful when removing them as the pins in the back can easily be broken. The one on the left was treated with nevr-dul. The other one on the right is before treatment.

[v12horse]

Here are the finished hubcaps.

[v12horse]

These pictures were taken in Pleasanton, California at a Z get together. Marc's 280z (CZC sn: 280z) is the silver car beside mine.

[ChrisA]

VERY nice job Ben!!

Chris