Early 240Z wheels and hubcaps

[Alfadog]

Absolutely Arne, let's see your treasure!

[26th-Z]

Arnie,

I can't imagine you would prefer to use them as a daily driver but there is no reason to fret about your great find. This is like dressing up our Barbie dolls in special costumes. Use them for show and whenever you want to impress that special woman of yours!

[Arne]

Arnie,

I can't imagine you would prefer to use them as a daily driver but there is no reason to fret about your great find. This is like dressing up our Barbie dolls in special costumes. Use them for show and whenever you want to impress that special woman of yours!

That's definitely a possibility. But I'm also mulling over using them more than that. Since they are the later ones with more retaining clips, I'm not too concerned about them falling off, and if there's anything less common than seeing a nice 240Z on the road, it's seeing a nice 240Z with hubcaps. So it would really be a bit more unique.

If I do use them daily, I'll probably run a set of 5.5" steel ZX wheels instead, so that I can run 195/70s. Don't know - lots of options here. And I've got time, the car isn't even close to ready yet...

[Arne]

Pictures. Wheels first. Note the cleanliness, presence of the OE Japanese wheel weights, etc. Date stamp is 4-71 on all 4. Two of them are in the condition pictured, one looks like that on the front, with a little rust on the rear. The fourth is rusty on the face as well.

[Arne]

Hubcap pictures. Various shots, with and without flash. There are a few flaws in the gray paint which don't show in the photos. Again, note the cleanliness and lack of tarnish on the back sides. One shot shows the rust spot on the back of one cap.

Seems to me that these were removed when the car was new, and really don't have many miles on them at all.

[KDMatt]

I think someone needs to call in a maid to wipe up all of this drool!

Spectacular find Arne!

[Alfadog]

Arne you sonofa! Look fantastic, what a find. Keep them safe (I know you will)!

[Arne]

Well, they certainly aren't going on the car until it's done - if then. I've got plenty of time to decide what to do with them, and plenty of PMs in my inbox wanting to know if I'll sell them. But for now, at least, they're mine, and perhaps the most valuable parts I have for my car. (Pretty sad, in a way.)

I think it's likely that I will sell off the original 4.5" wheels though. Anyone need a matched set of 4-71 dated rims?

[Arne]

I spent some time this afternoon cleaning them up and thoroughly inspecting them. (Nothing better to do - damn rain!) The hubcaps aren't perfect, but they're damn close. The chrome is a bit so-so on a couple, but it appears to me as though the base metal wasn't properly polished prior to chroming, not that the chrome itself is bad. There are a few scrapes in the gray paint, too.

But my memory of old Datsun hubcaps (based on what I recall from the '74 B210 my wife owned through 1978) makes me think that much of what I see as flaws are probably just the way they were when they were new. Some of the scrapes are from storage, but I'm betting the gray paint may not have been perfect even back in 1971.

Anyway, they look great as is, and if the gray paint were to be stripped and repainted they'd be as close to perfect as you could hope to find. Does any one make that gray paint in spray cans? Les at CDM, perhaps?

[Arne]

Just a quick note - I had no idea there were so many people looking for 'D' hubcaps. Sure, you hear of a someone hunting now and then, but I didn't figure there were all that many early cars being restored.

But judging by the number of PMs I have received on these, there is more demand than I thought. (How did that cliche go? Something like, "Keep those cards and letters coming, folks!") I've received a few gentle feelers, and several more concrete offers, but none so far that are compelling.

So here is the public notice folks - for the time being, the hubcaps are not for sale. This may sound a bit silly to some of you, but I am actually leaning towards (eventually) using them with very '70s-looking skinny tires as my daily driver set. I could use the mismatched set of slots with sticky rubber if I decide to do a bit of auto-X.

Of course, the car won't be finished for a couple of years at least, so I could change my mind in the mean time. But for now I'm going to sit on them.

[Alfadog]

No!! Then you'll bloody bend them!

Interesting to hear the demand too, but if I were you I would keep the original wheels too. I wouldn't start trying to repaint them as I think that would decrease the value since they are in pretty good nick now anyway. Maybe I'm weird, but I wouldn't want them to be perfect. Got to have a bit of patina!

[=Enigma=]

Wow Arne! That's quite the find. They look absolutely great.