Actually, the original wheels were first painted with a silver-gray paint over the entire wheel, and then the front side had a quick coat of flat black.

I stand corrected, thanks Arne. And just out of curiousity, is this also the case for the spare?

Gary S.

I stand corrected, thanks Arne. And just out of curiousity, is this also the case for the spare?

Gary S.

As best I have been able to determine, yes.

The background is that the 240Z wheels were made for Nissan by a Japanese company named "Topy" who were (and still are) a large wheel maker in Japan. They did lots of wheels for Japanese automakers as well as for commercial trucks. The silver-gray color was the baked finish that Topy applied when they made them. Nissan added the flat black to improve the appearance when the stock hubcaps were on the car. The silver-gray is a fairly durable finish - not so the flat black.

I found that Rustoleum Flat Black in their premium rust-converting paint ("Rust Reformer", IIRC) is a virtual dead match for the factory flat black coating. I did half of one of my wheels with the Rustoleum and I can not tell which half is original and which I painted. While the black color is easy, in this case the sheen or 'flatness' of the paint was also perfect.

Anyone have any photos of the steel wheels I could use as a guide?

Thanks again for all your knowledge.

A quick edit, I checked the site posted from 7t1240 and if you go to "240z" and then click "wheels" the 73 I just bought looks just like this one......ok, not near as good but same color and those panasports look GREAT, I may have to look into those. My car is still waiting to be picked up by the transport company, hopefully I'll have it sometime next week, Thanks again.

http://www.classicdatsun.com/

Anyone have any photos of the steel wheels I could use as a guide?

Thanks again for all your knowledge.

Yup. Here are pictures of mine.

My car is still waiting to be picked up by the transport company, hopefully I'll have it sometime next week, Thanks again.

Out of curiosity, where is your car coming from? When I bought the '73, it took a month to get from Southern California to Atlanta! :(

Yup. Here are pictures of mine.

Hi Arne:

I may well be color blind - but the wheels you have pictured, aren't flat black as far as I can see. Charcoal Gray...perhaps.

I've always felt that the wheels were sprayed with the same charcoal gray that was used on the rear tail light finisher and the grill. Because of the underlying colors there is ever so slight a difference in the finished product...

If you call Les... I'm pretty sure he'll say the same thing. He sells that OEM Charcoal Gray in a rattle can..

I suppose that if you sprayed a very very thin coat of flat black over a silver wheel - it might come close to a charcoal gray finish...

FWIW,

Carl B.

Out of curiosity, where is your car coming from? When I bought the '73, it took a month to get from Southern California to Atlanta! :(

Hey Doug,

The car is coming from PA, however it's a Texas Z, only been in PA for a year. I spoke with the transporter tonight and he said it was assigned to a driver for Friday pick-up. They state should be here Tuesday......I hope.

Hi Arne:

I may well be color blind - but the wheels you have pictured, aren't flat black as far as I can see. Charcoal Gray...perhaps.

I've always felt that the wheels were sprayed with the same charcoal gray that was used on the rear tail light finisher and the grill. Because of the underlying colors there is ever so slight a difference in the finished product...

If you call Les... I'm pretty sure he'll say the same thing. He sells that OEM Charcoal Gray in a rattle can..

I suppose that if you sprayed a very very thin coat of flat black over a silver wheel - it might come close to a charcoal gray finish...

FWIW,

Carl B.

Never having met you in person Carl, I can't speak to whether you are colorblind or not, but the camera flash definitely lightened the appearance in the picture. Trust me, they are flat black, not the charcoal of the grill and finishers. The wheels I have are dated 4-71, and were removed from their original car less than a week after first delivery. They came to me out of the first owner's attic still with the original Japanese wheel weights attached. Obviously never been painted or otherwise mucked with. And Rustoleum Rust Reformer in Flat Black is indistinguishable from the factory flat black finish.

When I asked about this earlier (concerning a spare wheel), the unanimous answer was flat black.

http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22654&highlight=spare+wheel+color

Hi Arne:

I said that three years ago? .... "black" .... what was I thinking?

Either my eyes are getting worse... or my memory was clouded... So tomorrow in the sunlight, I'll go out to the garage and dig out some original wheels.. I will then spray a color chip with flat black to hold beside the wheel ... so maybe side by side I can tell the difference if there is any ... I'll let you know how that turns out (just got new glasses too;-)...

Shades of Gray...

Carl

Hi Arne:

I said that three years ago? .... "black" .... what was I thinking?

No, you said that 3 months ago, not years ago. No problems either way. Please do let me know what color yours are.

Yea Gad... first it's colors and now its numbers...!!

WFIW

Cral....

I looked at my original wheels-all flat black-both sides!

Cral,

Look on the bright side, You must be improving with age...

How long has it been since you said the "F" word?

Aww hell, I'm so sorry,

I never would have thought you would have forgotten it too!

Will