Stupid question regarding 73 240 wheels

[Bonzi Lon]

My stock steel wheels (7-73) are the charcoal grey that match the tail light surrounds, scallops on the hub caps, and the grille, lighter color on the back, matching spare. Read a thread the color available in a fizzle can is Autozone Duplicolor #WP102 Graphite then cover with #1902 Matt Fine Clear Duplicolor HP Wheel Coating. Haven't tried it yet but I really like the color with the 115 Metalic Blue.

Bonzi Lon

[Carl Beck]

Hi Guys:

I ask my Daughter to look at the two wheels pictured below - in indirect sunlight. She is 12 years old but quite the Artist with all the charcoal, oils, pastels etc in her many Artists Kits.... She and her Mother really have "an eye for color" so to speak.

At first glance she said; "they are black".... then;... "well actually they have a slight hue of blue underlying, so technically they are a blue based dark gray". "Black is the absence of any color, so if I were mixing oils to match that, I'd have to add some dark blue, some white and maybe some others to get that exact color".

I said; "well I can't go to paint store and by a dark blue based gray - is it charcoal gray or black?"

"As dark as that is, I'd go with black", she replied. "But if you took the wheel to the paint store, and told them to color match it - they would mix in colors other than black", she added. (she and her Mother have been to the Paint Store and had various colors - color matched - for her room. So she knows the process by now.).

OK - I used a "semi-gloss black"... lacking a good can of flat black, and I lightly sprayed one half of the wheel on the Right with it - the white arrows show where the new paint starts/stops. The wheel on the left is an 11/69 and the wheel on the right is a 7/73. The square in the middle of the wheel on the left is sprayed with a couple coats of semi-gloss black.

I have to agree Arne - other than being semi-gloss and fresh non faded paint - the two (old and new) are very close. If on the other hand I was trying for a 100 Concours Car.... I'd most likely go with a very dark blue based gray... just off pure black. I think Bonzi Lon's "Graphite" might be a better description...

Given that these wheels are now 30+ years old, and given that Nissan used cheap paint to black or Graphite them the out - - - no matter where they were stored - - that original paint simply evaporated over the years leaving the graphite color we see today.. That may partly be the result of having the gray undercoat as well.

Bottom line - if you pain them black, dark charcoal or graphite... most people won't have the color perception needed to tell them all apart unless they are held side by side. I called it black once and dark charcoal once... so I'll call it a draw, or still a toss-up.

FWIW,

Carl

[Bonzi Lon]

I forgot to mention, the front bumper filler on a 73 is flat black, put it up against my wheels and there IS a difference. I have my doubts on sun fade (on mine) because these have not seen the sun in over 26 years. Now that we have sunlight today after the blizzard, the ladies are right, the wheels have a blue tinge or hue to them. Put the tail light surround up to the wheel and the surround is a true graphite grey and the wheel has a blueness to it but is still dark. Looks like the wheel is going to go to the paint store some day for a color match.

Bonzi Lon

[Jim Frederick]

Hey Arne and Randy,

Actually the 1969-1973 wheels were painted satin black not flat black.

Jim Frederick

Lutz, FL

[mally002]

Hey Arne and Randy,

Actually the 1969-1973 wheels were painted satin black not flat black.

Jim Frederick

Lutz, FL

Uh Oh.......I already painted mine flat black.....hmmm, maybe that will be my primer coat.

Thanks for the info.