Media Blasting Resurrection of the Horns

[mikewags]

Hey DeesZ - Kickass job on those parts. Man that really knocks the rust out.

[DeesZ]

Poindexter, thanks for the air horn pictures! They should wake up the neighborhood!

Mike B, I'll look forward to the horn pictures!

rtaylor and Arne, thanks for the input on this. If you ever get around that area with the camera, snap a picture or two. (I know it's not the easiest shot to get!)

So, thus far there are at two paint schemes; flat black and dark olive-drab. I wonder, perhaps different manufacturers or lot numbers?

Just wondering, does the paint on these cover everything front and back? I guess I'm asking 'do they look as if they were painted after assembly, or are the nuts & bolts bare metal as if installed after the painting was done?'

[Mike B]

Here are pictures of the original horns from my 1972 240z (manufactured 5/72). The fronts of the horns look like a semi gloss black. I think the rest is zinc plated and the bolts are cad plated. They are stamped H and L on the bottom front for High and Low. The 6/74 USA and Canada parts catalog shows the same part numbers are used up to 7/73.

The horns in HLS30-00032 are not black. They have blue overspray from a repaint, but it looks like they could have been the olive color originally. I'll see if I can clean them up some and take some pictures sometime this week.

-Mike

[trykflyr]

dammit, I HATE it when I have to buy new tools!!!! You got me thinking a blast cabinet will fit really nice next to my toolbox.....now I just gotta find a way to pay for it. Let's see, 100 gallons of heating oil or a bead blaster? such hard decisions........

Great job on the parts, DeesZ! I may have a handful of stuff to send your way as well, if you're interested.

[DeesZ]

Mike B - Thanks for the horn pictures! That tells me some important things about the way they were finished off for the 05/72 mfg. date (mine is an 05/72 as well!) Now I'd like to see some of the olive-drab ones with dates as well!

trykflyr - It may be a cold winter for you (with the fuel oil trade off).... If you have a compressor, you're half way there! And yes, I'd be interested in doing some blasting.

I found some real ratty stuff that I'll post before & after pictures of as soon as I can find the time to do them up. Time has been at a premium for me.... just got done helping my boy with his homework - he's a special needs guy who has been mainstreamed for science and a few other things at my request.... first year of high school and the demands on him are considerably more than what they had been up to this point, so I'm doing all that I can to help him get some study habits, etc..... challenging and time consuming, but priority-one.

[Mike B]

Now I'd like to see some of the olive-drab ones with dates as well!

Me too. How about it rtaylor or Arne?

-Mike

[Arne]

Me too. How about it rtaylor or Arne?

-Mike

OK, I was wrong. I went out and looked, my 7/71 car has the black horns as pictured above by Mike B. The dark olive horns must have been on one of the two cars I parted, either 10/70 or 4/71. I'll look through my notes and pictures to see if I can figure out which.

[rtaylor]

I'll take a picture tomorrow night, I won't get home until late this evening. It may be hard to see the olive color, what with it being such a dark shade, but I'll try. My horns are in the car. Come to think of it, I have to look in my home computer, but I may have a picture of the horns on my work benchwhen I took them out for cleaning.

Edited September 17, 2008 by rtaylor

[DeesZ]

.....I'm still looking for a ratty slave cylinder that I replaced on my '71, but it just won't surface... can't believe that I pitched it, pack rat that I am... I want to show some good before & after results... I found a really ratty looking 280Z brake master that I'll get to soon...

Well, I found the brake master that was turning into a cake of rust.... also found a 240Z master that cried for attention.... and lots of other stuff to experiment with. Here are several before & after pictures that I promised to post. I find the results quite pleasing to the eye.

Comments and/or suggestions are welcome. I'd like to learn more, so feel free. I'm considering making a service available, so comments about that are welcome as well. Thanks, all!

Attachments:

Here are two of the junk master cylinder before cleaning:

...and two after a refreshing:

Another one that was on the 'to be saved for later' shelf....

before:

..after....

[rtaylor]

John. I looked at my old picture that I took when I pulled the horns and tried to get an color accurate photo last evening. The dark olive drab comes out black in the picture so it does no good to post it, sorry.

The color is similar or identical to the dust cover on my front axel.

[Mike B]

I finally got my own blast cabinet set up today and started blasting a few things. It is addictive. I started blasting the overspray off the horns from HLS30-00032 and then I remembered this old thread about the color of the horns. Once I got the overspray off, I could see that the horns from #32 were originally the olive color that others described. I took one of the horns apart to get a better view of the original paint and some comparison pictures next to the black horns from my 5/72. I think they were originally the darker olive color that you can see on outer edge of the center section and the back of the disassembled horn. The silver color in the middle section is the bare metal where the paint was completely removed. The horns from my 5/72 are definitely original and they are black, not olive.

-Mike

[AZ-240z]

Mike B,

Nice pictures of #32 horns. I found some olive drab paint to pretty closely match the color of the seat rails and have just painted the fronts of my horns. Boths sets of your horns have been a big help in determining the correct finish for mine. I plan on spraying the backs, mounts, and phillips screws and nuts with a clear satin finish, but I do have one question. In your fifth picture above, it appears that the phillips screw heads are also painted olive on #32's horns. I assumed that they were clear zinc colored like the backs of the horns. And in the next two pictures of #32's front covers, the area around the screw holes looks to be painted olive. If the screws were painted on the horn, wouldn't these screw hole opening have a clear metal ring around them as if blocked by the screw head?

I know, way too anal, but curious minds need to know these things. Great job, Mike B.

I'll post pics of mine when completed.

Dan