I did my wheel like everybody else. After sanding the rim I wiped it with mineral spirits to get the dust off. I liked that look but I went ahead and did the Helmans coat with some semi-gloss I had already. Turned out good but I don't like shiny so I re-did it with satin, spokes and the rim. Now I'm HAPPY.

On the horn pad I covered DATSUN with Vaseline before I sprayed it and the black wiped right off, old school trick from painting cabinets without removing the hardware.

I think satin is the way to go. Looks good.

Use will shine the wheel when you look at the old pictures they were not shinny. The only way to tell how shiny is find someone who had one new and has a good memory ( that is unlikely on a over 40 year old car)

I forgot to add, I don't recommend Valspar's spray paint. The sheen isn't accurate and it takes forever to dry. I ended up buying a HVLP sprayer from Autozone for $60 and it works great. 3 parts flat oil to 1 part gloss oil, thinned 50% worked out really good for the spokes. On the rim I used some Fabulon Super Satin wood floor poly I had from when I sealed my hardwood floors in my house.

The 1st try, with the Helmsman and Valspar rattle can black worked as a kind of pre conditioning for the final finish. Sanding off the Helmsman actually brought the fake grain out like a sanding sealer would've done. Sanding the Valspar off worked like a body filler would on some scratches that were on the spokes.

Now I get to put it back together and drive.

lots of nice work here, cool to see each persons recipe for the perfect wheel!

i picked up a 240 wheel to put on my 280 and sanded it down with 100, then moved down gradually to 600 and finished with fine steel wool, then i wiped it clean and used lemon oil on it (furniture oil i had laying around, use it on my guitar fretboards) and then buffed it with a soft cloth. i did the spokes in some satin black epoxy spray paint i found at the auto parts store.

even though the wheel isn't really wood, it took the oil nicely and behaved in a rather wood-like manner. the oil finish leaves a nice, smooth, mildly shiny appearance while maintaining a wood-like feel. i didn't want it to feel plastic or like a varnished or shellac finish and i didn't want to worry about chipping, lifting, yellowing or stripping for a future re-finish. what's also nice is that driving/handling it for the past several months has worn it smooth where my hands are - gives it a nice antique look.

i didn't have a 240 horn pad and couldn't find one inexpensively, so i just made an aluminum adaptor plate for my 280 pad. works fine, and even though i'd like a 240 pad, i discovered that after a few weeks i don't notice it anymore...

just another option - cheap and simple.

kinda looks light in the pic, but it's a nice deep cherry color in real life

Edited September 7, 201410 yr by rossiz

That looks good. I might have to rig up some kind of way to secure my horn pad in the future. The plastic ring that clips down on the horn mechanism is or was cracked pretty bad. I have Gorilla glued the hell out of it with zip ties holding it together tightly. I am putting it on today so fingers crossed, it'll stay.

What are those two buttons in front of your ashtray? You have power windows?

when i re-upholstered my seats, i sprung another $50 for a pair of seat heaters. those two buttons are the "low-off-high" rocker switches for tush-toasters.

very nice in the chilly weather!

if you look closely, you'll also see next to the "fasten seat belts" light i drilled the little plastic blank-off plate and put in an input jack to play the iphone through the stereo.

what you can't see, is the usb port wired into the ashtray

Cool! Your Z's like the Six Million Dollar Man, "better... stronger... faster".

Finally put the wheel back on after 2 weeks, almost. After getting it back on it finally feels like a classic sports car.

funny... i was a major fan of that show as a kid - a member of the Col. Steve Austin fan club, had a patch on my jacket, membership came with a signed 8x10 of both Steve and Oscar Goldman. guess it rubbed off, eh?

btw - your wheel looks great!

swapping the woodgrain wheel for the '78 rubber one changed the driving experience dramatically for me - i love the classic feel of it, just so cool. it's the little "touch points" that make these cars sweet, the interfaces between driver and machine -- the feel of the shifter, gauge placement, the jaunty location of the door latches, the high door sills... just makes it feel special.

episode 03.14

Does not like the trucks though: