Deja Vu: 1971 Restoration

[Mark Maras]

10 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Haha! Yeah, I guess that's true. I can think of several beers that are worth less than ten cents to me.

For some beers, the can would be worth more to me empty than full! 

Pringle's Chips fall into that category too.

[siteunseen]

9 minutes ago, Mark Maras said:

Pringle's Chips fall into that category too.

Somebody found a use for old tennis ball cans.  Whala, Pringles! 

[psdenno]

On July 17, 2017 at 3:00 PM, motorman7 said:

I am leaning towards this one.  It is 25 lumens, in cool white with 90 degree beam angle.  

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/instrument-panel-light-bulb/ba9s-led-bulb-4-led-ba9s-retrofit-car-classic-car-bulbs/6/

The Eiko also seems like a good option for incandescent with the 4 Watts.  I am leaning toward the brighter LED with the longer life.  Pricewise, it is just a bit more, but I like the fact that the LED would be longer lasting and maybe a bit brighter.

The description on those LED lights says they last 25 times longer than incandescents.  Since my original factory installed incandescent bulbs have worked nicely for 46 years I'd be good for another 1,000+ years if I switched over.  Might be worth the effort.

Dennis

 

 

Edited July 20, 2017 by psdenno

[motorman7]

On 7/17/2017 at 1:19 PM, jfa.series1 said:

Very nice work on the dash.  If you want to stick with incandescent bulbs for the instruments, consider the Eiko A-72.  It is a 4W bulb that is a perfect fit.  My experience with the MSA offering several years ago was that they were not a good fit unless you were willing to give up the lens over each bulb.  I really like the additional brightness from the Eiko's.

Thanks for the suggestion @jfa.series1.  I went with the Eiko's

[motorman7]

Got the Eiko A-72 4 Watt bulbs.  Also got an original Nissan Glove box from the car owner this weekend.  I bet there are not too many NOS glove boxes out there.  This is the first one I have seen so it was treated with much care.  I installed the new bulbs and the glove box, pics are below.  I need to fix the glove box emblem. Not sure what to do with the rolled edges on the glove box inside sticker.  I may just leave it since it is original.

More Z CSI.  Looks like some type of work was done with the ammeter/fuel gauge unit.  As I was rotating the dash around, one of those little plastic heat stake pieces was on the glass.  When I opened it up to remove it, I saw the epoxy fix.  Interesting.

Started restoration on the steering wheel.  The key to doing the steering wheel right is to be very gentle on the 'wood grain'.  I sanded the metal with 220 grit today and cleaned the wood 'gunk' with lacquer thinner.  The 'gunk' is the black build up on the wheel.  I will do a very light sand on the wood portion, then spray with clear enamel.  Will spray the metal with satin black.  Should have this done in the next couple days.

The big news is that the car should be back from the paint shop this weekend.  Woo-hoo!  Should be picking that up on Saturday.  

Edited July 24, 2017 by motorman7

[motorman7]

Continued work on the steering wheel.  After cleaning the wood grain with lacquer thinner, I gently sanded the wood grain with 220 grit sand paper.  I then taped up the spokes and sprayed the wood with clear enamel.  The wood came out nice as seen in the pics.  That's was the hard part.  I will let the clear dry for a day or two and then tape off the wood and spray the spokes with satin black.  Pics below with one before pic.

Edited July 26, 2017 by motorman7

[psdenno]

Very nice.  You brought out the original wood grain look quite nicely.

Dennis

[siteunseen]

Now the shift knob. I couldn't get mine exact, the knob is real wood and comes through more yellowish than the cherry or red mahogany of the wheel. I put my knob on an old shift rod and dipped it in Minwax Helmsman satin poly every day for a week. Nice hard finish that covers the plastic shift pattern button as well. It even hid the cracks in the plastic after a few coats.

[motorman7]

1 hour ago, psdenno said:

Very nice.  You brought out the original wood grain look quite nicely.

Thanks, I have learned that the key is to keep the sanding to a minimum.  That way there is no need to re-stain.  I learned that the hard way.  I think they put a thin wood veneer over the a beige plastic steering wheel form. I way over-sanded on a previous steering wheel.  Still have that sitting in my garage as a reminder.

 

1 hour ago, siteunseen said:

Now the shift knob. I couldn't get mine exact, the knob is real wood and comes through more yellowish than the cherry or red mahogany of the wheel. I put my knob on an old shift rod and dipped it in Minwax Helmsman satin poly every day for a week. Nice hard finish that covers the plastic shift pattern button as well. It even hid the cracks in the plastic after a few coats.

Thanks for the tip on this.  The shift knob is worn and the plastic has a small crack.  I was thinking that I would most likely replace it, but I think I will attempt to restore using the method you mentioned here.

[siteunseen]

Your's looks fantastic ever how you did it. Personally I used 0000 steel wool. I waded a handful and "steered" the wheel until all the sticky stuff was gone and it was slick as glass. Then sprayed it with a touch up HVLP gun I have.

No matter how you got there it looks great! I got all the wobble out of my steering after many Benjamin's and laying on my back work but now holding that skinny wheel while driving the back roads is almost hypnotic. Maybe I won't run off in a ditch!

[siteunseen]

Something else I  thought about was the two part clear bar top epoxy for the shift knob but I read it could "possibly" attack the plastic shift pattern button. I didn't want to take that chance.

[grannyknot]

21 minutes ago, siteunseen said:

I waded a handful and "steered" the wheel until all the sticky stuff was gone and it was slick as glass.

It's pretty gross to think about it but that sticky stuff is basically years of dead skin and oil