best closest series 1 vinyl reproduction pieces?

[Careless]

missing some pieces for the vinyl interior.

wasn't too happy with the strut tower and wheel well piece fitment, though i'm not sure where they came from.

looking to get the side-sills and pillar and roof side and front pieces (with foam if it's available, or else I'll have to track it down).

was thinking of classic datsun motorsport pieces unless there are better repros that are closer to 1970 ones?

Edited April 2, 2017 by Careless

[Zup]

@Careless

If by "side sills" you mean the heavy vinyl inner rocker trims, you would be best off finding really good used ones. They are indented with respect to fastenings at the seat belts and have notches and cutouts that are not well duplicated on the reproductions that I have seen. The originals, if in good condition, will fit perfectly. After cleaning and a little Sem Color Coat they will look like new

As to the other trims---I used the set offered by Les on my 7/70. They installed just fine and match the early pieces reasonably---there is not much surface that is exposed once installed with the visors in place, so the match of grain texture is not a real issue. By now we have no choice, as all factory NOS replacement pieces are "unobtanium".

I purchased a set of the factory "A pillar" and "above the windshield" trims some years ago in anticipation of the restoration. The box had never been opened. Much to my dismay when I got ready to do the install, I found that I had received 2 right side pillar trims and no left side pillar piece. That is when I went to the set I purchased from Les, as I could not mix them without it being more noticeable.

The pieces I received from Les were not complete with foam, but that is not a big deal---just use the trims to create patterns using 1/4" foam for the padding. It will make the vinyl nice and tight.

The headliner is a reproduction with foam, as offered by Les at Classic Datsun Motorsports.

As an alternative, Mike McGinnis at http://www.zzxdatsun.com/catSoftTrim.php has all the same trims and quite possibly will be a quicker source, as I often have difficulty getting in touch with Les.

At the top of the page is Mike's statement: "My soft trim is manufactured by the same domestic company that supplied Nissan's Z store program in the 90s."

Good enough by me.

Photos follow:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Careless]

Thanks Jim

 

I have NOS 260z side sills, but they have a notch cut out of them for the small pinch weld that didn't come on the earlier cars, so it would look weird. The ones I was thinking of taking from the 71 parts car also have the cut outs, and there are a couple of rips- so at this point I have no choice. The contact cement I have seems to work well with pushing and shoving pieces into corners and holding them there. A little bit of heat might be in order, but I think that's all I can do for now.

I've had trouble getting a hold of Les too, especially this time of year- since he's preparing for race season, perhaps.

I'll give Mike a call tomorrow.

 

[Careless]

Going to have to go with your suggestion on the SEM Trim Black over the old ones, Jim.

I found the set that came off this car, and just around the heat-formed indentations there's a small tear, but both pieces are in great shape. we managed to remove the old glue off the back without damaging the rubber either. I think I can repair the tear from the back with a small piece of vinyl trimmed from the transmission tunnel discarded sections and with a couple of dabs of CA glue where the crack should hold it together. It's barely noticeable when pressed together.
 

Though I've never used SEM paint on vinyl, so I'm going to apply it lightly and hope it takes well. I know it has a hint of plastic adhesion promoter within the paint itself- so hopefully I don't screw'er up.

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

EDIT: I misinterpreted what Zup said RE: SEM Colour Coat. It's the actual name of the vinyl compatible paint line from SEM, and not the SEM Trim Black that I'm used to using. I mentioned it was going on vinyl at the paint store and the guy there told me to use Colour Coat instead, and I remembered that's what actually said in his post. I purchased the Satin Black one, not the Landau Black, as the vinyl looks somewhat Satin like.

Edited April 4, 2017 by Careless

[Hank240]

What product did you use to remove the old glue?

 

Thanks

[Careless]

1 hour ago, Hank240 said:

What product did you use to remove the old glue?

 

Thanks

ProForm Products has two types of cleaners that I use. One is a very strong PF621 Wax and Grease Remover. If you use too much of it or leave it on painted surfaces, you will see paint on whatever you use to wipe it. 

The more gentle one that I use for preparing and cleaning just about everything is PF620, Final Wipe. It's what you're suppose to use prior to painting, in between primer and paint coats to remove tacked on dust, and can even be used on painted surfaces after they've been cured for a day or so without harming them much if at all. It works well on vinyl if you get a bit of contact cement or spray glue build up and doesn't seem to damage the vinyl used in this reproduction kit. Infact, if there are any areas where you needed to use heat on the vinyl that slightly glossed over, you can use the final wipe and it seems to normalize the contrast between shiny and dull areas, but it doesn't seem to dull the area that are already like that.

I really like it.

For the old glue, just wet a cloth with the PF621 and dab some on the glue, then use a dollar store tooth brush (for some reason the 2 pack of toothbrushes with the rubberized grip from the dollar store don't melt in the solvent like the full acetate ones do) and work in circles to move the glue around. The glue will just clump up and ball up on the tooth brush. Wipe it off the toothbrush to prevent further smearing the glue around the rest of the piece, and continue.

It didn't seem to harm the rubber backing on the side-sill material, and actually made it a bit more rubbery. I'm sure if I left a big puddle on there, it would do some damage, but cleaning it with dish soap afterwards makes it nice.

Edited April 4, 2017 by Careless

[Zup]

Regarding the Sem Color Coat---yes, Satin Black is the best match to original.

I've used ProForm Products and like them---right up there with Wurth.

I haven't used the PF620, but it sounds a lot like Naptha spirits, which I have used as you did with the PF620, and it behaves the same. Naptha will not harm paint, vinyl or rubber when used sparingly and not soaked.

[Careless]

5 hours ago, Zup said:

Regarding the Sem Color Coat---yes, Satin Black is the best match to original.

I've used ProForm Products and like them---right up there with Wurth.

I haven't used the PF620, but it sounds a lot like Naptha spirits, which I have used as you did with the PF620, and it behaves the same. Naptha will not harm paint, vinyl or rubber when used sparingly and not soaked.

I think the closest Wurth product I have to the PF620 is Wurth W-Sol, which is naptha / white gas based. The only thing is W-sol is a lot more aromatic, or at least smells more like a stronger solvent than Final Wipe does.

PF620 lists "VM&P NAPHTHA" in its MSDS... not sure why it smells different.

Final Wipe... wouldn't call it pleasant smelling, but it's delightfully tolerable compared to the others, which is also a reason I like using it. haha. It's got its own type of smell.

I haven't tried W-Sol on vinyl, but I know for a fact that it removes cosmoline type wax rust-proofing VERY well, which is why I never gave it a go on vinyl. I'm hesitant to do so.

Edited April 5, 2017 by Careless

[Hank240]

Thanks for the info - I'll give it a try.

cheers

[Careless]

So the SEM colour coat goes on nice and worked great. I made a patch to repair a small tear near the seat belt fastener.

Though I ran into something I didn't notice... the 71 has the wiring going through a cut-out shown here:

yet the pieces from the 01/70 don't have any such hole...  does it just go underneath the side sill vinyl?

I imagine this stuff is a lot easier to install after the wiring is laid down so I'm going to work on that first this weekend since these pieces are pretty much ready to install.

 

though @grannyknot mentioned to me that there are areas at the dogleg that are supposed to be painted black to prevent colour being visible along the seems of the interior pieces that don't quite fit great from factory... I did manage to see this right here at the front of the car which I did not notice before:

 

and you can see some of it in the photo with the wiring just behind the dogleg cover. I guess I'll just take the stuff off the 71 to see how it was covered up... but was it done that way on the early cars too? I don't recall seeing it anywhere on the 69.

[Zup]

Yes to everything above.

Paint those areas as @grannyknot mentioned he's got it right! Use a flat black.

Don't worry about the wiring. After the underpad  and carpet  are installed it is not noticeable. None of the early cars I have disassembled, including a 71, had a hole in the vinyl rocker trim next to the seat belt mounting bolt for the wiring to pass through. The wiring was on top, not underneath the vinyl as it emerges from the dogleg trim. The wiring does go under the vinyl rocker trim as it runs along the rocker toward the front passenger side of the car.

[Careless]

Thanks Jim

What I noticed from the 71 was that there was very little contact cement near the bottom of the side sill vinyl, probably to facilitate wiring servicing of some sort without having to remove the pieces entirely and running the risk of tearing them accidentally. Or maybe that car was just sloppily put together.

Though I did notice that the very front of the side sill vinyl tucks underneath the firewall pad just at the pointed end, so I will have to see about attempting to sneak it under there when I put it back into service. Going to be a bit of a challenge, as I did glue the firewall pad in place.

I think I will do the wiring first, though. Might end up cleaner than attempting to curl the wire into the tabs once the vinyl is down. This stuff I'm using is quite tenacious and I'd rather not try to peel the rubber backing up again. some of it came off in its initial removal.

Thinking of laying some wide masking tape on the wiring harness "tunnel" once its in position to avoid tacking it up with contact cement, and then masking off the back of the vinyl pieces in the same area so that it doesn't rub off onto the harness.