Re Plating my horns

[ToolBoy]

Hello to all, I've just got my plating setup working and now want to zinc and yellow chromate everything in sight. I've seen photos of Z horns with freshened plating so I have hope. I took mine apart and am wondering if the back can be plated and if that requires grinding the rivets off to remove the guts. Is this a bad idea? Any input is appreciated.

Horn2.pdf Horn1.pdf

[dutchzcarguy]

I thought that the horns are original a very dark green? (Or is that only on a 280zx euro..?)   I painted them black..  ( I also took them apart completely because they didn't work very well and it has to be very clean inside before you use the one center screw to "tune" them..)

[Patcon]

Somebody redid their horns a while back and documented it really well.  Maybe Site can find it?

[siteunseen]

12 minutes ago, Patcon said:

Somebody redid their horns a while back and documented it really well.  Maybe Site can find it?

https://www.google.com/search?q=horn+grannyknot+classiczcars.com&client=ms-android-americamovil-us-revc&prmd=vmin&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjw_ZPh6-b2AhXkmGoFHakuDrAQ_AUoA3oECAIQAw&biw=320&bih=545&dpr=2.25

[S30Driver]

 

[CanTechZ]

Just for reference here is one of the horns from my 7/70. It does appear to have the greenish olive drab finish, but darker that most I've seen. there was a lot overspray on it so It might be darker from staining.

 

Here is a picture of the 31K mile car that sold for big money on BAT a couple of years ago. The horns look like a light olive drab color on the fronts.

 

Here is a good discussion about horn finishes, sorry for the duplication of pics.

 

Edited March 28, 2022 by CanTechZ

[Patcon]

The SW paint code in that thread is great!

[ToolBoy]

Wow!! This is awesome!! I expected a half a shovelful and you guys pulled up and unloaded the dumptruck. I was thinking maybe I won't hear much about this. . . It's just the horns. . . So Wow!! I'm actually not as concerned about doing the finishes exactly as the factory did but rather just making the car look great in every detail and super corrosion resistant. It's a low number car at 19500 but the original engine was swapped out with an L26 the numbers matching block was lost years ago. Bought a complete L24, cheap from Ebay with usable block and crank but the head was undesirable and also had a big corrosion hole in it. I went looking and found an E31 head in great shape and installed the bigger stainless valves with new guides and seats. Cam and springs will be ordered when we figure out the lower end. Car came with an L26 engine so looking at using that stroker crank in the build. Not there yet. As I was blasting the horn parts I did notice that green but then again my car was BRGreen under it all and will be again. Is that olive drab color just the conversion coat for zinc that I'm reading about? Might get that chemical or just go yellow chromate as I think that looks good too. . . If I want to dunk a part in my plating tank and mask off an area what is the most reliable liquid proof masking?? I expect I'll find that info if I read all the posts. . . Thanks again to everybody who took the time!! Much appreciated!! 

ToolBoy aka Andy

[duffymahoney]

On 3/26/2022 at 8:51 PM, ToolBoy said:

Hello to all, I've just got my plating setup working and now want to zinc and yellow chromate everything in sight. I've seen photos of Z horns with freshened plating so I have hope. I took mine apart and am wondering if the back can be plated and if that requires grinding the rivets off to remove the guts. Is this a bad idea? Any input is appreciated.

Horn2.pdf 20.26 MB · 7 downloads Horn1.pdf 19.48 MB · 4 downloads

I zinc'd most of mine.  But painted part. I don't think 100% zinc is a good idea.  Check my build.  It has picture of it. 

[Tirnipgreen]

I am in the process of reassembling my horns. Is there a paper "spacer" between both sides of the thin metal plate...? Thanks...Ryals

[dutchzcarguy]

You have to elaborate.. don't know what you mean.. a pic tells a lot more..

[EuroDat]

18 hours ago, Tirnipgreen said:

I am in the process of reassembling my horns. Is there a paper "spacer" between both sides of the thin metal plate...? Thanks...Ryals

Yes. It has a thin "gasket" somewhee between 80graam and 120gram/m3 paper.

I made a set out of 120gr, but it was a little thicker than the original.

Plenty of rebuilds showing horn restoration, only problem is that the horn restoration is buried in the rebuild threads. Just need to be a little creative with google and search through the results.