geezer

OK, thanks Will, I'll send them on the way as soon as I can. I tried to get a few more but they jacked the price up to $14.99, which hardly makes it worthwhile after shipping.

It's about the same in US funds once the sales tax is added on. So, $5.88 US and actual cost to ship. I'm not getting shipping quotes until I know who wants a set and how many I can get. I'm just passing them on, on a first come, first serve basis, with no profit taking on my part. They come with the darker plastic lenses only. The lighter amber colored glass lense in my pic was just to show what I did with mine. If you want to try to figure out a shipping cost, the box is about 3lbs. about 12"x5"x3". I'm in Canada, N8W4E9.

Princess Auto strikes again! Found these lurking on the shelf for the reduced price of $5.88 CDN plus tax. Nicely chromed metal housings, plastic lenses, rocker switch, wires, connectors, & mounting hardware included. I bought a set and swapped the lenses with a "made in Japan" glass amber set I had. They were a perfect fit. They won't fool the experts but are a reasonable substitute for the Nissan originals that are a bit hard to come by. If anyone wants a set forwarded to them, give me a shout.

I'd suggest getting the word out to as many Z parts hoarders as possible. Someone will have a suitable condition vented hatch on hand on a parts car or a spare. Much easier to solve the problem by using the correct pieces, even if it forces you to wait.

WOW!! Do you feel like some kind of treasure hunter or something? Get yourself one of those Indiana Jones hats and a whip, so you look the part.:classic: What a find! It must be like an adventure just looking it over, studying the details. Congrats on what I bet was the deal of the year, Christmas came early for you Mike!

Wrapping headers is a lot cheaper to do, would help to keep the heat in the exhaust system where it belongs, but not as effective as ceramic coating, or as long lasting. Go to the JetHot site and read up on it. It's like anything else, you get what you pay for. Here is a pic of my header & webers mockup before teardown for restoration. Take a look at the close proximity of the header to the intake runners. In my opinion there was just too much potential for heat to transfer. The ceramic coatings should keep heat in the exhaust and the air/fuel mixture cooler. It would be tough to do an effective wrap in this case. A heat shield would help somewhat also. PS - Forgot to welcome you to the site, Good to hear from you finally.:classic:

I fell short of where I should be at. I was surprised that I came up with 57, thinking it would have been less. I've been cutting back for a while now and was well over a hundred a few years ago.

I'm in agreement. I had the header ceramic coated inside & out, and also the intake manifold coated on the outside to help reduce heat transfer.

I hadn't reallized the reserve wasn't met. I have seen better sets sell for less and worse sell for more. As long as I have been following the sales of these caps, prices have fluctuated greatly. Even from week to week. I wouldn't have put any higher of a bid in on those. The seller says that they could be used for DDs, but were excellent candidates for restoration. The cost of a decent set has elevated them beyond being used for daily drivers and the further cost for a rechrome and repaint to bring them up to show quality, would bring the cost to well over a grand.

Look for more changes on the horizon with heavy industry and small shops alike making the transition to waterborne systems. Just a matter of time before government legislates lower VOC emissions, making it nessesary for paint suppliers to eliminate current products. That's a good thing, but as always developing technologies cost more. Then you will be really really missing the old OMNI line.

I've got to admit it. I am out of touch with the industry and PPG products now and defer to those more knowledgeable and up to date. I am biased towards PPG products and have used them for a long time. Part of the reason for this is, before I retired I went to lunch regularly with a PPG rep who kept me current on the latest products and evaluation of them. We used to share a company patio at MIS for the CART races. I was given the hats & T shirts and other handouts all the time, so how could I not like PPG?

There are many methods of etching metal. There is nothing wrong with your method of using an etching primer followed up with an epoxy primer and very well could be the better way of doing it, but I am a creature of habit and if something works for me, I'll stick with it. On bare untreated metal I have always used Alchem Metal Prep to etch the metal. If the metal has been sandblasted, which I think is the ultimate etch, I usually bypass the Metal Prep and just insure that it is perfectly clean before priming. I prefer PPGs DP90 epoxy primer and do not keep a second type on hand. One thing I have found over the years is that pros and hobbiests alike can achieve excellent results even if their methods vary. If I was to experience an adhesion problem, then I would consider using an etching primer. Edit: After entering this post I googled a few things and found out that PPGs DP90 is not available in the US any longer, but is available for the time being in Canada. Apparently the formula is heavy in zinc chromates and also contains lead. It has been replaced by DP90LF (lead free).

That is the point I have been making, for the reason of my using Zero Rust instead of POR 15 where a buildable base has to be established or overlap occurs from the transition of hidden areas. After a prolonged period of time, all you need is an easy light scuff, then you can prime or epoxy prime over it with good adhesion, unlike POR 15, that you have to be much more wary, where you put it.

It is what we would call an "optical horn" here. It allows you to momentarily flash the highbeams with a push of the button. When you are done with it, send it to me.

I take it that you are getting this pipe bent without having the car in the same location so you can trial fit on the spot? What I have done in that situation, is use some of those cheap swimming pool noodles wound with coat hangers to maintain the desired shape. This way you can trial fit at home, before bringing it to the shop. They won't laugh at you unless you show up wearing your flippers and snorkeling mask.:laugh: There is also a post here somewhere that plastic piping was used for mockup purposes. These methods might be more accurate than pics & measurements from elsewhere. Just a thought.

Does anyone know the significance of the part number LOM59-12. My Nismo LSD is cast with LOM59 and the adjacent stamp pad is blank. I did some searching and found that BJ Hines has one that was stamped 25. I have not had mine apart to do a clutch count yet.

You guys are a goldmine of interesting photos, sketches and stories to tell. Thanks for sharing. It sure is fun to try to decifer it all. Chris, when looking at the Matsuo design sketch, my mind flashed back to post #33 where Alan gave us a brief recount of his discussion with Matsuo san. This sketch is along the lines of what I would expect to see, as a likely candidate for submission from the designers, as a compromise steel wheel not needing a wheel cover. To me, it is reminiscent of the trimmed out rally wheels of the era from many other manufacturers. I know that we are all endeared to our D caps here in the US/Canada as nostalgic icons, but in 1970 people couldn't replace them fast enough and if given the option, I think a dressed steel wheel would have been nice. Probably, almost as expensive to produce as an alloy wheel though. It was the dealers who profited by selling aftermarket aluminium slots. If it wasn't for the "no option" policy for sales in the US/Canada market, I think a wheel such as this would have been chosen by many buyers willing to pay a premium for them. Kats, the photographs of your friends unusual caps appear to be constructed from the same stampings used for the caps for the C30-series Laurels and the C10-series Skylines that Alan has shown us. It looks like signs of tampering on the backside and maybe someones personal creation? Does you friend know the history of them? I would venture a guess that because the caps have descriptive labels attached, they came from a Nissan dealer and did not originate at the assembly plant, where such labeling is seldom seen and not nessesary for purposes of identification. I also suspect a repaint. If they are legitimate, they could be considered an "off the shelf" stamping. The S30 stampings, from all evidence presented so far seem to be unique. The photograph of the Fairlady Z with the D caps is priceless, and looking at the rear wheel, how do you even get the valve stem situated at the 2 o'clock position in relation to the D, without punching more holes to fasten the center ornament? And mismatched from the front also! Interesting.

Thank you for the correction. I agree, the S30 wheel covers cannot be rightfully called a "D cap" unless the D center ornament is in place. This caused me to look for the name used by Nissan, for a blanket description of the S30 wheel covers prior to the attachment of a center ornament. I had these illustrations saved and am not sure who to credit for them. Other than the part number and superceded part number this is all I could come up with, simply...."Type A". I noticed that the "Z" center ornament is shown in the US & Canada Parts Catalog also. Wonder if my local Nissan dealer has any on a shelf collecting dust? Yes, It certainly appears that a single wheel cover design was used as the inspiration behind all these caps shown, including the S30 Type A. I would also think cost saving was the primary reason for a simple tweak of an existing design. Looks like a feat we could have knocked off before breakfast. It often makes me wonder what could have evolved if the reins were loosened on the design team. Probably something spectacular, but prohibitively expensive for most of us.:disappoin

This has been a thread of discovery for me and I think we will be able to nail down a few points, that are coming to light (for me anyhow). Here is what I think I know about the D caps used on the S30: -The S30 D caps are distinct from any other caps in Nissan's inventory and cannot be considered an "off the shelf" part that was shared with any other model, although they are very similar in appearance. -Both the "early" and "later" improved versions of the S30 D caps co-existed before production began, as evidenced by prototype photographs and slides. Sometime after the first printings of early sales pamphlets and brochures, which depict the "early" style of D cap, Nissan decided to feature the "later" improved D cap in the Instructional Slides and the Service Manual (P/N 99999-20016), which is mainly concerned with the HLS30-U model. -All "early" D caps have the valve stem hole centered adjacent to a spoke and have the less agressive, spaced apart retaining clips. -All "later" D caps have the valve stem hole centered adjacent to a slot and have the more agressive, continuous, tightly spaced retaining clips. -I believe there was an overlap period where both "early" and "later" D caps were intermixed during production with cars occasionally and randomly recieving mismatched sets until the "early" D caps stock supply was completely depleted. It will be difficult if not impossible, to establish any kind of purge date, because of the limited data base. I think it will fit the same scenerio as the 2400 cam covers, where an approximation will have to suffice. These are just my opinions of what transpired and I agree that this would certainly make for a great topic of discussion if an opportunity to converse with Matsuo san arises, although I can attest to the fact that it can be difficult to recall and differentiate model years, details, or events of so many years ago off the top of your head when asked.

Thanks for the example pics Alan, but they are hit & miss as far as supporting evidence and prove nothing conclusive. Allow me to explain. The first two black & white pics of the '68 & '69 C30 series Laurels show caps that appear to be the same as the next two pics of the '69 & '70 C10 series Skylines. We can't see the "slots" in the first two pics but can see them in last two. They are distinctly different, having more of an elongated slot, which would require a different or modified press to punch out the blanks than what was used for the S30s. It appears that all the valve stems are positioned over a slot. The same can be said for the example Skyline caps in post #21 of the other thread. At least in that pic we can see the backside and one thing is holding true so far. If the valve stem is centered over a slot it also has the new improved retention clips. The valve stem hole relocation was most likely nessesary for the crimping process of the new improved retention clip ring. By the way, it might help to briefly describe how these hubcaps are built. The blanks are stamped on a press to create the 3 dimensional shape. The retention clip ring is a separate piece that has the ends spotwelded together to form a ring. This ring in turn is positioned on the now 3 dimensioned blank onto another die where the edges of the blank are folded over and crimped tightly over the retention clip ring creating the hubcap assembly, sans center cap. Without going into any more detail than this, I would suggest we are comparing apples and oranges here by referencing Laurel & Skyline caps.

The very thought I had when Alan posted the Skyline caps photos in that thread. I would be very surprised if the caps depicted were put into production prior to 1970. I think we will find the dates of their use coincides exactly with all models.

Seeing quite a bit of red in those photos. You must be rubbing off on everyone Sulio! Looks like a nice turnout!

I have the first edition copy from 1973. Got it from a yard sale for a buck, smells like a musty old basement. :ermm:The article is on page 4, sorry for the crappy scan.

A very reasonable assumption that shouldn't be too far stretched for anyone's imagination. Especially when the stock supply of "early" caps began to dwindle and the new design was being brought online. There is no evidence of the "later" new style caps being delivered to a customer early on though, even if they did exist. It seems to be one of the changes made by Nissan to improve the vehicle without any need of notice or purge date to be issued outside of the factory.

One of my favorite books, "how to modify Datsun 510 610 240Z engines & chassis" mentions F.A.R. Performance several times. There is an article titled "Bolt On Power For Z Cars" where Dolf van Kesteren of F.A.R. Performance explains how to wring an additional 40 HP from a stock Z. This is in Jan/73. Pretty cool connection to have associated with your car.