9teen7t240z

UPDATE to my UPDATED UPDATES: I wanted to give everyone who has participated in this thread (and even those of you who have "lurked" the thread) an update on production plans for some of the pieces that we are working on. Currently, the following pieces are either undergoing active moulding and tooling production or are in the preliminary engineering process: 1. 240Z tail light center strips 2. 260/280z tail light bezels (surrounds) 3. 240z AM Radio faceplate 4. 240z-280z AM/FM Radio faceplates 5. Knobs for the radio faceplates 6. Series 1 inspection lid clips 7. 240z gear shift pattern (4 spd.) 8. 260/280z gear shift pattern (5 spd.) 9. 240z series 1 ashtray and fusebox cover 10. 240z choke plate 11. 240z coin box 12. 240z plastic seat guards (bolsters) Pricing is being finalized for these parts as we speak. However, the pricing will be influenced significantly by the number of pieces that are run during the initial production cycle. Accordingly, I'd like to find a practical way to guage just how much interest there is for these parts before making some large initial tooling investment in some of them. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can "poll" the community to get some measure of the amount of interest there may be in these parts? Also, if anyone has any final recommendations for PLASTIC parts that need to be reproduced, I'm all ears. I still intend to source many of the non-plastic pieces for reproduction in the near future, but I am already working with a plastics manufacturing firm so I'm going to complete phase 1 with plastic parts only. Thanks again for your valued input. Mike R.

Greg, I have a total of 10 sets that are being replated as we speak. These came from a collection of cores that I acquired that were solid cores with no cracking, discoloration, or degradation of the plastic substrate. They are being offered for $40.00 per set of two with a core exchange, or $55.00 per set without your cores. (plus shipping). If you aren't able to find them elsewhere, send me a pm and I'll reserve a set for you. Mike

Ken, As the old saying goes......."very carefully":) It's really not difficult. First, you have to remove your tail light assembly from the housing. I've had good success just soaking the assembly in the sun for a few hours, enabling me to gently pry the lenses away from the housing. Others have soaked them in warm water for awhile, and report equal success. After you've separated the main pieces, you'll have access to the mounting pins on the tail light strips. This is the only challenging part......you need to remove the nuts that secure the lenses to the tail light strip without breaking too many of the posts. I've had success just using needlenose pliers and gently twisting them off the tapered mounting pins. Once these are removed, the taillight stip is easy to separate from the lens. As for cleaning off the adhesive "goop" that secures your lens to the housing body, I found that rubbing baby oil on the lens facilitated the quickest removal of the adhesive. (little trick I learned from the old lady.....and she doesn't even own a Z) Mike

UPDATE to thread: Affordable Chrome Plating (Part Deux) When I began this "hobby", I wanted to offer my fellow Z enthusiasts with an affordable solution to their chrome plating needs, with a focus on the plating of plastics. Since then, I've been fortunate enough to serve the needs of many of you, and thank you for the opportunity to do so. Lately, however, I've been doing plating for customers who own Ferraris and Bentleys, Porsches, classic Mustangs, Ranchero's, Olds 442's......and on and on. Additionally, I've begun an active mission to source reproduction facilities for those "impossible to find" parts that many of you have requested. As a result, I find very little time to spend with my real passion (Z cars), and have sought out the help of others who could devote some time to serving my Z friends. I've recently appointed Mike Wodopian as a direct distributor for the chrome plating service, as he is able to dedicate the time to continue to service the membership in the way that we want it to be done. He has generously agreed to officially launch this effort with another "group buy" for the membership, and will be announcing his service sometime later today. I hope that you all extend the same warm welcome to Mike that so many of you have extended to me. I hope to be able to offer some updates on the new part reproductions soon:) Mike

These are a few of the tail light trim pieces that I've re-chromed for other customers, so, no....they aren't for sale. However, as I believe that I mentioned earlier in the thread, I do have some like pieces that I'll be plating in the weeks to come that I can offer to sell (on a core-exchange basis). If you need more info, feel free to PM me. Mike

dltapha, I found a couple of pics of the 240z tail light trim pieces that we've replated. Also, I'll keep you and the rest of the community updated on my progress with possibly reproducing these pieces. Mike

dltalfa, As both Carl and Jerry have mentioned, I am not aware of anyone who is making reproduction tail light finishers for the 240z.....at least not yet:) However, your existing pieces can be re-chromed and made to look new, provided that the underlying plastic hasn't deteriorated or become too brittle. I have recently acquired a few good quality cores that are going to be restored and offered for sale on a core-exchange basis. If you'd like more information, you can send me a PM or just send an email to my address below: stoogeman_1999@yahoo.com I hope that helps you. Mike

Leon and Michael, As I sort through 60+ fender emblems from the 260z's and 280z's, I find that the colors arround the "Z" seem to range from cloudy white on up to a somewhat bright red, with alot of faded yellows and oranges in between. I wonder if it's possible that Datsun painted that portion of the emblem with different color schemes, or if all of these pieces just represent various degrees of fading? Of course, one never knows what the PO's may have done to alter the original appearance on these after nearly 40 years. It looks to me, that short of having a brand new emblem to use as a model, I may find difficulty in replicating the correct color for these emblems. (And all along I thought that the resinous base material was going to be the hard part of the job):disappoin

I'm considering a later model XJS convertible (1995-1997) for my "ball and chain" (). I had an earlier year model with the V12 which was an awesome driver.....when it ran. But, Jaguar had still not worked out all of the kinks in their electrical systems by 1992. I understand that the 6 cylinder models made during the end of the production were about as good of a car as Jaguar ever made. Anyway, it's the type of car that the little lady can appreciate, while being one that I can enjoy as well. As for 60's era roadsters, I've always liked Maxwell Smart's Sunbeam Tiger.....but how often do you run across one of them?

Captain, No, there is no way to replate the emblem with the original fill still intact. When the old plating is stripped, the fill will be removed as well. Therein lies the challenge. It is easy to strip all of the existing paint and chrome from the emblem, as it is to replate the entire piece and paint any originally painted parts with the OEM colors. The difficulty arises in finding a suitable fill-in resin and color (tint) to adequately recreate the appearance and texture of that area that surronds the "Z". from a personal taste standpoint, I think that the emblem would be much more attractive if the fill weren't included in the first place. Then, the Z would be more prominent and the area surrounding it could be painted black or even body color. But, for the purists, that "dog wouldn't hunt" as that is not as originally produced by the manufacturer. As a case in point, I recently replated an extra set of "Datsun" fender emblems for my 240z. I think that these pieces look awesome in chrome, yet the OEM specs called for the entire piece to be chrome plated, then all surface areas are painted. Seems like an awful waste of chrome to me. I am going to keep the emblems free from paint, except for the areas between the letters (which are going to be painted the same color as my car). The result should give the appearance of actually having multiple emblems, as the letters of the word Datsun will appear to be separate. In the end, I think that the emblem should really pop when put on my car. Anyway, it's a personal preference thing. If you would like to send me a PM with your contact info, I may want to take you up on your offer to experiment with recreating that fill. Thanks again, Captain. Mike

Thank you, Leon, Chas,, Captain, and Clayton, I'm beginning to understand WHY nobody is restoring these emblems or reproducing them. It appears as though, in order to do this correctly, one would have to invest considerable money and alot of time testing different resins and processes, with little assurance of ever finding a viable process. I had hoped that someone would tell me they've have great success with a little Elmer's Glue and Play-Doh:) Seriously, though, it looks like it may be more time efficient and cost efficient to simply have a plastic manufacturing firm reproduce the entire part. Unless someone else offers a solution that they've actually had success with, I think I'll stick to refurbishing those emblems that just require a new plate of chrome and some paint. Much thanks to all of you who shared their thoughts....I'm still open to any other suggestions. Mike

Leon and Michael, Thank you for your replies and the pics. I'm still stumped as to how to replicate the resin that was used to "fill in" the area around the Z on the emblem. I'm hoping that some of the members may have encountered this before and found a product or solution that serves the same purpose, while providing the look and texture of the OEM part. Any "plastics engineers" out there that want to chime in? Mike

I recently acquired an inventory of used emblems from various 260z and 280z model cars. I noticed that some of these emblems, such as the fender emblems, seem to have some form of resin or composite material that surrounds the "Z" portion of the emblem. Can anyone tell me whether there is some form of composite material and , or, a "sticker" that is used for those emblems? I acquired these with the intent of re-chroming and restoring them to original OEM spec, as it appears that these emblems are not available in new or restored condition anywhere. My concern is that, when the old plating is stripped....this resin or composite "stuff" that surrounds the "Z" might come off as well. In which case, I'd end up with some nice shiny emblems that are no longer completely original. I'd really appreciate your thoughts on how I might make these emblems appear to be "new" again. Mike

I could tell everyone that a fresh plate of clean chrome reduces friction and attendant drag, making the car more aerodynamic and subsequently faster. But, I don't think I'm gonna make that claim on any brochure or business card.

Michael, Thank you for your feedback. And yes, those were some seriously rusted center caps......I had to cross my fingers and hold my breath when I sent those out for plating:) Fortunately, I DO have a pic of your caps before they were re-chromed. I'll try to post it here. Mike

UPDATE ON THREAD: I bet everyone thought that I had abondoned the thread due to being overwhelmed by the responses/requests, but, such isn't the case. It has been an immense project to sort through the parts that have been requested, as I had to use multiple resources to try and determine what was truly NLA vs. that which some people thought was NLA. The research was made more complicated by the fact that the reproduction market is quite dynamic.....parts that were often obsolete yesterday suddenly show up in the marketplace today. Consequently, trying to choose targets for reproduction is much like trying to catch a falling knife. Having said that, I DO have some progress to report. My partner is currently overseas obtaining quotes for the reproduction of some 12 separate items, all of which have been mentioned on this thread. This is due, in large part, to both the input from the community and the generosity of some of the membership through donations (loans) of demo parts. We are not limiting our focus to these dozen or so parts, as my partner will be overseas for another 5-6 weeks on this trip. It is hoped that, before my partner returns to the US, we will be able to obtain quotes for numerous other pieces that you requested. Now, for the bad news. Due to the fact that certain "competitive interests" may be working on some of the same parts, I am hesitant to specifically mention which parts are being sourced......at least for now. I will say that ALL of the parts that we are working on now are made of plastic, and all have been mentioned before throughout this thread. It is my hope that I will be in a position to be much more specific by early this coming week. Thanks again for everyone's past and future contributions to the effort. Mike

Michael, I read the ebay add that you were referring to. Maybe it was the seller who was hiding under the seat for years, instead of the part??? Mike

I must admit that I'm somewhat intrigued by the chrome air cleaner box myself. Now that I've had most of the aluminum parts under my hood polished, the box could make for a nice compliment to the look of the engine bay. Maybe I'll send mine out to be chrome-plated and post pics of the final look after it's installed:) Mike

Mike, When I spoke with Roger, he indicated that he wanted to liquidate his entire inventory (approximately 7 semi-truck loads) to one party, if possible. As i was mostly interested in chromed parts, he passed on discussing the possibility of breaking up his inventory pending the outcome of his original plan. Since then, I havent heard anything back from him regarding that planned liquidation. I did fire off an email to him tonight to see if I could get an update. I'll let you know if I hear back from him. Thanks, Mike

Zedhead, You make a salient point. I didn't post an offer because I was trying to source parts for other members, and I don't have the authority to make offers on their behalf. Having said that, I, too, would be interested in acquiring some cores for my sample inventory, as well as future needs for my customers. For MY purposes, I would be willing to pay $40.00 per set for either 240z trim pieces or 260/280z surrounds in decent plateable condition. (No noticeable deterioration in the substrate). My customers may not be willing to pay that much......then again, they may be willing to pay more. This is why I didn't open the thread with an offer......waht I may be willing to pay for an item could be significantly more or less than what a fellow member may be willing to pay. The thread was started with the hope of helping others.....not helping myself. In the future, I may be interested in buying any number of parts for my purposes, at which time I'd gladly post offering prices. Sooooo, How many sets do you want to sell me, Zedhead?

Mike, Yes, I was talking about the plastic trim pieces. And believe me.....I am seeing how difficult they are to find! I did talk to our employee in Asia and he claims that reproducing the trim piece would be very doable....but until I see the finished product and the price, I'm not holding my breath. ( I'm one of those who believes nothing that I hear, and only have of what I see). Anyway, I'll definitely keep everyone posted on the parts reproduction progress, but I thought I'd take a shot at trying to locate a few pieces for those who have asked in the meantime. Mike, would you happen to know the status of the liquidation of the Z Barn's inventory? Mike R.

Given the rather conspicuous, albeit not entirely unexpected, lack of overwhelming offers to part with your stached finishers/surrounds/bezels, perhaps someone may know of the status of the Z Barn's inventory of parts? I had been in touch with Roger up until a couple of months ago regarding the liquidation of his inventory but havent heard anything since Novemeber. Does anyone know whether he found a buyer for his inventory, and, if so, would anyone know how I might contact he, she, or it? Mike

Marc, Thank you for the kind words and taking the time to post your feedback. Nice pics, btw:) Now, we would like to see some pics of those vents in your NOS dash:) Mike

Hi, All, There are a few members of our community that would like to have their tail light finishers (240z) and surrounds from 260z/280z re-chromed. Their problem is that they no longer have usable "cores". As many of you will attest, the plastic cores will tend, over time, to deteriorate from within. Some have told me that their parts literally disintegrated upon removal. I have exhausted all of my local resources for used, quality cores.....and, lo and behold, just can't seem to find any. So, I am posting this thread to see if any of you "closet hoarders" might want to part with a decent set (or ten) of tail light finishers and surrounds. Alternatively, if you even know of someone who may be hoarding....I mean...holding on to...some decent cores, I would appreciate the referral. If you can help, please let me know what kind of quantity you have and what your price is, and I'll pass the info on to the respective Z owners. Thanks as usual, Mike R.