Mike B

I don't know that I would call that being sneaky. He may just not be aware that the location of the valve stem hole indicates if it is an early or late version of the "D" caps. I wasn't until Geezer pointed it out to me recently. -Mike

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showpost.php?p=222559&postcount=1 From the post linked to above - "As we were loading all of the parts (my wife and me - she's a trooper!) we realized that although there was a ton of new parts, they weren't the parts that would have been needed to restore to stock. No motor or tranny, much of the interior missing, no stock wheels and such." -Mike

That car belongs to a member here. It was not complete enough to do a stock restoration on, so he built it like he wanted to. You can search the site and find more information about how he got it and his rebuild process. Obviously the VIN should be HLS30-00248, so it must be a typo. As to why he is advertising it in England, my GUESS would be due to the favorable exchange rate and fewer surviving Z's there. -Mike

One of the reproduction knobs is listed on eBay now. I'm not the one selling them, I just arranged to get the plating done. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsun-240Z-Fuel-Door-Knob-1969_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a10Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem170284199238QQitemZ170284199238QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories -Mike

Yeah, I guess I didn't read back far enough. There is a picture of one for a 260Z in this post. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showpost.php?p=167850&postcount=44 -Mike

Did they rechrome yours? If so, can you post some before and after pictures and tell us what the pricing was, including shipping? Thanks. -Mike

I would also think that people that don't have the luxury of being able to blast items (I assume you mean equipment) probably don't have the luxury of having access to a parts washer and a parts dryer either though. -MIke

I've never seen this type of valve cover before, has anyone else? I assume it is aftermarket? -Mike

Yeah, it wasn't redirecting earlier but it looks like it is now, as Arne noted. -Mike

Carl Beck recommended this in another thread. I think it would apply in your case too. "Since you already have the intake/exhaust manifolds off - go ahead and pull the engine and put it on an engine stand. Pull the head, clean up the piston tops - and send the head to a good shop to be checked. The E-31's were noted for cracking around the exhaust valves. At the same time you can pull the front cover and pan - clean, detail (repaint the block, bead blast the front cover - and reseal the engine). replace the front and rear main seals, freeze plugs etc. Clean/polish the engine compartment - and reinstall the engine.." http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showpost.php?p=274625&postcount=40 -Mike

Yes, Zhome.com is Carl Beck's site and it it still around, but it looks like it is not working right now for some reason. Maybe Carl can look into why it is down and let us know. -Mike

If it doesn't have the Nissan marking on it in the lower driver's corner it is an aftermarket replacement. New Nissan windshields haven't been available for quite awhile, so the only way to get an original is to get a used one in decent shape from a parts car. -Mike

No, the finisher is made of steel, not plastic. -Mike

Thanks guys. Yeah, another year older, another day closer to death today. Ron, I'm fine with the prep, but I think I'll leave the plating to the pros. The main reason why it took so long for the guy to do the work for me was he had an EPA inspection this summer and they made him shut down to add a bunch more equipment and pay a fine for not having it in place. It sounds like he has to add more stuff about every time he has an inspection. I don't think I would want to deal with that headache. I will probably will have him plate the rest of my trims and some other things and then sell them. He also replated the plastic base of my shift knob from #32. Here are the before and after pics. -Mike

Interesting, I posted about this before in another thread, but there was an ad for Wick Humble's car in the Fall 1996 issue of Zcar magazine for sale for $15K at the time. Was this after that? Do you recall where the car show was? -Mike

By the way, someone I know also made a very small batch of plastic reproductions of the knobs and I had them plated for him at the same time (part of why I was so worried about getting everything back). Anyway, if anyone with an early car is looking for an exact reproduction of the early gas knobs with a great chrome finish, he will be selling some soon. Several are already spoken for, and he'll probably sell 1 or 2 on ebay, so keep an eye out. I don't think he will be making anymore, so this may be your only chance to get one. -Mike

Thanks Arne. I was very happy it turned out so well. That epoxy putty is pretty amazing stuff. I'm not sure if the POR type is better than any other, but it worked great. -Mike

As some of you may know, the earliest 240Zs in North America (maybe the first 1000 or 1500?) had plastic fuel door knobs. Later 1970 and 71 North American models had thicker metal knobs. I'm not sure about the rest of the world. I think the JDM and most other export models had a keyed lock on the door, instead of just a knob to latch it closed. Someone correct me if that is wrong. Anyway, the plastic knob that was on HLS30-00331 when I got it was broken off down to the base. See the attached before photos. Rather than just throw it away I wanted to see if I could repair it. I used an unbroken original I have to make a mold using POR15 epoxy putty. Then I made a small "T shape using a piece of coathanger wire and epoxied that into the middle of the base. After that cured, I put some non-stick spay into my mold, filled it with the epoxy putty, and embedded the base with the "T" wire into the putty. After a few minutes I gently worked it free of the mold and it had the rough shape I needed. Then I blended it down into the edges of the base and shaped it some more with my fingers. After it dried I sanded it with several grades of sandpaper to finish shaping and smoothing it. The epoxy bonded to the base very well. I tried twisting it pretty hard quite a few times and it never had any issues. I sent the repaired knob to out to be electroplated with my plastic taillight trims and some other items that I just got back. I think it came out great. I took a few comparision pics to an original knob I have. My repaired and rechromed knob is on the left. The chrome is heavy duty, much better than the original factory finish. Unfortunately, I can't find any of the "in process" pictures I took, so all I have are the before and after shots. -Mike

Hi Carl, No, he didn't go into the process of how the plastic is made conductive so that it can be plated. I know that some people use a spray on metalic coating. After that, it is the standard plating process starting with a copper base. I'm not sure he'll divugle his secret, but I'll check with him. -Mike

I searched around and found someone that could electroplate plastic, so I made a deal to have him plate 2 sets of taillight trim and several other things for me. It was a package deal, so I can't really give an exact price for just the trim, but it was a little less than Zeddsavers price of $150 per set. After a lot of drama and months of wondering if I was ever going to get my stuff or my money back I finally received the replated trims and some of my other plastic items a couple of days ago. In my opinion they look great. I was very pleased that the middle detail still looks really good. I was surprised at how heavy the trims are after plating. It looks like a real quality job. I think they will hold up much better than the factory plating. I did some initial polishing of the plastic cases tonight and put the chrome trim back on one set. I still need to paint the middle sections black and put the backs on. Unfortunately, I'm still working on getting the rest of my stuff back, so I can't really recommend this guy yet, but I am hoping he gets his situation back under control and doesn't go under with this down turn in the economy. I'll let you know how it goes. -Mike

Several months ago I decided to try to get the taillight trim for my 240Z replated. I broke apart all of the sets I have with bad chrome (most all of them). I stripped the chrome off with Muratic acid, as I mentioned earlier in this thread. Here are some pictures of what I started with and what they look like after I removed the chrome. I bought some POR-15 expoxy putty and filled and sanded any damaged areas. Unfortunately, I can't find the pictures I took after I completed that step. -Mike

Hi Kats, I believe the seller is saying that he used to own both a Fairlady Z and a Z432 and he wasn't sure what the VIN prefixes were. I think he is confusing the Fairlady prefix (HS30) with the Z432 prefix (PS30). -Mike

Can you post some pictures of them? -Mike

The seller said he swapped it out with a standard clock when the Z432 was sold, then put it in a 240z briefly. Later he swapped out again and kept it. -Mike