Early fuel door knob restoration

[Mike B]

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

[Arne]

Outstanding job, Mike!

[Mike B]

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

[Mike B]

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

[kats]

Very nice, Mike:love:

And happy birthday Mike!!

kats

[geezer]

WOW Mike! Between these and the tailight trim you have achieved some beautiful results. If I were you, I would be looking into what it would entail setting up your own plating operation. Nice work!

Oh..Happy B/Day!

[Mike B]

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

[Carl Beck]

and we wonder why all our skilled labor jobs are going out the country..

[Mike B]

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

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

[psdenno]

Intriguing price. I suppose $99 is a good opening bid for a part made of unobtainium. The auction will be interesting to watch.

Dennis