Picked up a couple of hard to find parts recently

[JLPurcell]

I have been looking for a set of original magnesium AR LeMans wheels, found and purchased a set this week along with an NOS JDM Grill. Excited and can't wait until they arrive.  

[ConVerTT]

45 minutes ago, JLPurcell said:

I have been looking for a set of original magnesium AR LeMans wheels, found and purchased a set this week along with an NOS JDM Grill. Excited and can't wait until they arrive.  

Very nice and look to be in decent shape.  Can I ask what those set you back?

[JLPurcell]

18 minutes ago, ConVerTT said:

Very nice and look to be in decent shape.  Can I ask what those set you back?

I had a set with my race car years ago and cannot remember where they got to. I have been looking for a set for a while now and will say that I "paid up" for this set. They do seem to be in good shape and reportedly, not that it matters, were from a combination of the BRE cars and Logan Blackburn's car. Logan was my instructor at my first driving school at IRP, which if these are some of his brings this full circle. 

[ConVerTT]

Just now, JLPurcell said:

I had a set with my race car years ago and cannot remember where they got to. I have been looking for a set for a while now and will say that I "paid up" for this set. They do seem to be in good shape and reportedly, not that it matters, were from a combination of the BRE cars and Logan Blackburn's car. Logan was my instructor at my first driving school at IRP, which if these are some of his brings this full circle. 

Great find!

[JLPurcell]

This is another interesting NOS part that I recently acquired. Electric Fuel Pump upgrade. 

[HS30-H]

7 hours ago, JLPurcell said:

This is another interesting NOS part that I recently acquired. Electric Fuel Pump upgrade. 

17033-E4200 is the stock 432/432-R pump mount bracket. Nice find! I have one on my 432-R replica.

Does it have the original type Jidosha Kiki KK pump too?

Edited March 17, 2019 by HS30-H

[JLPurcell]

3 hours ago, HS30-H said:

17033-E4200 is the stock 432/432-R pump mount bracket. Nice find! I have one on my 432-R replica.

Does it have the original type Jidosha Kiki KK pump too?

Yes the pump is the Jidosha Kiki. 

[JLPurcell]

Rims and Grill arrived today. The rims will need to be restored, can't wait to get started. They are 14x7. Looking at tire size combinations front and rear. 

[Carl Beck]

On 3/16/2019 at 12:39 PM, JLPurcell said:

I had a set with my race car years ago and cannot remember where they got to. I have been looking for a set for a while now and will say that I "paid up" for this set. They do seem to be in good shape and reportedly, not that it matters, were from a combination of the BRE cars and Logan Blackburn's car. Logan was my instructor at my first driving school at IRP, which if these are some of his brings this full circle. 

Logan Blackburn's Datsun 240Z with which he won the SCCA C-Production National Championship 1977, was the BRE #3 C-Production Z.  Glad to hear you were able to find a set. 

[JLPurcell]

Thanks for sharing you knowledge Carl! Small World Again. Here is the stroy: Back in the 70's I road raced a Datsun 240Z. I had a set of magnesium American Racing LeMans Wheels. Strong and very light. The BRE teams ran these wheels when dominating CP class in Datsun 240Z's. Logan Blackburn was one of those famed drivers back in the day and my instructor at my first driving school. See Picture of yellow wheels on his yellow car below. I had been on a quest to pick up a set of those very rare magnesium AR LeMans wheels. I recently found a set in Georgia. I was told that they were from Logan Blackburn's cars. I thought maybe. I am in the process of restoring the wheels, when I removed the valve steams it was confirmed by the yellow that these are indeed a set of Logan Blackburn's wheels. Full Circle! How Cool is this!

[Patcon]

Always nice to have confirmation!

[JLPurcell]

Moving right along on the wheel restoration.

 

 

[Carl Beck]

It looked originally like the centers were painted - Yes/No? ... are you going to let them age to the dark gray, rather than paint them again?  Looks like you bead blasted them...if so it will take a lot of very fine wet sanding, then a lot of polishing to get the rim lips gleaming again. Have Gibbs Gun Oil on hand? How about NuVite's  NuShine IIC, NuShine IIA and NuShine IIS - absolutely the BEST for Mags's.  1/4lb jar is $25.00 and worth every penny.. C, A and S are progressively finer ...

https://www.vintagetrailersupply.com/Default.asp

[JLPurcell]

17 minutes ago, Carl Beck said:

It looked originally like the centers were painted - Yes/No? ... are you going to let them age to the dark gray, rather than paint them again?  Looks like you bead blasted them...if so it will take a lot of very fine wet sanding, then a lot of polishing to get the rim lips gleaming again. Have Gibbs Gun Oil on hand? How about NuVite's  NuShine IIC, NuShine IIA and NuShine IIS - absolutely the BEST for Mags's.  1/4lb jar is $25.00 and worth every penny.. C, A and S are progressively finer ...

https://www.vintagetrailersupply.com/Default.asp

Carl, I do plan to polish the outer rim area. Have not decided on the paint or natural on the rest. I like the dark natural patina. Opinion? How long does it take for the natural patina? How hard is it to keep consistent? Thanks in advance Carl.

 

[Carl Beck]

22 minutes ago, JLPurcell said:

Carl, I do plan to polish the outer rim area. Have not decided on the paint or natural on the rest. I like the dark natural patina. Opinion? How long does it take for the natural patina? How hard is it to keep consistent? Thanks in advance Carl.

 

As I recall it took three to four months for the patina to turn light gray, and another three to four to get dark Gray. That was before I started using the Gibbs Gun Oil, I believe that using it they will gray out faster.  Keeping the centers uniform is a snap - just coat them with the Gibbs. It is keeping the outer lips shinny that is the PIA - they dull out if not polished every 4 months. Also you don't want to get any water on them as they water spot easily. Some guys used WD-40 on the lips after they were polished, to help avoid water spots.    In my garage here in Florida - the aluminum Libre's will stay bright and shinny for a year, where the Le Mans will look dull within 3 to 4 months and utterly flat in 5 months.

[JLPurcell]

3 minutes ago, Carl Beck said:

As I recall it took three to four months for the patina to turn light gray, and another three to four to get dark Gray. That was before I started using the Gibbs Gun Oil, I believe that using it they will gray out faster.  Keeping the centers uniform is a snap - just coat them with the Gibbs. It is keeping the outer lips shinny that is the PIA - they dull out if not polished every 4 months. Also you don't want to get any water on them as they water spot easily. Some guys used WD-40 on the lips after they were polished, to help avoid water spots.    In my garage here in Florida - the aluminum Libre's will stay bright and shinny for a year, where the Le Mans will look dull within 3 to 4 months and utterly flat in 5 months.

Thanks Carl. I painted my original set with dk gray IMRON, no longer legal, then polished the lip by putting it on the car on stands and idling the engine, sometime just have to make due. ?

[Patcon]

Can you not coat them with a clear coat to prevent them from dulling out on the lip?

[JLPurcell]

13 hours ago, Carl Beck said:

As I recall it took three to four months for the patina to turn light gray, and another three to four to get dark Gray. That was before I started using the Gibbs Gun Oil, I believe that using it they will gray out faster.  Keeping the centers uniform is a snap - just coat them with the Gibbs. It is keeping the outer lips shinny that is the PIA - they dull out if not polished every 4 months. Also you don't want to get any water on them as they water spot easily. Some guys used WD-40 on the lips after they were polished, to help avoid water spots.    In my garage here in Florida - the aluminum Libre's will stay bright and shinny for a year, where the Le Mans will look dull within 3 to 4 months and utterly flat in 5 months.

Carl, Gibbs has a number of lubricants, is this the one? 

 

[Carl Beck]

20 minutes ago, JLPurcell said:

Carl, Gibbs has a number of lubricants, is this the one? 

Yes, that is it.  Years ago it was actually marketed/labeled through Gun Dealers etc as Gibbs Gun Oil.

[Carl Beck]

23 hours ago, Patcon said:

Can you not coat them with a clear coat to prevent them from dulling out on the lip?

 

Yes they can be clear coated and a few guys have done that. I chose not to go that route for fear of any clear coatings having problems with long term adhesion, clear coat cracking issues and or just physical damage. In which case it would have to be stripped off and I wasn’t sure that could be done without damage to the wheels. That decision was made however before I knew how many hours of constant polishing would be required to keep them “old school”…

 

One friend solved the problem by having two complete sets of tires/wheels. For show he uses the original LeMans wheels - but after the show he puts them in "Space Bags” which are drawn down into a partial vacuum and stored. Replaced with aluminum racing wheels for actual road/track use and just storage of the car.

 

Magnesium wheels polished to a high luster are really beautiful - they look like polished nickel. I have to admit that as much as I complain about the necessary time and effort - I do actually love seeing the results of that effort materialize before my eyes. So I guess the cost of beauty in this case is time and effort.  I just think everyone should know going in - the cost of owning and maintaining 50 year old magnesium wheels is far more than their initial purchase price. 

 

[JLPurcell]

44 minutes ago, Carl Beck said:

 

Yes they can be clear coated and a few guys have done that. I chose not to go that route for fear of any clear coatings having problems with long term adhesion, clear coat cracking issues and or just physical damage. In which case it would have to be stripped off and I wasn’t sure that could be done without damage to the wheels. That decision was made however before I knew how many hours of constant polishing would be required to keep them “old school”…

 

One friend solved the problem by having two complete sets of tires/wheels. For show he uses the original LeMans wheels - but after the show he puts them in "Space Bags” which are drawn down into a partial vacuum and stored. Replaced with aluminum racing wheels for actual road/track use and just storage of the car.

 

Magnesium wheels polished to a high luster are really beautiful - they look like polished nickel. I have to admit that as much as I complain about the necessary time and effort - I do actually love seeing the results of that effort materialize before my eyes. So I guess the cost of beauty in this case is time and effort.  I just think everyone should know going in - the cost of owning and maintaining 50 year old magnesium wheels is far more than their initial purchase price. 

 

I have ordered the Gibbs oil and am going old school. I have all four wheels stripped and three bead blasted. Next will be the polishing of the outer rim then Gibbs oil. Thanks Carl. JLP

[Guest gnosez]

Nice wheels. Not sure if you plan on tracking this wonderful restoration but most organizations won't allow magnesium wheels anymore. 

[JLPurcell]

7 minutes ago, Guest gnosez said:

Nice wheels. Not sure if you plan on tracking this wonderful restoration but most organizations won't allow magnesium wheels anymore. 

As A career firefighter, I understand why! I would have to bring my own Class D extinguisher. These are for nostalgic reasons and will show great on my street car. Thanks. JLP 

[JLPurcell]

Hard days work. Excited to get the outer rims polished and the Gibbs Oil on them and watch them become naturally beautiful!

[Mike]

On 3/16/2019 at 6:38 PM, JLPurcell said:

This is another interesting NOS part that I recently acquired. Electric Fuel Pump upgrade. 

Where'd you find this?  I'm looking for one..  ?