Color of Gas Caps for A Cars

[Peter Silten]

Were the gas caps for A cars painted black? I have a gas cap from a 1959 Convertible D that is black.

[Barry Brisco]

I believe, based on what I've heard from several experts, that the A caps were originally painted with a zinc rich silver paint. Check Eastwood.com for zinc silver spray paint.

And don't "over restore" the cap and make it look too nice!

[Tom Scott]

Plated silver cad.

[David Ramatowski]

I believe, based on what I've heard from several experts, that the A caps were originally painted with a zinc rich silver paint. Check Eastwood.com for zinc silver spray paint.

And don't "over restore" the cap and make it look too nice!

If I were you, I'd look for a new panel of experts. As Tom says, they were plated. They often have little plating left due to the constant handling. Maybe folks painted them at a later date.

[Peter Silten]

I was at EASY this weekend. Jim showed me two gas caps, one silver and one black. The black one looks like mine. I suspect that both my black cap and the cad. silver ones are factory originals.

[Bruce Baker]

If the 'new panel of experts' is smart, they will adhere to the saying: "Never say never, never say always."

Those who know or knew the most are the least in number now and the ranks are thinning quickly as time goes by. The owners who filled the gas tanks often when 356s were driven the most must have had sweaty palms with acid in the sweat, ruining those caps with the sacrificial Cad plating. I'll bet those were painted if not replaced.

Over the years, I've stripped a few caps with black paint that didn't appear to have plating under the paint...but thought nothing of that due to the now-dreaded assumption that all caps were cad plated...or VW and zinc plated, or swapped at birth for a VW with different perimeter flutes....or something. (Then again, I used to give away tool kit tools because they were just...tools.)

About 10 years ago, I restored a one-owner '59 Cab that was inherited by his son and the cap was painted black. I may have been incorrect in having it plated and leaving it silver. We saved the interior and at least 80% of the exterior body paint was original. Looking back, why was that cap painted black and by whom?

I'd probably argue that caps were plated first and then painted. When, why and by whom is the mystery. However, I'd never argue a cap couldn't have come on a new 356, painted black (or any other color).

Brett Johnson's books evolved to show only silver-looking gas caps up through T-5B, but in an early book one photo shows a black-looking cap. The Factory books show basically the same photos (of tanks) from early 356 though A the early B and they appear silver-ish (and the drawings are.....drawings) No definitive words are used other than 'gas cap.' No finish was specified as in other hardware in the parts books.

But here is the .....pardon the word....'capper.' A current Excellence magazine has photos taken of new 904s at the Factory in '64. There are two orange 904s pictured with matching orange gas caps. Is that to be argued as "original" or "unoriginal"? The others in photographs look like cad plate......but there are those two....to spoil the argument that they were ALL originally plated and left at that before leaving the Factory.

Are most 356 caps Cadmium plated? Yes, surely. Could there have been a few alternates slipped through that would count as 'original'? Sure....... haven't we learned that by now on so many other aspects of the 356s?

"KTF"? I am no expert but would tend to put more faith in one who says..."To the best of my knowledge......."

[Adam Wright]

If you are going for a concour look to your car, err on the side of "most of the cars had", that way you don't have to have this discussion with a snooty concour judge.