Quote Originally Posted by Justin View Post
Hey Mark, first off I would like to say thank you for all of this knowledge. I've been able to learn a lot from reading through this thread. I have a few questions if you don't mind.

I have been trying to find info on the switches that are on the overhead panel, but havent had too much luck. I saw that you PMed the PNs to another user earlier, is there any way that you would be able to send them to me too?

One of the other things I am looking at working on is the gold heatsinks on the rear bulkhead by the SID. I've heard that they were painted, but in the photos that I have seen of the originals they almost look like they were plated with another metal. Do you know how the original color was applied? For that matter, do you think it was something original, or something done when building the car?


Thanks for all the help!
Are you talking about rectangular and circular red / white / yellow indicators in the overhead? Or the green / red rocker switches? or the green toggle switches on the black box? I can see if I've still got a list of PN's somewhere. I know the indicators were a real pain in the ass to order because you have to order the black housing, indicator lens, and bulb separately. They weren't all stocked at the same company back in the day so it took multiple orders from a few different places to get all the right pieces. And they are stupid expensive for what they are. 5 years ago it was like 300 bucks for a set, who knows what they are now. They do also sell the indicators as momentary push button or push on/ push off switches as well, but unless you are planning on actually wiring them up to something to function you are better off just getting the indicators only. The cost for the switches was like 30 bucks a piece plus the cost of the lens.

The gold heatsinks are made of aluminum and finished with gold chem film. It's a type of chromate conversion coating used to protect the aluminum from oxidation / corrosion. It's a similar process to how zinc plated steel parts are finished to look yellow after zinc plating. It's tough to find places these days that will still provide gold chem film coatings because it typically requires hexavalent chromium. Most places now only provide trivalent chrome conversion coatings because of industry standards and toxicity of the hex chromium. Some places that offer trivalent conversion coatings will add a yellow dye to simulate hex chrome, but it doesn't look exactly the same.

The gold finish on the heatsinks was definitely original. There are other markings and PN's inked onto the heatsinks that would have been covered up had they been painted over or refinished. The production team who built the car were actually really good about preserving part numbers on the parts. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not but it adds some authenticity to each prop that makes it seem a little bit more real.