Was the early oil filler cap chromed?

[mvliotta]

Maxmillion is now selling a chromed early oil filler cap…which got me thinking…. Was that cap chromed from the factory?

 

Checked out a couple of old pics found on this forum of early tii engines and it seems the answer is yes by this photo 

 

and maybe? by this photo..

 

Can anyone confirm that these were chromed?

 

Vince

[Conserv]

No, not chromed, Vince, but the plating was particularly bright early on.

 

Below are some views of my ‘76’s cap. It was re-plated, in zinc, at its 2011-12 mechanical rebuild.

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

[TobyB]

+1 for 'very shiny but not chrome...'

 

t

 

[Mike Self]

My '69 (and my '73) came with rather ordinary galvanized--and not particularly shiny--oil filler caps.  They could be cleaned up a bit, but not "shiny."  At the time Audi used an identical cap made of aluminum--they could be polished quite nicely.   But definitely not chrome plated.

 

Unfortunately all the metal caps tend to loosen over time and leak, forcing one into a modern plastic cap unless one wants to spend $50 for an oil cap.  You might check with an Audi/VW supplier (heck, maybe Porsche) to see if those aluminum caps are available.

 

mike

[MikeD]

My cap from my 74 tii.  Not shiny at all.

[jp5Touring]

My 02 came with a black plastic one.  I purchased a used metal one and cleaned, polished it.

Is a matte finish not chrome. I also replaced the gasket.

Kooglewerks offers a cast aluminum one also. Not cheap but I'm sure the Quality is impeccable as always.

 

http://www.kooglewerks.com/kooglewerks-parts/m15dkcd77p9yyu2q0wpxcsipp6chii

 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by jp5Touring
incorrect link

[mvliotta]

Thanks all, the wealth of knowledge here continues to amaze!!

[visionaut]

I was searching for a long time for an aluminum or a chrome oil cap (back when I polished my valve cover).

 

Found this, and it fits great. It’s chrome but I’ve no idea what it’s from or if it’s aftermarket. I had guessed it’s from an early M10, but it’s now clearly not that…

 

Any clues? The grip ribbing is much finer than the 02 oil caps shown here. It has “Luftdicht” and a fancy 3D “HK” logo mark.

 

 

 

Tom-too

Edited April 26, 2023 by visionaut
typos

[stephers]

That looks like a gas cap       You can polish the caps to an almost chrome finish    takes a lot of buffing with different compounds but unless you coat them with something, they go dull very quickly     I have used Everbrite to seal them after polishing and they hold up quite well for a long time coated with it

 

Thanks, Rick

[visionaut]

21 minutes ago, stephers said:

That looks like a gas cap   

It’s definitely my oil cap, Rick. And it’s chrome versus polished… 🙃

 

 

[stephers]

Sorry   still think that it is a gas cap     they are the same size      Never saw an oil cap with the serrations on the side unless it is a really early cap 

[02Les]

1 hour ago, stephers said:

Sorry   still think that it is a gas cap     they are the same size      Never saw an oil cap with the serrations on the side unless it is a really early cap 

 

Really!!??

Look at conserv's pic(s).

Serrations were there for a reason.

Edited April 26, 2023 by 02Les

[Conserv]

Here’s what my ‘76’s oil filler cap looked like in August 1983. That’s 7 years of natural aging!

 

Pretty sad… 😯

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

[visionaut]

I’m well aware the NK gas and oil caps are the same size.  There was an excellent thread from a few years ago here:

https://www.bmw2002faq.com/forums/topic/198152-what-kind-of-gas-cap-is-this/

 

Could it be an NK gas cap? Maybe, but I haven’t seen any NK chrome ‘carved side-ridges style’ gas caps - all look to have a raised center grab handle. It’s got a heavy chrome with a nice patina so it could possibly be that old…

I have found a few more ‘luftdicht’ (airtight) labeled gas caps than oil caps when searching. But most gas caps in this chromed carved ridge style were vented caps for late Fird/Cheby muscle cars…

 

Also can’t find sh*t on any German auto parts manufacturer named or marked with this “HK” logo…

 

🤔

[TobyB]

I'd also lean slightly to the gas cap theory,

as the venting in a cap wouldn't be enough for 

the crankcase, but with the vapor recovery for fuel systems

starting in about 1970, gas caps went from 'vented' to 'non- venting'.

Unless, maybe, it's a marine thing.  Marine engines are completely off 

the charts, even though they are really the exact same engines...

 

And of course, since none of us have ever seen a chromed oil filler cap,

that probably means there were thousands of them used on Chevrons with M10s.

 

t