Question....what's the correct factory finish for a 914 fuel cap? Should it be yellow cad plated or natural finish?

When I got my 914 from the dealer the cap was natural, bottom pic but with a little more shine.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is this to you?

Not to be mean, but I kinda thought the same thing...when someone is asking the OE finish on the gas cap of a 914, are we starting to jump the shark...?

BTW, I think mine's original, and its finish is mostly a dull finish of "oily/greasy palms".

Cad (yellow zinc).
Edit: Just looked at three caps here and I was wrong. It's silver/clear zinc, although it looks kind of 'dull' not shiny. So perhaps they were more likely galvanized and not electroplated? Or maybe there's a less-shiny type of zinc electroplating...


For me, probably about an 8.

Look along the inside to see traces of yellow/gold.

Well for me, since I'm going through a complete restoration and will be sending parts off for plating someday anyway, I would want to include my fuel cap to put it to original. That said, look at the first survivor example (URY914's car) in the suvivors thread. That cap looks just slightly shinier than your bottom pic while all of the latches, spare tire bolt, etc. have a nice bright yellow cad finish. That suggests the fuel cap didn't just tarnish with age and has always been natural.

Can you plate just the outside of it? The inside has baffles or something like it and the rubber gasket. I made a new gasket for mine because the original was cracking apart and it was a pain in the ass.

Here is my original cap.....


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No, but I've sent entire caps out for plating. 914Rubber sells replacement gaskets now.

Definitely silver. Steve Gaglione's car ...

Yes I do sell the rubber gasket. However to be 100% correct the original gasket was paper. The problem is is it's very difficult to get a paper gasket over the Nubs on the bottom of the cap without tearing it. It also makes it better seal.

I have one of Bruce's SSS fuel caps. Looks really nice. I don't care about the originality of the finish; just looking for some bling. My 914 left the factory 46 years ago and is very far from stock at this point.

It seems they came both ways. Yellow cad at first and then clear because it was cheaper.

Thanks for clarifying....I'll keep the original silver cap that I have and sell the cad plated cap that I purchased from Bruce recently.

There is a prosess called alkoloid zinc that is a duller finish. You see it on may bolts at hardware stores. I do bright yellow zinc because all the other parts that are plated are yellow and i think it looks better. Seems like most others seem to agree as i sold 7 caps quickly.

I think the first two responses in this thread show support for the irrelevance of 'color'. I don't think it reflect negatively on you Bruce. Yellow zinc is a nice match and replated anything is better than rusty old finish.

Good to know about the alkoloid zinc option, for those of us CW-crazies who get more unreasonably particular.

@bdstone914 - digging this up from the archives - do you have any more of these or any plans for doing the caps again?

If only my car was at the stage where I was worrying about what the gas cap looked like.

If you’re reviewing this post, you must want to see this.
Couldn’t resist
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dead on

Yup. I already have a very nice one but I’d like a shiny one for Sundays and holidays.

Silver on my '74, original, bit worn, but it has stood up well.

For me about 11! Luckily, I've got one of each so I can change it up depending on my mood, where I'm going or what I'm wearing that day!



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See? THAT’S what I’m talkin’ bout.

Yes sir!!! When are you bringing that baby back to LA?

Proper fuel cap finish on my 76 is gloss black plastic. I think that change occurred mid-74.

Probably never - just got permanent storage for it in Indiana and that’s where we will end up so it’s just pre-positioned!! Great roads there, too!

Mine had definite traces of yellow chromate underneath.


so it looks like this now.

Made both ways.

If I remember correctly my 73 VW Thing had the same gas cap
as a 914

Yep, same as VW Thing.

Mine looks like a handle on a toilet in a pub.

We must be getting pretty desperate here, or really bored. As Vanessa Kirby would say, "Perfectionists, what can you do?"

Guys....I just want a shiny fuel cap. I'm a simple man.