Juliet

Tomorrow I drop off the rear suspension components to Tony's. I need to have my decisions as to keep the half shafts / drive shaft unfinished as they were from the factory, or to have some other finish applied to them. This is an NCRS car which I hope to eventually Top Flight. I do want it to look good and I do drive it about 5k miles a year.... so.... just how many points do judges typically deduct if one has the cast blast painted surfaces? I've found some tips posted about how to get it too look more unfinshed but an astute judge will always be able to tell. I've also read about several anit-rust oil based products (some with parafin) to prolong shelf life with no rusting. Just how often do they need to be applied? How long do they last for real? Has anyone used this approach in the past few years or longer ago? Is it just a few times a year clean up & add more (I can handle that) or is this like a weekly or monthly ritual? :eek:

What have you who are into the NCRS thing do with yours? I have to decide on the rear diff, half shafts and driveshaft by tomorrow. Any inputs, thoughts, suggestions etc will be appreciated. Thanks, ~Juliet

Larry B.

Juliet... I drive my car everyday but when I replace or repair something I try to put the correct part on. If I find a part at a meet that is better than mine I replace it. I also save any original parts that I take off. Sort of a roling restoration that keeps the car correct and looking fairly good at the same time. When the time comes to restore it ,Well.... To me restore does not mean taking the car out of one garage and "re-storing" it in another.. :lol: :lol: :D

MARKUS_P

Hi Juliet
I can´t tell you how much points the judges will deduct, but I can understand your dilemma.
If I were you I´d consider cleaning the halfshafts and painting them with a hard clearcoat. This will prevent rusting and won´t change the color too much.
Clearcoat is always shiny, to make it look dull use fine grit sandpaper after painting.
You´re right about those rust preventing products/oils.
They do work, but the surface always has to be fully covered with them. Normally they are used in machines or better said indoors.
Another point is that the halfshafts turn around pretty fast and centrifugal forces will squirt the oil all over the under body. You don´t wanna do that to your car....
Maybe there is a very sticky oil out there that would stay onto the halfshafts for a longer period, but if it´s sticky, every little dirt particle will be catched by the shafts making them looking ugly.
Hope I could help you a bit, just my opinion, Markus


[Modified by MARKUS_P, 5:38 AM 1/31/2002]

SevenT1Shark

I need to make that decision also, if you leave it natural you will have one more detail to do when you show. In other words along with all the cleaning, waxing, you just take some scotch brite pads to the shafts before the show. :cool: :cheers: :seeya ..........

joe73vette

I think the best compromise is clearcoat with a dulling agent. This way you don't hide the color variations that natural steel has (e.g. heat affected zone discoloration around welds). Those spray cast or spray steel paints look good from 20 feet, but are too uniform to fool anyone. Joe

ROD NOCK

Juliet-
Any product that remains 'sticky', such as heavy oils and wax films will attract dirt like a magnet and hold it. Eastwood Co. makes a variety of clear top coats in both gloss and satin for bare metal. I've used these on cast and blasted parts with good success. My intake manifold was done 2 yrs ago and still looks good. Once protected, they wash-up with ease. Find them at http://www.eastwoodcompany.com Good Luck -Rod

ZD75blue

go polished... and clear coated... but reproduce the stock chalk marks... doubt they will take many points off for that ;)

mrvette

Juliet, tell Andy to paint 'em black....

GENE SLATER

454Big

Juliet,
definitely not the way to go for NCRS Top Flight - except you want to give the judge a heartache - but I couldn´t resist to post it....... :D

ddn

No offense meant to anyone, but this is when I see the NCRS stuff becoming stupid. When you're doing something to the car and you have to take a step backwards instead of forward to keep it correct, it makes no sense to me. Obviously painting them blue isn't going to be "Top Flight Correct" but shouldn't there be a rule that says something like cast blast is acceptable because it makes the car more maintainable?

The 100 point restoration thing just doesnt make sense to me.

Paul Borowski

Juliet, Juliet, wherfor art thoust thinking??? An "NCRS" car??? Is that "Non Correctly Restored Stingray", or "No Cash to Restore Stingray"??? Here is my humble opinion which I may get flack about, but here goes. I'd leave them "au natural" IF, IF, IF you were going to make this a trailer queen show only(could tow it with Greg's '65???) otherwise, for all the chassis's I've judged in the last three of four years I've seen many where the rear end and half-shafts were "cast blasted". It's a nice look. When I see that and I'm judging, I make a very minor deduct-the owner is only trying to "preserve" the factory color look by painting these natural pieces which will only RUST, except if you put the car in one of those "bubbles" or in a climate controlled garage or museum. Unless you're going to store the car under these conditions and never, ever drive Sophia, I'd paint the pieces for "protection". Just do it nicely. There is a big difference in someone that does a nice job at this than one who gets underthere and paints everything in sight, such as tiretub, shocks, brake lines, etc. If nicely done, the small deductions WILL NOT keep a car from Top Flight. If this pic comes through, this is how Bair's did my rear end, strut rods, etc. on my '68.
http://www.corvetteforum.net/c3/anth...arendparts.jpg

[Modified by Paul Borowski, 3:06 PM 1/31/2002]


[Modified by Paul Borowski, 3:08 PM 1/31/2002]

Smokehouse69

Juliet,
I agree wholeheartedly with Paul. After you get the parts back and they are blasted clean and you see that shiny metal, it will hurt you to see them get all funky and rusty.
Personally I'd go with Cast Blast and let it go, but I know correctness is important to you so dulled clear coat is probably the way you want to go. A thin coat just to seal the metal surface and still see all the imperfections.
I noticed over in the Correct Restoration Forum, that a couple of guys were hot coating their suspension parts and by passing paint completely.
I feel any deduction you recieved for clear-coated bare metal would be worth it, in the satisfaction that you were attempting to maintain the original appearance of the car.

Clink69

Juliet, You should ask Tony these questions, thats part of what your paying top dollar for. If he doesn't know ask his mechanic (Andy? rings a bell) tall guy whos been with him for years. Tony usually will talk with you for a while so plan on staying when you deliver your car stuff... He has lots of good info to share.

:flag

topless68

Juliet,

Here is a thread on this very subject I posted in FCR. Hope it helps, and let us know what you do....and of course, post pics afterwards. :seeya

Suspension Parts

Juliet

Well, I had a long discussion with Tony & the guys up there (Keith, Jose, Andrew) about the finish and made my decision. :) The verdict is in - Cast Blast finish. In order to try to duplicate some of the heat discoloration I'll do some creative artwork on them after I get it all back. :)

At Tony's suggestion, I toyed with the idea of power coating them first and then cast blast over that, but decided not to incur the extra expense of that since I'm already pretty much pushing the budget with the 'while I'm at its'. :eek: The other option (much pricier but better looking) would be the cast colored ceramacoating, but that was waaaay out of my price league. ;) I'll post pictures in another month or two when I get them all back and installed. :D

FWIW the clear discolors yellow and it doesn't completely stop the rust. Tony didn't recommend the clear at all. He told me about some cases where newly blasted pieces in short order rusted UNDER the clear which ended up really nasty looking. Then there's the issue of fast rotating parts spewing the oil based stuff everywhere which attracts dirt and sand particles. I don't like the idea of that. The cast blast isn't totally permanent and will likely require some periodic paint touchup, but I don't mind detailed masking and painting once a year or so. That I can handle. So, once I get a set of factory correct lower control arms, spring, factory shims and all the hardware plated / finished appropriately and new looking I ought to be able to just eat those points and deal with it.

Tony knows the car quite well, he knows me and how I drive it etc and he really thought Cast Blast was the best compromise. I'll admit I was leaning that way before I got up to his shop anyways. :) This car ain't a trailer queen. Though I'm sure she'll eventually LOOK like one I do plan on keeping up my 5k miles a year driving. :D It just takes more time to keep it clean is all. I just don't want to have to re-restore it all on an annual basis. Plus, there are some other things which can be done to the part to help it's finish look less painted uniform and more natural metal variations - not totally fool proof, but at least an attempt to make it look more original. So I'll play around with those ideas (see the NCRS board for some interesting posts from other folks about some restoration / painting tips).

Thanks everyone. :) ~Juliet