StingrayLust

I just got a few parts back from my local sand blast guy, they look great compared to how they used to look.

Now I'm trying to decide what to do with the cleaned up parts. Should I just put a coat of clear spray on them, paint them a color like black, or just leave au naturel?

Here's some pics:

Gas tank. The guy said I could either sand them a bit to bring back some of the shine, use "Tank Tone" on them, or maybe just clear coat 'em to keep rust at bay.

before:


after:


Headlight brackets and lights. Either clear, color, or leave them natural.




All suggestions are welcome.

efather

I just dropped the tank in the 72. I am going to blast it and paint it black to go with the rest of the underside. The head light covers etc will be the body color even on the underside (as it stands now)

capevettes

The gas tanks rot from the inside out. No matter how pretty you get it to look from the exterior it is still a 35 year old gas tank and should be replaced. Quanta sells excellent gas tanks and they aren't very expensive.

StingrayLust

Yes I knew that. I looked pretty closely at the interior and it appeared to be in very good shape.

AllC34Me

This is a good question and thanks for asking this one. The gas tank will rust again if left a sand blasted surface only. The media typically only removes the rust but does not leave a protective coating of any kind on the part. If you like the look, and only your opinion matters really, then I would at least clear coat it to protect it from rusting again. The light fixtures will get painted the same color as the car exterior on the bottom so I would leave that decision to the painter. If that is you, go for whatever you like, it is your car.

I have been media blasting only a short time and I have found that unprotected parts don't take long to begin rusting again. I hope this helps a little and good luck with your decision.

PS: The parts look great, nice job on the blasting.

David
AllC34Me

U17

NCRS type or not get some coating on them...

Dustup7T2

Great advice.

Alan 71

Hi sl,
Eastwood makes a pretty nice looknig paint for gas tanks called "Tank Tone". It doesn't look like the original plating, (galvanized?), but still looks good. Better than black to my eye.
I'd use semi-flat black for the headlight frame.
Regards,
Alan

2 examples:

spinadog

Had some parts sandblasted and they were rusty within a week. that lovely pitted surface probably doubles the amount of surface area that rust can attach to!

7T1vette

If you are going to paint/coat some of those bare metal parts, I would recommend that you shoot a coat of zinc chromate self-etching primer to the bare metal first. That will seal and protect the metal surface from rusting/corroding and will be a good primer surface to paint. If you then want a metallic colored surface, use one of the metal paint colors (cast iron, aluminum, stainless steel, zinc, etc.). You can clear coat any bare metal, if you wish; but the protection will not be as effective as if it were coated with the zinc chromate. I DO clear coat bare nuts/bolts/washers, however...just so they will look 'correct'.

StingrayLust

So here's how it ended up looking. I decided to use a silver POR-15 paint. It was my first time using POR and I put it on a bit thicker than I needed to as I have a few runs in it if you look close enough. Does it look stock, no, it's too shiny and the lustre is all wrong. I think it came out nice for what little money I put into it.

NEW:
-new rubber hoses
-new neck gasket
-new rubber neck & drain hose

REFURBISHED:
-sandblasted tank, inlet, cap, and cleaned up fuel vapor valve

dboz

I hate stock, it looks nice, good job.

Alan 71

Hi SL,
Thanks for the up-date.
The tank turned out well!!!
Very nice gas cap with sticker.... don't let it get away.
Regards,
Alan

Mark G

Just an FYI for others: You can buy 'Flattening Agent' from a bodyshop paint supply house. Comes in a quart can. PPG makes it, I know others do. It's a milky liquid and you add a few spoonfuls to paint and it will reduce the luster commensurate with the amount you use. You can produce a nice semi-gloss finish or a flat finish, whatever you want. I've used it with all types of paint over the years (except latex house paint), and works on all I've used PPG and others, enamel, urethane, clearcoat, etc. A Qt can will last a long time.

Tank looks good BTW.

Mark G

gq82

B4 vs After = Looks Great!!

StingrayLust

Decided to go with black for the headlamps and silver POR-15 on the actuator. Everything was sandblasted and cleaned before painting (except for the red top). New headlamp rebuild kit from Full Throttle Corvette. Here's a before and after shot:

7T1vette

The headlight assemblies look great. You painted the vacuum actuator silver...but it was gold (zinc chromate coating) when new. Not really a problem but not the same as it came. May folks use chrome paint, followed by a thin coat of gold then clear-coat to simulate the gold chromate appearance (instead of getting them re-plated).

Not 'picking' at what you did...just information. Your's still looks great (as I initially stated).

Mark G

Gold Cad plating from the factory is SO hard to duplicate with a spray can (even the Eastwood system doesn't look that good IMO). I think you did the right thing using silver.

Mark G

StingrayLust

Yes it was a conscious decision to go with silver. I looked around at first for a dichromate looking paint and just didn't see anything that would look as good as a real replacement would. So I opted for what I had already paid for, a $30 can of silver POR that I used for the tank that I really had no other use for. I again probably slopped on too much as the actuators had more runs on them then my tank did. I also found a couple spots on the bracket that I missed with the black, NCRS quality it's not. But I think everyone would agree it's a big step up from where it was.

I may tire of the silver look later on and actually replace them with new actuators, that way I can spread costs over a number of years instead of taking the hit right now. With the new rubber seals and the hard as a rock silver POR, they'll serve me well until that time.

What I'm finding more difficulty with is after the reassembly, getting the right adjustment seems like it's going to be quite "fun".

silver69

I like what you've done so far, keep at it and post more pics when you are done.