I'm gonna be redoing a set of Carter WCFB's pretty soon and was wondering if anyone knows of a place that will replate/recolor the bodies in yellow dichromate? Most of the time I use good ol Eastwood carb finish, (like the pix below) but this time I might need to go with an actual "refinish". If anyone knows a source, preferably in the midwest, please let me know.
Go too: www.holley.com get their phone # ... Call and ask if they'll do it.. Folks ship their old Holley carbs there and have them re-finished...
Holley used to do other brands...I heard they have discontinued this (other brands) service, but it never hurts to ask. You might also check with carbking here on the H.A.M.B. : http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/ If you just want the coating service, you might look in the Indianapolis or Chicago areas under coating, plating, or finishes in the YP. Many chrome platers can also do these types of finishes, though the process may have changed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thank you much! I hadn't thought about chrome platers at all. I must have had my mind set on a 'specialty' place. Since it was a WCFB I didn't even consider Holley. I wasn't aware that they would do other makes. (even though they may not now) Thanx again!
Hey, no problem....if ya would, update the thread as to what you find out. Holley's Custom Shop may do this kind of work as well, though they lean more towards chrome, powder coating, and so forth.
I get alodine from 'SpruceGoose' from an aircraft supply shop, you could check there. I went on a tear once to find that stuff and there are some metal finishing companies on the web that sell the supplies, they also have anodizing materials so that would also be a search topic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'll look into that too. I do know that Caswell sells the stuff for this, but I'm not sure I want to go to that much trouble for something I don't need ALL the time. I know that other stuff I have bought from them worked real well. Also...I have gotten some PM's about other platers, so I'll post what I find out after the dust settles. Thanx!
I just looked at thier website description. Does that process look pretty close to the yellow dichromate? Thanks.
You have to play with Alodine to get the color that you want. The first one I did, I used it full strength and I was not too happy with it. Someone here said to use a 10% solution of alodine and water. I dip the bodies for 20 seconds using a clock and I get the color that I remember on the Rochester carbs. I don't remember any yellow carbs. The carb paints sold look phoney to my eye. I'm pleased with my last set. I'm not sure what you are looking for so you may not agree. You can play with the percentage and time in the dip to find what you want.
That FE 3x2's setup looks great!! I know it's called 'yellow', but it's more of a goldish tone. I have used the paint a lot and have found that if you put on a very light coat it looks pretty authentic. A pair I just did had the paint put on VERY thick and they looked awful, when I got them. Looked like two goldish green lumps. They have painted the screws, linkages and everything!
Looks right on to me. So what was your Alodine recipe for the match? Ratio, time in solution, surface prep, etc? Thanx!
I bead blast the castings as seen on the left. This was the first try using alodine straight from the bottle. I didn't like it. Someone here on the HANB suggested a 10% solution. When I did the Rochester's I used 10% Alodine and water. I dip them for 20 seconds blow them off and let them air dry. I'm happy with the results. Sometime you can get some slight color variations but the original carbs had some shade variations too. I got this stuff on line but I don't remember where.
I offer complete restoration and custom colors. I have yellow, blue (which looks silver but with a blue rainbow) and black chromite. Check out my FaceBook Page! SpeedJunkee Carbs
I've been meaning to get back on here after I tried some of that Alodine and post some results. Here's a pic of an original WCFB that's in real nice shape, next to a bead blasted and dipped WCFB body. (the dipped one is on the right) Turned out pretty good. It looks kinda green on my monitor, but looks good in person.
I could be wrong, but I don't remember the couple of pairs of WCFBs I have owned being yellow originally. If I am wrong, or if you don't care about originality, never mind.
How is the life expectancy of that stuff? I have a few 2G's I want to do and that really looks good. Don
Well, the carb on the left is an original 57 Chevy carb, never been apart as far as I know. All the ones I've ever done so far have been that color (or real close) except ones that had been rebuilt by a "rebuilder" and had been beadblasted. Those were easy to spot as they were flat silver. Don't know about longevity yet, but the finish is IN the metal not ON it; so it should be pretty durable. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Below- Yellow carb paint done WRONG! Even painted the darn screws!!
I've used it for ages and it looses strength quickly. I kinda like the color variations on a carb, it is less than perfection and that gives it character. It the color were uniform and perfect then it could be spray paint right? My favorite is the greenish hue. I'm going to get some of the blue dichromate and mess with that for a while. But the alodine is good stuff, potent as all hell when you first get it, so be careful. The cleaner dip for it is interesting too.
Is it safe to clean the body with out there cleaner, then dip in alodine. Or should one cleam with metal prep 79 then dip? Wich would be better for zinck.Alumni prep 33 or metal prep 79? Anyone else ever try this on there carb bodys?
I do Carburetor Restoration to factory finishes. I also will do your parts if you want to do your own work. Harold chucknorbid@gmail.com
I can recolor your carbs! You can check out my Facebook page for some pictures of carbs I have done. Look up SpeedJunkee Carbs and I am a Alliance Vendor!
This is an older thread I commented on getting alodine from SpruceGoose. I now get it in raw form from a helicopter supply place and mix it up as strong as needed. The SpruceGoose sells premixed so you are buying water with a s****full of chemical and you have now way to restore the initial strength. Last I knew they were selling small qua***ies of the raw form on Ebay. As far as durability, the carbs I did when this thread started look just like they just came out of the tank. Very durable.
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