Has anyone used the Eastwood Blackening system? I have a few bolts and such that I was going to redo. According to their description, it is a "short term" finish. What does that mean? I do not want to have to recoat the parts every year. Any insight? Len
Black oxide is short term since it will not prevent rust. Choose another finish. Zinc or Cad plating is best.
If you are doing a correct GM finish on black oxide parts I would use the Eastwood Kit. I have gone thru several containers of solutions already. Things I have learned and would do/not do. 1) Use "Glass beading process" only for part to be refinish in Black Oxide. 2) Try not to touch part with bare fingers/hands after bead blasting. Use nitrite gloves. 3) Follow instruction completely 4) I let the part set in oxidizer 30 sec longer and shake off excess. I also leave in sealer 2 minutes longer. 5) Use Bar-B-Que thongs, needle nose pliers, etc (make sure they are clean) to dip a single piece. Another method especially if nuts, bolts, or washer, is to loop a piece of wire around each part and leave about a foot to use as a handle for dipping. 6) I then hang the piece or pieces up to dry for a minium of 2 days, more if humidity is high. 7) Depending were part is to be used I will seal the finish with Eastwood Satin Crystal Clear for bare metal. They now make a Hi-Temp type sealer. This process has lasted for many years when Black Oxiding my parts. PS Do not be confused with Black Zinc, as they look similar. If you have a GM parts book for the time when your car was built, it has a section listing part numbers for bolts, washers, nuts, clips, etc and their finish. I am lucky to have a parts book for the years of 68-75. Later manuals may have different finishes verses part numbers. All of the cars I have restored have been 68-72 GM A body. This may be a point of interest: I am an ex-GM salary worker. I was in product relibility with Olds Div. from 68-73 and in their race progam for ten yrs. sooooooooooooo I saw a lot of cars being built during that time at the Lansing and Fisher plants. Hope this helps.
