opinions on this Quadrajet chromate finish? original?

in the continuing effort to achieve that elusive OEM finish on my refinished carbs, Ive got another finish for you all to check out.

Let me know what you think.

Its a washed out yellow chromate with light green and red iridescence,and its got that green tinge to it. I believe as the yellow fades it will become more washed in translucent greenish.

any opinions on the look?

 

I can't speak to originality, but it sure looks fantastic.

Mike

 

thanks. it is a little more subdued than the previous finishes. washed out is the term that comes to mind.

 

That color looks much closer to what I am used to seeing! Now, just knock off a little of that shine (I know, I know, every plating chemical supplier wants shiny, and you can't talk 'em down). Anything I had plated at work, they would polish the substrate first. Then, the levelers just finished it ou: off.

 

IMHO that looks a LOT closer to stock/original than any of the other finishes.

 

Looks great Ken.

 

I like it. Looks like an "aged" original to me.

 

I agree.

here's the thing. New, the carbs were likely shiny yellow chromate. Because the castings were uncontaminated and freshly cast.

NOS pieces we now see have aged, even if in the shrinkwrap, and take on a faded gold greenish tint. Open the top of an NOS piece and look underside the airhorn. Shiny yellow chromate.

're-dyed or restored carbs generally come out with the faded gold greenish look because impurities and textures from age and or mediablasting marr the casting surface and spoil the chromate , fading it.

not to mention the changes in chemicals mandated by the EPA.

We are still working on the finish, this one isn't perfect, but I think it's a step closer.

EDIT ...and I value and appreciate any and all feedback regarding the finish and what it should or should not be. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

I like this one the best, also. Actually, I like the one in your avatar! BTW...finally took off that 70 146 carb to tweak the settings and it does have the idle bleed holes.

 

In all fairness, my memories of the color are tainted by memories of these in the near-new state, as I officially stopped working as a mechanic (for a living) when I graduated university in 1983. Given that, this sheen may be closer to reality than I originally thought. It also could be an artifact of the reality to camera to pic on the internet. You should see some pics I take, that by the time they are on the internet look like some thing from an alien movie.

 

Yes there is that too. The pics only approximate the live view. And even in the real, the appearance really depends a lot on the ambient lighting.

My goal is to achieve what most discerning viewers would consider a "correct" finish.

So again I welcome all feedback and opinions.

 

BTW I laughed aloud at this. Truer words have never been spoken. It's like banging my head against a brick wall sometimes.

 

If you know the chemistry and process involved in obtaining that finish let me know. I have two 3 X 2 setups and one 2 X 4 setup to do. American carburetor does a nice job of emulating the stock finish for $200ea. (X8).

 

Like it. but id like anything that looked good and stayed that way. Keeping a clean engine bay is a really tough task.

 

I do believe the original production line body/air horn finish was olive drab chromate over the zinc castings.. from the inception of the Q-jet until the late 70's. At that time, they switch to a more "gold color" I believe it was an industrial version of yellow chromate.

I have no doubt that you may have seen something different on an NOS carb. Often NOS stuff is not the same as the production line items, especially when it comes to plating/coloring. I certainly have seen NOS replacement carbs with the more gold color.

Later vintage Q-jets do actually look very much like your pictures.

That olive drab process is still available, Cliff Ruggles used to do it for me, but I actually now have started doing it in house, for carbs I do here.

I mainly took on the plating so I could correctly plate the Primary and secondary air valves, clear zinc, and control the process of all the plating, to achieve exactly the look I am after.

I applaud your pursuit of the correct finishes.

JW

 

One problem I constantly see with "restored" carbs, is that they are way "over-restored" !!! Both the carbs on my Buicks are like that. They have yellow plated screws with lock washers?, yellow plated linkage + springs, yellow plated air flaps, etc. They look great kind of...but not to me!

 

here is a pic of three for contrast.

LEFT, the one we have been discussing.

MIDDLE we tried to duplicate the last finish, but make it look "new" instead of washed out

RIGHT is a standard light yellow chromate



thoughts?

 

better pics individually

 

Gulp (eating old words)- that light yellow chromate gets my vote, when you put them on display like that.

 

Fred Catlin is back to dying and building a few carbs. He has completely rebuilt my S1 carb that the local speed shop nicknamed, "goldie". The previous version of plating was just to yellow. When I get it back I will snap a picture. If you still have pics, we can compare.
Troy