'55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
- Daryl Bertram
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'55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
I have a '55 1500 N engine and want to refurbish the valve covers as it came from the factory. Is this an anodized finish? Thanks for your advice.
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- Joris Koning
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Re: '55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
Silver zinc I believe
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- Daryl Bertram
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Re: '55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
Thank you Joris. Added to my to-do list.
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Re: '55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
zinc in '55?
Cad surely? - Almost impossible to get done these days
Cad surely? - Almost impossible to get done these days
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Re: '55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
I had mine power coated. Silver.
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- Doug McDonnell
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Re: '55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
Clear Zinc.Although some swear Cad 1 plated. I wish Brad would answer this one. Or someone took a known original that was never refinished and had it tested to determine Clear zinc or Cad1
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Re: '55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
Clear zinc -- thoroughly bead blast first.
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Re: '55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
Thank you Brad. I looked in my B and C parts books but never found a finish.
Last edited by Doug McDonnell on Wed May 01, 2019 6:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
1965 356C 2000 BMW 740i Sport 1967 Honda CL77 There is never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over.
- Vic Skirmants
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Re: '55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
all fixed
Last edited by Vic Skirmants on Wed May 01, 2019 7:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: '55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
Apple autofill that I missed Vic. Thanks for being kind.
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- Daryl Bertram
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Re: '55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
Thank you Brad and everyone with advice here. Much appreciated!
- Wil Mittelbach
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Re: '55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
Cad; per photo of my cad re-plated valve cover duplicating it's original finish.
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- Joris Koning
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Re: '55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
Okay, I refer to clear zinc as silver zinc. With regard to testing these, I have all of Tim Goodrich's old notebooks on his restorations. He did this for some cars (not a 55) and they came out as zinc. With regard to cad. It is a popular misconception that people think (I used to be one of them) that many of the plating on our cars was originally cad, it is not. The other is that many of the undercarriage hardware is black oxide, again, it is not. I believe that factory used 2-3 different kinds of phosphate finishes of which the dark black used on most of the undercarriage hardware has been a mystery to me.
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Re: '55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
Rather than further debate original cad versus zinc plating, suggest you re-plate your valve covers with whatever your choice may be.
- Tom Wavrin
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'55 1500 N Valve cover finish advice needed
Daryl & Joris, Tim Goodrich advised me to plate the valve covers with clear (silver) zinc on my 55100 coupe. He also had brightness/sheen measurements for black painted suspension parts and engine sheet metal taken from NOS parts. He documented all the fastener finishes (also with pictures) on the '56 "Keno coupe" that had 27K original miles on it when he disassembled it for Chris in preparation for its restoration. I believe I still have a compilation of notes for fastener finishes and types from a 1 owner, never disassembled '58 Speedster.
Wil, I like the look and built-in durability of your Cad finished, non-vented valve covers....
Wil, I like the look and built-in durability of your Cad finished, non-vented valve covers....
Tom, Reg # 10576, Oregon
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'62 1600S Karmann HT