Black Oxide kits

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Steve Meltzer
Posts: 982
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2004 10:31 am
Location: with Barney the Beagle boy and Enzo 8995

Black Oxide kits

Post by Steve Meltzer »

As you will see in another post, I've decided to bite the bullet and pull the engine on my GTC to fix a couple of oil leaks, particularly the rear main seal, and clean it up. Anyhow, tho' I have no plans to show the car, I figured that I might as well get things in a little better order. To that end, I was going to black oxide some of the fasteners, and would like input on which system is best, Caswell's or Eastwood's or? Will I have to recall Avogadro's number to do this job? steve
steve meltzer,
"I've spent all of my money on wine, a beautiful woman, and stunning cars. Then, squandered the rest."
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David Booth
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Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2002 2:23 am
Location: Vista, California
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Re: Black Oxide kits

Post by David Booth »

Black oxide is one of the most problematic and least durable finishes on these cars. As you probably know, it's essentially accelerated oxidation, with an oil to preserve the finish, at least in theory.

I've tried commercial shops with varying degrees of success. The current one here in SoCal did the rear hubs, which appear to be a nice, DRY matte black. The trick, of course, is collecting enough parts at one time so that the shop will accept them. Since my "work methods" don't really lend themselves to this, I prefer to be able to do a couple of parts at a time. Therefore, I use the kit from Caswell, with an intermediate step of brushing the oxided part with a nylon brush about halfway through the blackening process to improve the penetration of the oxiding, and an oil dip as the last step. Caswell sells a "dry sealant" which is nothing more than a clearcoat cut with 50% water, which is useless IMHO.

No direct experience with the Eastwood kit.
1960 SII PF cabriolet #2105GT
1963 250GTE #4799GT with 330 America engine #5033GT

"...Luigi follow only the Ferraris.."
Steve Meltzer
Posts: 982
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2004 10:31 am
Location: with Barney the Beagle boy and Enzo 8995

Re: Black Oxide kits

Post by Steve Meltzer »

thanx so much! s
steve meltzer,
"I've spent all of my money on wine, a beautiful woman, and stunning cars. Then, squandered the rest."
John Vardanian
Posts: 1906
Joined: Wed Sep 04, 2002 12:13 am
Location: San Francisco Area

Re: Black Oxide kits

Post by John Vardanian »

Dave, the black finish on my hubs were so even and nice when I got them back from plating, a couple of months later I unwrapped them to install and I noticed a light haze of orange. I rubbed them with dirty engine oil and they looked good again. Speaking from this recent experience, I'd coat the hubs with oil, same with the medium size pieces. The smaller pieces, like the fasteners, you can coat with axle grease as you install them. This will give them a fighting chance.

john
PF Coupe
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