Suspension protective finish

[Gregory G.]

I am in the process of rebuilding my rear suspension and brakes. I would like to bead blast any rust and protect from re-rusting. As I understand it several components are left natural from the factory such as the rear, half shafts, strut bars and etc. I would like to keep my car as original as possible, however I want it protect it from rust.
I am open for suggestions. One thought is to coat with a clear satin finish, paint with “cast iron gray” or just forget the judging and paint black.
My 1970 vette is very original; however the short block was replaced under warrantee in 1971. All else is original except for replacement parts such as shocks, distributor cap head lights and etc. I probably will never win any flight awards since I will loose too many points for the wrong casting date and engine code (it is a “CE”). I guess I should just go for a sportsman award and enjoy the car.

[Eugene B.]

Re: Suspension protective finish

Greg,
At the end of the day, you'll have to make the restoration decisions that will give you the most pleasure from your Corvette. It is totally your decision to put the car back the way it came from St. Louis or modify the finishes for a long lasting restoration.

If total originality is not a concern, you will probably use cast blast paint to keep the natural parts from rusting. I use a product called Prelube 6 from Quanta, but I'm not sure how long it will last. I don't know about clear finishes, as I don't use them.

I see a lot of black half-shafts and strut rods on driver cars. These items are accessable and easy to wipe down with Prelube 6 if you leave them natural.

In summary, I'll repeat. Make the decision on how you want your car to be, do it once and don't look back. Except in your rear view mirror as your driving down the road in your great looking '70 Corvette.

BTW, if the '70 judging sheets are the same as mid-year, you would only loose 350 points for the replacement engine case/block. There are 4510 total points up for grabs so you could loose about 675 and still get a 2nd flight award.

Best of luck,
Gene

[Jack H.]

Bad thinking....

First, if you like to drive/use the car, consider the NCRS Founder's Award as well as Sportsman. It's a REAL gas!

Second, NCRS is the only factory concours organization that encourages owners to put their restored cars on highway/byway and 'show the flag'.... This is done by offering a milage driven bonus during Flight Judging to compensate for the associated wear/tear and risk of damage for cars driven to a meet vs. trailered.

You declare the actual milage you've driven, 1-way, in to the meet (NOT as the crow flies) and that's used to calculate your milage driven credit. Now, suppose you'll take a major deduction for a service replacement engine (right block casting but wrong date, pad, Etc.) of 175 points.

That's a 175/4500= 3.9% loss. So, you pick a chapter/regional/national meet to attend to have your car Flight judged and drive 395 miles to get there. When your score sheets go to tabulations, they take your milage driven, divide by 100 and concantenate at the first decimal point [395/100= 3.95 => 3.9] and they add that PERCENTAGE to your final score as the milage driven credit!!!!

Basically, you drove off your car's major defect.... Plus, instead of sitting in the truck seat of your enclosed car hauler's tow vehicle, you got to ENJOY the use of your Corvette to/from the meet!!!

WAY too many people mistakenly conclude their Corvette isn't 'worthy' of NCRS judging consideration because this/that is wrong. INCORRECT! NCRS has more ways to own a Corvette and participate in club recognition programs than any other organization going.

I suggest you buy a copy of the NCRS Judging Reference Manual (the 'white' book) and read/study the various award recognition programs the club offers. Then come on out in your car and PLAY with us! You'll find yourself welcomed and have a ball!!!!!!

Where things can get 'ugly' is when a member tries to put a square peg in a round hole...enter the car in a given award category it's not appropriate to and try to fight 'city hall' to force winning the award....

[Jon S.]

Re: Suspension protective finish

I agree with Gene. I've had great success with prelube 6. I simply brush prelube on once a year. I start in the back working my way forward addressing all bare metal parts. By the time I finish, I go back to the rear and wipe it down with a lint free rag. Last for me all year even with frequent washings. The metal does seem to darken a little, but no rust yet. Been using it 14 years now. Good luck, Jon

[Page C.]

Re: Bad thinking....

Along with Jacks comments there are 10 bonus points that are added to your score for having three items:
1. Fire Extinguisher
2. Battery disconnect switch
3. NCRS window decal
These are added to the possible 750 points that are available in the operations part of flight judging.
Page Campbell

[Chuck S.]

Re: Suspension protective finish

Greg, in my opinion, you are on the right track with the clear satin finish. If it is misted on in a dry coat, it is hard to detect. Even with wet application, you will have a very slight patina from a single coat that is not a lot different from oiled natural steel/iron. I would expect deducts to be minor for each occurence, but they do add up; you may need to drive a few miles further if you anticipate its discovery.

Forget gray cast iron paint, aka "Cast Blast". In my opinion, you might as well use black paint...it will be just as obvious.

I agree with Jack; Go for the...er, Flight. What's the worst that can happen?...Yer out the judging entry fee.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Suspension protective finish

I've started to use CorrosionX as per John Hinckley's recommendation recently. I've only been using it for 4 months, but it seems to be working well, and I'm a huge PreLube fan.

It works better than anything else on my guns.

Patrick




CorrosionX

[Mark #28455]

Get a block cheap!

Small blocks are cheap! When the time comes to rebuild your motor, you can easily get a correct casting and date engine block and only lose about half the engine points. My engine builder, like many others, stock piled late '60's and early '70's 327 and 350 blocks. If you bother to get to know your machine shop owner, he may let you dig through the pile to find the core you want.(usually about $100 to $200 for the block core and you can even trade yours in for a partial or full credit if he likes you and is making money from your full rebuild).

By the way, original high perf heads are also suddenly plentiful now that a lot of racers have switched to the vortec castings.

[Jim T.]

Re: Suspension protective finish

Greg don't let the CE engine stop you from taking your car to a NCRS meet for judging, all that hard work to make it right and look good deserves acknowledgement. I have a CE engine in my 70, but with good date before my 70 was built so only points lost on the front engine stamp as I understand it. Go for all you can get. If you have the original POP and other original stuff like alternator, starter, and carb you are off to a good start. My CE block was never painted before installed, it is still bare cast iron just like it came in the crate. It has been bolted to my engine stand since 92 while I enjoy the performance of a ZZ crate engine, I have driven my 70 since new and was driving it when the engine failed.

[Gregory G.]

Re: Suspension protective finish

If mine had the proper casting date it would not be so bad but with the wrong casting date (since it was a factory replacement in 1971) I will lose 175 pts. It has the proper carb, alternator, trans rear and etc. It does have the wrong timing tab since the block is a 71. I feel that if the engine failed under warantee and was replaced by Chev that it should be worth more (for historic reasons) then getting a block from another some other car or truck that happened to be cast at the right time. The car will look original and I will make sure that everything works like original. I want the car as original as possible as long as I am not using inferior parts just to be original. I want to compete, but I do not want to put on things like bias ply tires that handle poorly, try to find inferior original old shocks and etc. So as you can see I will lose points for having radials and typical replacement parts such as shocks, oil filter and etc.
Anyway I will probably go and maybe have it judged some time. Maybe it will get enough points that I can get it checked for performance verification.
Maybe this will be my driver and I will eventually get the 1970 LT1 roadster of my dreams. I had three Corvetts in the past, but it has been 20 years. Things have changed. Back then it was the norm to modfy them.

[Mark #28455]

It's all a game

Don't get too wound up in originality. It's most important to enjoy your car, life's too short to stress about little things. For now, enjoy it as it is, but when rebuild time comes you can easily get a correct block.

NCRS judges cars based upon how they left the assembly line, so no points for a "correct" warranty replcement engine, but as noted in the above post, the source of the replacement doesn't matter - Impala, Suburban, Truck, boat...
In fact, if the assembly stamp of the donor engine has acceptable dates, you'll probably only lose points for a non-matching VIN and suffix code! Heck, it's a reality, you could make TOP FLIGHT with an Impala motor! If you bought it at a junkyard, the correct timing cover may even get tossed in for free.

Good luck,
Mark

[Gregory G.]

Re: It's all a game

Thanks
It is tough not to get caught up in the game.