'65 Sidepipe Covers

[Joe Ciaravino]

I am trying to rescue a pair of sidepipe covers for my '65. There are no nicks, dents, or bends, but there are some fairly deep scratches. Also, some sections have turned milky white. The judging manual says that they are anodized alum., and the dull indentations are painted dull silver-grey. I have tried stripper on them, but have found no paint or protective clearcoat.

Has anyone had any experience here, and if so, I could use some ideas. I always believed that if aluminum is anodized, that it would be colored (white,black,coppertone, etc.). Could they be anodized to a shiny aluminum finish on the bright sections?

I have removed a couple scratches on the bright sections with fine emery, and then polished with black tripoli compound and reproduced the original finish. On the dull sections, I intend to spray dull aluminum paint, but am concerned that there is no paint there now. Could the judging manual be wrong?????

Joe

[Mike S]

Re: '65 Sidepipe Covers

Joe -

The shiny raised portion of the covers has a very thin anodized finish, which I believe is referred to as "bright dip". It adds a little shine to the aluminum and protects it from oxidation.

My covers are in similar condition to yours, and I have been trying to learn, without much success, if there is anything I can do to restore them. One person suggested polishing the raised portion (as you did or with brass wool) and using rally wheel paint on the depressions. My concern is that when the anodizing is polished off, the aluminum will gradually turn dull, and re-polishing the covers will become a regular chore. Perhaps they could be sprayed with clear paint to retard the oxidation.

I have also tried to locate someone who refinishes these covers commercially, who could strip the old finish, polish out the scratches, reanodize, and repaint. No luck with that search either.

If any of the members have had some experience with restoration of the covers or know of a commercial restorer, please let us know.

Thanks,

Mike S #33053

[grr]

Re: '65 Sidepipe Covers

Joe, my 67 coupe has the originally equipped factory side pipes which didn't look that great but not as bad as what yours sound luckily. What I did to clean them up was use a high speed elect. drill with soft wire wheel circular brushes 1/4" shank, 2" or 3" wheels. Must be soft wire. It cleaned them up but doesn't remove scratches but did bring back the shine.grr#33570

[Joe Ciaravino]

Re: '65 Sidepipe Covers

Mike:

Thanks for the info. What you say makes sense, because upon polishing the bright raised sections, I had to "break through" what seemed like a hard surface layer. My intention is to clearcoat the entire cover after polishing the bright and painting the dull. I think this will come very close to the factory finish, and will afford oxidation protection. I'm sure the "repro-police" will be able to spot the restoration, but I'm not building a Top Flight car, and am trying to avoid paying the ridiculously high price of new covers.

Joe

[Joe Ciaravino]

Re: '65 Sidepipe Covers

grr:

Sounds like you used a brass wire wheel to remove any surface tar and grime. Do you know if there is any paint anywhere on the covers? The NCRS judging manual states that the dull ribs are painted aluminum. I am thinking about what effect the heat will have on any painted surfaces on the covers.

Joe

[Bill D.]

Krylon dull aluminum

Joe,

I recently did a repaint for a customer on a new side cover. It had turned light brown between the ribs during run in of a fresh motor. The cover was too close to the pipe for the high temp and no air circulation. I masked and prepped the dull area and painted with Krylon dull aluminum. I then compaired to the other side. It was a match!! Good luck.

Wild Bill

[Duke W.]

Annodizing

Annodizing is a chemical process that places a protective film on bare aluminum. There are variations on the process that can leave the surface a different color. Also, the fineness of surface finish or polish will affect the final patina. The best bet would be to replicate the original process. Here's a stab at how they were manufactured. They were fabricated in a die and the raised portions were polished. The whole part was then annodized and the difference in surface finish between the raised and lowered portions resulted in the difference in final patina. This would make a good research project and Restorer article, but I don't have sidepipes, so I'll leave it to someone else.

The best way to restore them would probably be to strip the annodized film (or what's left of if) work out the major surface imperfections and then reannodize. You'll need to find a good shop that does aluminum annodizing with a knowledgeable guy who understands the various processes and appreciates what you are trying to do. Start by taking the original sidepipe cover to some local shops and see what they have to say.

Duke

[Joe Ciaravino]

Re: Annodizing

Duke:

Thanks for the info. Do I understand you to mean that there is NO paint anywhere on the covers? What you say makes perfect sense, as there is no paint on my covers, and that if there were paint, discoloration might be a problem due to heat.

The NCRS judging manual states that the dull recesses are painted dull aluminum. Could this be wrong????

Joe

[Terry M.]

Re: Annodizing *TL*

Anodizing of non-ferrous metals can be done in a wide range of colors - including clear.

1970 to 1972 (and likely up to 1982) rocker moldings are clear anodized. One restorer I talked to found he was unable to find a shop to anodize his rocker moldings due to their length. That also might pose a problem for side pipe covers. If you find a shop willing and with the facilities to do the job, it would be good to let us all know.

Terry

[grr]

Re: '65 Sidepipe Covers

Joe, you can use either brass or fine wire, go over to home depot.I just cleaned mine up. Didn't notice any paint or blueing from heat. The insulation should keep that problem down. About a month ago I was moving my coupe out of the shop w/out the side covers (under-resto)and sure enough got out and w/shorts on, you got it burned my leg.I've never had that problem with the covers on.grr#33570

[Jeph South]

Re: Anodizing

A little side note on anodizing. The chemical film referred to is a very thin layer of corrosion. The metal to be anodized is usually dipped in a tank of the proper corrosive chemicals (the sacrificial anode ="anodizing") and electricity supplied to accelerate the corrosion process. Without going into the details that the experts on this sort of stuff still don't agree on anyway, the small layer of corrosion prevents severe corrosion later and does not get worse. I think I remember a way that it can be performed as a brush on application, but is not as efficient and is highly susceptible to the skill of the person doing the job. There are also issues with containing the chemicals that are used. The final color is a result of colorings applied in one of the rinse processes, and is independent on the host metal but can vary slightly with surface finish. I'm doing this from memory, but if you would like I can look up the process specifications Monday and e-mail them to you. Jeph

[Duke W.]

Don't know about the paint.

Joe - I'm not a sidepipe "expert" - don't have them on my '63. What I tried to do in my post was reverse engineer the manufacturing process from intuition to provide food for thought.

It's interesting that you found no evidence of paint on yours, but possibly it was removed sometime in the last 35 years.

Perhaps the sidepipe owners need to work with the various team leaders to verify the actual manufacturing process from observation of cars and whatever documentation can be unearthed. The Judging Manuals evolve and new information and analysis result in changes. The process is unending, and the sidepipe cover fabrication/finishing sounds like a project that needs some more research.

Duke

[Duke W.]

corrosion vs. oxidation

Jeph - I was scrounging around in my library last night looking for some information on anodizing processes. I was sure I had something, but could not find it. From memory my understanding is that anodizing deposits a hard, durable oxide film on the surface, which protects the base metal from further oxidation. I prefer to use the word "oxidation" rather than "corrosion" as the latter implies a destructive process, at least in my mind.

Yeah, if you've got some info on the process(s) that you can e-mail me, I'd like to see it. Also, I think the Board would appreciate some summary information on the basics of anodizing. The two major anodized aluminum parts that I can think of are the C2 sidepipe covers and rocker moldings from various years. They can probably be best restored by figuring out the original process and then duplicating it, if possible.

Duke

[Chuck S.]

Re: Annodizing

Hi Terry,

There used to be an outfit somewhere in Indiana that did chrome and anodizing called "Buff-It". Do you know if they are out of business?

Cuuck Sangerhausen

[Roberto L.]

Re: corrosion vs. oxidation

That's interesting. I think that door sill plates in the sharks could benefit from this process too.

Roberto, NCRS #30019, RMC