fuel injection lid

[Matt L.]

i was finally lucky enough to buy a fuel unit for my early 64 car. unfortunately the lid is polished and i want the original look. is there a way to bring it back to the original finish or should i just look for another lid?
thank you all for any info. take care.

[Joel F.]

Re: fuel injection lid

i was finally lucky enough to buy a fuel unit for my early 64 car. unfortunately the lid is polished and i want the original look. is there a way to bring it back to the original finish or should i just look for another lid?
thank you all for any info. take care.

Matt,

Post a picture of what your lid looks like so the experts can see how polished it is. I am sure John Degregory will peek in here next week at some point and can give a good opinion. He is at Parris Island, SC at the moment for his son's graduation.

[Edward M.]

Re: fuel injection lid

John restored a set of 9 fin valve covers for me that had been polished. They turned out beautiful.

Yes, today is the day. John's son graduates from Parris Island today.

[John D.]

Re: fuel injection lid

Matt, Not supposed to be doing business here so instead let me ask you a question.
Typically when a lid is polished the parting line is polished out from around the edge. It's quite a distintive line.
If it's gone then nothing you can do. Problem with you just having one casting refinished-especially the big plenum lid is that it won't match the rest of the castings. Will stand out in the crowd as when you open the hood the plenum lid hits your eyes first.

Try this on your own.
Get a plastic container big enough for the plenum lid.
Go to NAPA and buy a pint of Twin Etch. Now it's pretty pricey but is good stuff.
I cannot give you the exact formula as never measured the proportion.
To a gallon of water use a nice splash of Twin Etch (phosphoric acid)
Add some Dawn or Joy dishwashing soup to act as a lubricant/cleaner.
Summerse the plenum lid and gently scrub it with ultra fine scotch brite-one direction only or 0000 steel wool.
Don't leave the lid in the solution too long though. Be patient. Do the job a couple of times with week solution and the end result will be a natural look to match the rest of the FI unit.

When you see "restored" castings that have the dark grey aged look do you know what causes that? Chemically burnt.

Plan B: Take you plenum lid outside in the driveway. Hook up your water hose.
Go get a can of Easy Off oven cleaner. You know the old fashion stuff that foams up. It's super strong so I may be making a mistake here as haven't done this for an eon.
Anyhow give it a shot of Easy Off and wait about 10 seconds and rinse the castings off. You will see some progress. 20 seconds is too long. Try that several times and quit. Blow off the part and see if it pleases you.

[Dick W.]

Re: fuel injection lid

Matt, Not supposed to be doing business here so instead let me ask you a question.
Typically when a lid is polished the parting line is polished out from around the edge. It's quite a distintive line.
If it's gone then nothing you can do. Problem with you just having one casting refinished-especially the big plenum lid is that it won't match the rest of the castings. Will stand out in the crowd as when you open the hood the plenum lid hits your eyes first.

Try this on your own.
Get a plastic container big enough for the plenum lid.
Go to NAPA and buy a pint of Twin Etch. Now it's pretty pricey but is good stuff.
I cannot give you the exact formula as never measured the proportion.
To a gallon of water use a nice splash of Twin Etch (phosphoric acid)
Add some Dawn or Joy dishwashing soup to act as a lubricant/cleaner.
Summerse the plenum lid and gently scrub it with ultra fine scotch brite-one direction only or 0000 steel wool.
Don't leave the lid in the solution too long though. Be patient. Do the job a couple of times with week solution and the end result will be a natural look to match the rest of the FI unit.

When you see "restored" castings that have the dark grey aged look do you know what causes that? Chemically burnt.

Plan B: Take you plenum lid outside in the driveway. Hook up your water hose.
Go get a can of Easy Off oven cleaner. You know the old fashion stuff that foams up. It's super strong so I may be making a mistake here as haven't done this for an eon.
Anyhow give it a shot of Easy Off and wait about 10 seconds and rinse the castings off. You will see some progress. 20 seconds is too long. Try that several times and quit. Blow off the part and see if it pleases you.

One important addition to John's instructions, wear chemical resistant gloves when working with Twin Etch, it is phosphoric acid and does funny things to yer skin. Don't ask me how I know

[Wayne M.]

Re: fuel injection lid

...to buy a fuel unit for my early 64 car. unfortunately the lid is polished ......

Do you mean that, back in 1975, I wasted my time polishing the lid on this '65 unit ??

[Paul J.]

Re: fuel injection lid

One important addition to John's instructions, wear chemical resistant gloves when working with Twin Etch, it is phosphoric acid and does funny things to yer skin. Don't ask me how I know

I wonder how many people know that soft drinks contain phosphoric acid. That's why people used to tell you to clean your battery terminals with Coke.

[John D.]

Re: fuel injection lid

[quote=Wayne Midkiff (3437);499256]Do you mean that, back in 1975, I wasted my time polishing the lid on this '65 unit ?? [/quot

Wayne, Old "Never Dull". I still have an old can of that stuff. Always liked the smell. Used to use it to polish mag wheels. Made your hands black.

Dick, Thanks for good advise. ALWAYS wear eye goggles and plastic gloves. Not the ones the MDs use either as you can't get them off fast enough when you get a whole in them and the chemicals seep in. Been there. Whew!!!!

Story: My brother is a Doc. Many years ago I went to see him with a sore nose. He said to me. Dont' know what kind of chemicals you are using up at your shop on the FI's but keep it up as you are sure to get cancer.
So the moral of the story is to use a good respirator.

Plan C: Toilet bowl cleaner and water makes a good cleaner of filthy parts. Well maybe not a good cleaner but it will do the job. Learned that one from Hot Rod Magazine years ago.
Toilet bowl cleaner will also destroy pot metal so be careful. In fact forget I told you.

[Clem Z.]

Re: fuel injection lid

I wonder how many people know that soft drinks contain phosphoric acid. That's why people used to tell you to clean your battery terminals with Coke.

it will also clean the scum off of your windhield. used to alway carry a coke or pepsi in the car when on road trips. DO NOT try the sugar free stuff.

[Matt L.]

Re: fuel injection lid

hey all, thanks for all the advice. i see what you were saying john so i finally had a moment to try some of my cleaners in my detail shop. the wheel acid cleaner i use seemed to do the trick. i mix my cleaner real weak always to be on the safe side. it seemed to be a perfect mix for the lid. it turned it to a nice shade of grey to match the rest of the intake. as far as the casting lines you were speaking of, i still have some sort of casting line on the bottom edge of the lid. is that the casting you were talking about?
again, thank you everybody. take care,
matt

[Dick W.]

Re: fuel injection lid

it will also clean the scum off of your windhield. used to alway carry a coke or pepsi in the car when on road trips. DO NOT try the sugar free stuff.

Is this some promotion for a new Snake Oil Clem? I always used to carry Coca Cola in my vehicles to clean the windshield. On a long trip in bad weather you could easily use 3-4 to get the oil off your windshield. Vehicles leakes oil a lot worse back then, and I believe 1/2 of what they leaked ended up on your windshield

[John D.]

Re: fuel injection lid

Matt, Sounds like you did a great job.
As you found out the parting line is around the edge of the plenum lid.
Your casting polisher was not as aggressive as most which is a lucky break for you. A lot of the polished lids had a bubba buffing out the detail.
Then the casting is done forever. Take care, John

[Matt L.]

Re: fuel injection lid

hey john, yes the casting line is still there. bubba didn't get a hold of it. it says on an earlier reply your son graduated from parris island. marine? would you please tell him we all say thank you for serving.
again,thanks everyone.
take care,
matt