Getting the correct bell housing finish ???

[DAVEN1256]

Many, many years ago before I knew much about correct colors, I painted my bell housing orange. I know now that the correct finish should be natural aluminum. I'm getting nearer to getting it back in the car now and want it to look correct.

I degreased and cleaned it up the other day. Where the orange paint had worn off, some of the aluminum underneath was bright with a little shine to it. In most places though, it is a dark gray and blotchy.

So after I get the rest of the orange paint off, I was wondering the best way to go about this. I have no problem with painting it. There are a lot of aluminum replicating paints out there......but which one to use? I read some of the reviews on them and some will say one brand looks great while others will say the same brand sucks!

I have a small blasting cabinet with 80 grit glass beads. Is that an option using a clearcoat or some protective coating afterwards? If bead blasting is an option, is 80 grit way to coarse?

Any thoughts or ideas are appreciated.

Dave

[69Z28-RS]

If you have access to a 'steel shot' tumbler, that will restore the aluminum finish to 'like new' ...  If you have an auto electric rebuilder shop near you they might have one?   

[x66 714]

Your 1st paragraph you're 1/2 correct on the color. Since the bell housing was on the engine when it left the engine assm plant, it would've had some overspray from when the engine was painted...Joe

[rszmjt]

Steel shot cleaners make it way too dark almost a grayish tinge IMO. You could lightly glass bead it with Sil 8 or fIner glass beads using low air pressure and holding the gun at a distance ( about 8”) . I’ve used “Aluma Blast “ by Eastwood to lightly ghost aluminum parts after this, the trick is to just dust it, then Eastwood matte clear to seal it off from the elements.

A really awesome alternative method is “Vapour Blasting”, google to see if anyone in your area offers this service, it returns aluminum parts to a near factory finish.
The bellhousing was over sprayed approximately 2-3” originally as was posted and some examples have been found completely painted FWIW

Mike

[firstgenaddict]

I am with you on the vapor blasting. IMHO that would be the best way to get back to an original diecast appearance.

[bcmiller]

Yes - coverage of bellhousing paint varied from day to day and/or who was doing the painting.

[169INDY]

Que the drool; Vapor Blasting!
2nd the low pressure glass beading & post treatment, using ; DX501: Aluminum Conditioner DX501 is also chromic acid based but the conversion layer formed is clear in color, also intended to applied after the DX579 cleaning step. It is used when it is desirable to retain the aluminum substrate’s silver white finish, either unpainted or with a clear coating applied over the treated metal. Dilution of DX501 with hot water may change the color of the mixture

Jim

[Edgemontvillage]

Vapor blasted 403 bellhousings. If you can locate a vapor blasting service in your area its a good choice for refinishing cast aluminium.

[169INDY]

The Aquablast 915 is the smallest of our standard wetblasting models and is more suitable for degreasing and blasting smaller components with a maximum turntable of 600mm.

The water/media slurry is contained within the cabinet sump. Delivery of the slurry to the manual blast nozzle is via a glandless polyurethane pump and associated hoses located inside the machine.

Compressed air is added at the blast nozzle to accelerate the slurry and provide the cleaning effect. After contact with the component the slurry then drains back into the sump creating a re-circulating system. Fine broken down media and other contaminants are fed via an overflow to a sedimentation filter located at the rear of the cabinet.

The process cleans by flow not by impact, producing a 'soft' finish with the water acting as a lubricant which not only avoids media impregnation but also extends the life of the blast media.


Cut & Pasted from a site.

Lloyd what unit did you purchase again?

JIM

[Edgemontvillage]

Jim, mine is from Vapor Honing Technologies and made in the USA. The Vixen Aquablast is a very high quality line (and price point) however made in the UK with very limited parts and service availability in North America. There are a couple in use in my area and they've had some issues. 

[DAVEN1256]

Thanks for all the replies so far.

I had never heard of "vapor" blasting but doing a little research, it seems to be the same thing as dustless blasting. I found three companies in the Orlando, FL area who do the dustless blasting. They all told me they use the water and media slurry.

One company, the guy sounded short for time and somewhat unfriendly. Another's price was way too much. The last one had a good price and was easy to talk to (customer friendly)…...I'm going to stop by there tomorrow and check him out.

I know about the orange overspray on the bell housing done at the factory. I like to be factory correct when I can but I just don't like the looks of that. I'd rather have it all natural aluminum.

Edgemontvillage, those bell housings look great! Do you use anything on them afterwards to preserve the finish?

If by chance this doesn't work out, can anyone recommend one of the aluminum replicating paints?

Thanks.....Dave

[ZLP955]

Hate to hijack, but in Lloyd's picture, the upper bellhousing has a boss with a hole on the passenger side upper corner, while the lower one does not. Seems to mirror the boss on the driver's side in Dave's pictures at the beginning of this thread. Why the difference, and which one would be correct for the '69 model year?

[firstgenaddict]

I have seen that boss tapped with threads in the past... almost like for a clutch cross shaft which would be further back maybe in a big car?

[x66 714]

That's the passenger side. Maybe for a RH drive car?...Joe

[Edgemontvillage]

"Do you use anything on them afterwards to preserve the finish?"

Dave, for aluminium its not necessary to apply a protective finish or coating after vapor blasting as its not prone to short term oxidation. When vapor blasting steel and alloys I use RPM or Boeshield as they do tend to flash rust if not treated shortly after blasting.