Ok guys, I'm trying to get my 340s back together. I've looked at a lot of pic's of others restorations and I'm curious. How did you get things like the clutch sheaves looking so clean and bright. Paint or some kind of super cleaner?? Not only clutches but other parts as well. (Tie rods, gear case, air intake box ect..)
A lot of the parts like secondary sheaves and other parts/bolts, etc. can be re-plated. This gives it the nice new look. Aluminum parts can be glass or plastic media blasted to bring it back to new looking. Dry ice blasting works very well, but the blaster is pricey, and you may have a hard time finding dry ice blocks.
My observation is that the nice looking clutch sheaves are either NOS, or have been repainted to something that looks nice. Eastwood sells paint that mimics cad plating. Some guys paint them silver, I think Troy spritzed a little gold over the silver to give a closer color.
Soda blasting makes many of the aluminum parts look great. You do not have to spend a lot of money to do it either. A hand held spot sand blaster may work just fine with bi-carb, that is what I use. Engine cases really clean up nice with soda, other parts might need a little polishing to look good.
Here's a shot of my '72 engine. The jugs were NOS, so I didn't blast them, but everything else was.
Attachments
'09 Vintage Challenge Survivor, and I wasn't late for supper!
'10, '11, '12, '13,'14,'15,'16,'17, '18, 19, 20, 21, 22 Vintage Challenge Survivor !
72 400 restored, Father bought new in '71
73 X8 restored
'74 340 green machine
'74 X8 9 time VC finisher
'78 Spitfire in progress
2 '75 340S 1 running, one on deck
'78 LF 440 future CC clone
'73 Skiroule RTX 440, 500 mi.
Alright, thanks guys. The chrome looks cool, but I'm trying to make it as original as possible. Not familiar with soda blasting. I'll have to look into that. Do you know where I can find the hood pins? And are they chrome?
Thanks for your input!
80 Liquifire (purchased 1996 ~ Running)
80 Liquifire (purchased 2010 ~ Running....Now)
80 Liquifire (purchased 2011 ~ Not running - I officially have a problem now)
83 Snowfire (purchased 2014 father/son restoration project)
78 Spitfire ~ sold (should have been shot for this)