Holley Carb Restoration-Part 7-Main Body Finish

[Gerard F.]

Here's the finish of todays work:







I'd like to get some comments on the above finish. It is not as gold shiny as you see some restored carbs. It has more of a dull gold finish with some greenish hue, some slight hue of red in some places.

Am I getting to the correct finish ? Would like to know, as next week I'll be doing the fuel bowls, and metering block, then the base plate and eventually, assembly.

Working pretty slow but ---I'm having fun.

[Roberto L.]

Re: Holley Carb Restoration-Part 7-Main Body Finish

I'd like to get some comments on the above finish. It is not as gold shiny as you see some restored carbs. It has more of a dull gold finish with some greenish hue, some slight hue of red in some places.

Am I getting to the correct finish ? Would like to know, as next week I'll be doing the fuel bowls, and metering block, then the base plate and eventually, assembly.

Working pretty slow but ---I'm having fun.

Excelent work Gerard!! Regarding the little calibrated holes isn't any problem during plating? Just curious.

Best regards

[Joel F.]

Re: Holley Carb Restoration-Part 7-Main Body Finish

Jerry,

I think a Restorer article is in order. The members who do not access this board would probably love to see this project!

Regardless, thanks for posting here. I always enjoy your posts.

Joel

[Terry M.]

Re: Holley Carb Restoration-Part 7-Main Body Finish

+1 on The Restorer article Jerry. I think Vinnie would welcome it and so would the members who don't come here. A plug that these pictures first appeared on the TDB would promote this site as well.

My take (and I come from a C3 background, so it may not be worth the "paper" it is written on) is it should be a little more gold.

[Chuck S.]

Re: Holley Carb Restoration-Part 7-Main Body Finish

...I'd like to get some comments on the above finish. It is not as gold shiny as you see some restored carbs. It has more of a dull gold finish with some greenish hue, some slight hue of red in some places.

Am I getting to the correct finish ?...

Congratulations for fearlessly taking on an intimidating task, Jerry.

Let me start these comments by saying I'm not a midyear Holley guy...I'm not even a Holley guy...but most of the carbs I've seen in my life were more yellow or gold like you describe.

At first, I thought you were showing us the prepped body before finishing, and then I realized it was refinished...I'm thinking it needs more time in the vat (if that will help) regardless of the color.

How did you prep the base?...If you bed blast a part, you will naturally dull down the final finish. It is better to chemically strip parts that require a final finish that is shiny. My opinion is it's nearly impossible to prep a carb base to get the perfect refinish: You would have to strip the old finish and return the surface to it's original virginal freshly-cast condition; I doubt it's possible if parts are bead blasted.

When I had my Carter built Quadrajet rebuilt professionally, it came back with a greenish color like yours, but darker. When I asked the restorer, he said it depended on the composition of the metal, and added that Quads tended to be more green (how convenient!), and Holleys tended to be more gold. Well, based on your experience, it appears it might result more from the chemicals' composition than the metal used in casting the components, bwdik.

[Jack H.]

Re: Holley Carb Restoration-Part 7-Main Body Finish

"When I asked the restorer, he said it depended on the composition of the metal, and added that Quads tended to be more green (how convenient!), and Holleys tended to be more gold."

The restorer is correct. The exact composition of the metal DOES matter...

Most carb body components are made from cast 'potmetal'. That's not a specific designation, it's generic. Potmetal simply refers to an alloy that can retain its liquid form in a heated 'pot'. There are MANY combinations of metal alloy that qualify as 'potmetal'. Lead/Antimony is one and cad/zinc is another; the list is long AND the specific composition (e.g. how much cad vs. zinc in the alloy mixture) varies considerably...

When it comes to taking 'color' during the dichromate process (short bath in chromatic acid), the resulting finish DOES depend on the specific underlying metal composition as well as metal cleanliness, 'freshness' of the dichromate bath, time and temperature of the bath.

[Dale S.]

Re: Holley Carb Restoration-Part 7-Main Body Finish

Jerry, for what it is worth, My new Holley 950 cfm 3 barrel was pretty close to that color when I got it in the box for my blown Olds. The year was 1968 or 69( I think). It has never been rebuilt and is still that color. It was the first year for the 950 cfm, I know it was before 1971. Dale

[Gerard F.]

Re: Holley Carb Restoration-Part 7-Main Body Finish

+1 on The Restorer article Jerry. I think Vinnie would welcome it and so would the members who don't come here. A plug that these pictures first appeared on the TDB would promote this site as well.

My take (and I come from a C3 background, so it may not be worth the "paper" it is written on) is it should be a little more gold.

Terry, Chuck, Jack, Dale,

Yea, I think it came out a little too dull. Here's a pic of the body after a days cure next to the secondary vacuum pod:



and the vacuum pod close up:



Although the vacuum pod is a different pot metal, the finish on it looks a little better to me. A little brighter but still kind of a greenish satin finish gold.

The only difference in the process was that I brushed the vacuum pod with a nylon wheel to a shiny finish prior to the dichromate dip. Same 20 second dip in the same chromate mix.

So I think I ought to redo the body in the same manner, next weekend when I do the fuel bowls.

[Chuck S.]

Re: Holley Carb Restoration-Part 7-Main Body Finish

...The only difference in the process was that I brushed the vacuum pod with a nylon wheel to a shiny finish prior to the dichromate dip. Same 20 second dip in the same chromate mix.

So I think I ought to redo the body in the same manner, next weekend when I do the fuel bowls...

I have used steel wool (0000) to burnish the surface of bead-blasted steel sheet metal to recover the shine. The problem with carb parts is the intricate castings with corners and crannies; steel wool may permit you to get down deeper into those, but it will be tedious and time-consuming.

[Gerard F.]

Re: Holley Carb Restoration-Part 7-Main Body Finish

Roberto,

The calibrated holes are no problem. Prior to assembly, I'll brush and blow out all the debris within all the holes and channels in the body, and then reguage all the vents and idle feed holes with numbered drill bits.

[Warren F.]

Re: Holley Carb Restoration-Part 7-Main Body Finish

Gerard,

I just pulled out my original '71 LS6 Holley from a car that was wrecked in 1972. Your first picture of the main body color is dead on. This carb of mine has been in a drawer for awhile out of the sun or heat and still has all the original ink stampings. It's spot on as far as I'm concerned.

[Patrick T.]

Re: Holley Carb Restoration-Part 7-Main Body Finish

I'd like to get some comments on the above finish. It is not as gold shiny as you see some restored carbs. It has more of a dull gold finish with some greenish hue, some slight hue of red in some places.

Am I getting to the correct finish ? Would like to know, as next week I'll be doing the fuel bowls, and metering block, then the base plate and eventually, assembly.
Working pretty slow but ---I'm having fun.

Jerry, here is my 763 right after it was restored by Jerry MacNeish, FWIW. PT

[Gerard F.]

Re: Holley Carb Restoration-Part 7-Main Body Finish

Jerry, here is my 763 right after it was restored by Jerry MacNeish, FWIW. PT

PT,

That can't be your 763, because it is a photo of my 751 which I restored a few years ago.

You must have posted the wrong photo

But that's the finish I'm striving for.

[Patrick T.]

Re: Holley Carb Restoration-Part 7-Main Body Finish

PT,
That can't be your 763, because it is a photo of my 751 which I restored a few years ago.
You must have posted the wrong photo
But that's the finish I'm striving for.

Jerry, I can't argue with you but I swear that was my carb. Anyway... for sure this is the one that I meant to post. PT

[John H.]

Re: Holley Carb Restoration-Part 7-Main Body Finish

Here's my 734 as restored by Jerry Luck six years ago.