cadmium paint

[mustangglen]

Im restoring just bolt heads under the hood of my 73 Mach1. Has anyone used a spray paint that is close to the original yellow cadmium color for small parts like bolts heads. Eastwoods 3-part paint seems like a hassle for such small parts. Thanks.

 

[Stanglover]

Im restoring just bolt heads under the hood of my 73 Mach1. Has anyone used a spray paint that is close to the original yellow cadmium color for small parts like bolts heads. Eastwoods 3-part paint seems like a hassle for such small parts. Thanks.

 Sorry, but why waste your time painting them. Either just buy a bolt kit or just the bolts you need (NPD has them) or if the originals are that important, strip and re-cad them. Kits are available in the US I believe, if not you may find a local company that can do them for you.

Geoff.

 

[Pegleg]

Not sure how much it cost your side of the pond to get them done same as original process?

This side of the pond it was relatively cheap to get small parts recoated. I had the bit on top of the snorkel on the air cleaner done and it was very cheap. You will probably find a good company will put your bolts in with other stuff they are doing.

 

[Stanglover]

Not sure how much it cost your side of the pond to get them done same as original process?

This side of the pond it was relatively cheap to get small parts recoated. I had the bit on top of the snorkel on the air cleaner done and it was very cheap. You will probably find a good company will put your bolts in with other stuff they are doing.

 Good point Steve.

As for the "bit" on top of the snorkel, that's a vacuum motor and where I worked, the factory that made them, I had access to thousands of them, just wish I'd kept a few dozen in various configurations, big $$$$$$$$. We made the snorkel too that Ford used although Ford made their own shells and lids.

Geoff.

 

[rackerm]

Im restoring just bolt heads under the hood of my 73 Mach1. Has anyone used a spray paint that is close to the original yellow cadmium color for small parts like bolts heads. Eastwoods 3-part paint seems like a hassle for such small parts. Thanks.

For the standard nuts and bolts its best to buy a kit such as AMK. Thye have already figured out what you need.

For those parts that cannot be replaced, that you want a yellow cadmium finish without actually having the parts plated yellow cadmium, I experimented with using a yellow dye concentrate and then applying a semi-gloss clear coat to seal it. The dye gave the part a yellow/gold translucent appearance which looked closer to a yellow cad finish, instead of a painted look.

First I had to remove all rust with a wire brush/wheel and then polish the metal. The more polished the finish the better the final result. I then applied the yellow dye concentrate straight from the bottle with a cotton swab or cue-tip and let it sit for about 5 mins (the dye appears a very deep amber color at this point), after which I lightly wiped the part with a cotton swab to remove the excess yellow dye until I was happy with the color. Finally spray it lightly with a semi-gloss clear coat let dry and then another coat or two letting it dye in between coats. I found if you apply the lacquer clear too heavy it "washes" the yellow dye color out. Using a clear coat enamel does not affect the dye like the lacquer does.

Although I have not tried them, the dye also comes in green, red, blue if you wanted to try and add other translucent colors to the finish.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

As stated the cost to get them redone is minimal. The trick is to find a plating shop that will give you a break. The bolts need to have all sealer, grease or paint removed first. I put them in molasses tank to de rust them and sometimes glass bead them. You can put them in a sheet of plastic corrugated board to hold in the blast cabinet.

I had one of the AMK complete bolt kits for our cars and found that absolutely none of them were the same as originals, lol. Different lengths, not the same makers marks and the studs for the shock mounts on shock tower would not even go in without grinding them down. They were all in neat little bags labeled where they went and most will never know they are not real, lol.

The fender bolts have zinc with yellow dichromate, others can have zinc with black, still others are zinc with clear chromate. Some have phosphate. and few of interior have chrome.

The bolts and nuts and most small pieces are done in barrel plating process. That is why the cost is cheap. You can pour a 5 gallon bucket full of bolts in the plating barrel and it goes through the process automatic. When working our plating supplier would do mine for free but not working anymore. They can also do the phosphate on the hood latch, hood hinges and shock mount caps and some other parts in the car.

Never seen a paint that looked right. The carburetors have the dichromate coating also. I suppose you could do your own plating with a little research.

David

 

[Don C]

You might try places like this one, see if they have anything suitable

https://www.caswellplating.com/

More information

http://www.chemprocessing.com/page.asp?pageid=54&

 

[Stanglover]

You might try places like this one, see if they have anything suitable

https://www.caswellplating.com/

More information

http://www.chemprocessing.com/page.asp?pageid=54&

Interesting info there Don, thanks.

 

[Pegleg]

They can also do the phosphate on the hood latch, hood hinges and shock mount caps and some other parts in the car.

Never seen a paint that looked right.

David

David have you got picture of hinges and latch as they should be finished. Looks like its another one of those oversights i need to deal with

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

They can also do the phosphate on the hood latch, hood hinges and shock mount caps and some other parts in the car.

Never seen a paint that looked right.

David

David have you got picture of hinges and latch as they should be finished. Looks like its another one of those oversights i need to deal with

Not any really good pics but I did hood latch, hinges, parking brake, gas pedal bracket, shock mounts for front. I ordered the phosphate and you mix with water and heat to treat the parts. You clean the parts of all oil then glass bead and put into the solution. They will bubble and fizz a lot, lol. When you take out rinse off and spray with WD-40 several times. The finish was called Parkerizing for many years and was used on guns to help prevent rust. Ford used it on parts they did not want and sticky paint on. One pic of parking brake before and after. I do not have good one of hood hinge.

David

 

[rackerm]

They can also do the phosphate on the hood latch, hood hinges and shock mount caps and some other parts in the car.

Never seen a paint that looked right.

David

David have you got picture of hinges and latch as they should be finished. Looks like its another one of those oversights i need to deal with

If you are a purest... the oil and phosphate finish is correct on the hinges and latch. It does not last and will begin to show surface rust over time. I found that bead blasting them and lightly spray paint with a matt clear coat gives them a similar appearance and the rust-free appearance will last longer. It all depends on what you want to achieve.

Here is a NOS hood latch with oil and phosphate...



An unrestored low mileage 73 mustang hood hinge



My occassionally driven 1969 mustang with oil and phosphate hinges, etc after about 5 years from restoration



My 73 with bead blasted and clear coated hinges and latch

 

[mustangglen]

Im restoring just bolt heads under the hood of my 73 Mach1. Has anyone used a spray paint that is close to the original yellow cadmium color for small parts like bolts heads. Eastwoods 3-part paint seems like a hassle for such small parts. Thanks.

 Sorry, but why waste your time painting them. Either just buy a bolt kit or just the bolts you need (NPD has them) or if the originals are that important, strip and re-cad them. Kits are available in the US I believe, if not you may find a local company that can do them for you.

Geoff.

 

[mustangglen]

As i replied to Stanglover, I agree with you both that the AMK bolt kits are worth a try instead of the labor to renew the existing ones.

​

As for your yellow dye idea. LOVE IT! It looks like a very good alternative to revive some parts that cant be replaced. What kind of dye did you use? I looked for the dye online and found mostly wood dyes and candle makers dyes. 

​

Thank you for the information and pictures! 

​

Glen

​

Im restoring just bolt heads under the hood of my 73 Mach1. Has anyone used a spray paint that is close to the original yellow cadmium color for small parts like bolts heads. Eastwoods 3-part paint seems like a hassle for such small parts. Thanks.

For the standard nuts and bolts its best to buy a kit such as AMK. Thye have already figured out what you need.

For those parts that cannot be replaced, that you want a yellow cadmium finish without actually having the parts plated yellow cadmium, I experimented with using a yellow dye concentrate and then applying a semi-gloss clear coat to seal it. The dye gave the part a yellow/gold translucent appearance which looked closer to a yellow cad finish, instead of a painted look.

First I had to remove all rust with a wire brush/wheel and then polish the metal. The more polished the finish the better the final result. I then applied the yellow dye concentrate straight from the bottle with a cotton swab or cue-tip and let it sit for about 5 mins (the dye appears a very deep amber color at this point), after which I lightly wiped the part with a cotton swab to remove the excess yellow dye until I was happy with the color. Finally spray it lightly with a semi-gloss clear coat let dry and then another coat or two letting it dye in between coats. I found if you apply the lacquer clear too heavy it "washes" the yellow dye color out. Using a clear coat enamel does not affect the dye like the lacquer does.

Although I have not tried them, the dye also comes in green, red, blue if you wanted to try and add other translucent colors to the finish.