CASE RESURFACING

had ZF soda blasted. cleans up nicely, but leaves the original cast look, didn't seem any smoother or rougher.
if you are looking to polish, you will have a mammoth amount of work infront of you. hundreds of hour sanding before you get to polish it.
Did an intake and that was a mission.
hope this helps a little!
cj

A consideration for a polished ZF is also that it still requires periodic buffing/protection from oxidizing to keep it gleaming. And that's not so easy when it's back in the car.

I have seen cars (sadly didn't take pics) that had the ZF cleaned and then clear-coated to protect it and that looked great. It depends what you're going for (concours, driver etc.). One of mine was just cleaned and painted silver by the previous owner. Not original but easy to keep clean. Six years later it looks like this.

Mark

I wanted to freshen up the appearance of my ZF as well - I didn't want to paint it, but I wanted the case to look new. I tried mag wheel cleaner, oven cleaner (read on another forum about using it to restore cast aluminum parts), and finally bead blasting, but could not get a fresh cast appearance. It continued to show staining and inconsistent coloring from 40 years of use.

So, after all the failed cleaning attempts, I painted it with Eastwood AlumaBlast paint, then clear-coated it with a high-temp porcelain-based clear. I also used the same process on my bell housing.

I'll take a picture tonight and post it.

The finish that comes closest to the original is using wheel cleaner and a nylon scrubbing brush.

The wheel cleaner loosens the oxidation and the brush buffs it slightly much like the original castings looked.

did mine resently, soda blasted. then striped and lucky enough to have it in pieces.
would loved to have polised it,but too much work.
wanted as close to original look. used a high temp, alloy looking brake caliper paint, so should be fluid and temp resistant and cleanable with degreaser,only time will tell. all cast parts painted with a cast coloured VHT engine paint.
Mark my only hope is that it looks as good as your six yrs from now.

cj

Awesome result Chris

Chris, a nice balance of concourse and understatement accents.

It's looking great Chris.

There is an alternative called vapour blasting also known as aqua blasting. It's like a sand blasting cabinet with a windscreen wiper on the inside. It uses tiny glass balls with no sharp edges and high pressure water. It effectively peens the surface rather than abrading it. This is the closest finish I have seen to a brand new casting. I had it done locally by this bloke: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1cwHdwDOvU

When I restored my Pantera I spent 4 days trying to make my ZF casing look new without polishing it as I didn't want it polished. I tried everything including chemicals but it still looked like an old casting that had been cleaned up. I then decided to paint it and have never regretted it. I documented it at the time here:
http://pantera.infopop.cc/eve/...950020494#4950020494

Here it what it looked like before I started. I spent a long time making sure there is no way any water or grit could get inside. I can't emphasize enough how important this part is. I used silicone, rubber, neoprene etc to totally seal the case. it is possible but takes a lot of effort. It's much less effort than stripping the box though!

Here's what it looked like before I started. Note, I had not at this stage sealed the box ready for vapour blasting.

Here's what it looked like after.
I have never seen a dry blasting technique that leaves a finish anything like a bright as this.

This will stay bright for quite a while. If it was my car I would probably still paint it because that way the surface stays consistent. Dont forget the shinier it is the easier it is to clean. I dot think a shiny surface would suit a Mangusta so I would probably add matting agent to the clear.

Johnny

Here's a ZF painted with Eastwood's Detail Gray. Three light coats were applied, thinned 10%. Unfortunately, not the spray-bomb version of Detail Gray.

...another view.

These look great! I am in the middle of putting in the safety wiring...I guess I have one more project before it goes back into 6347!!!

Before you guys painted the housing did you paint it with all the various bolts and washers on OR just send the housing out??

Thanks.

Victor

Here's my ZF painted with Eastwood's AlumaBlast paint, then clear-coated with VHT Satin Clear FlameProof ceramic header paint (2000 degree).

FWIW, I clear-coated the case because the AlumaBlast leaves a rough cast finish, as if the case had been sandblasted, and I wanted to seal all those pores with a smoother surface to help simplify cleaning.

I painted the case first, then masked it off behind and around the black rear cover and side covers, then sprayed them black. In retrospect I think it would have been easier to paint these pieces black first, then mask them off to paint the case.

Also, I painted my ZF with all the bolts, nuts, and washers on it. I may replace the nuts on the rear cover with polished stainless acorn nuts, but I haven't decided yet.

[Edit: Corrected clear coat used on case from Duplicolor to VHT Satin Clear Ceramic Header Paint.]

Another

quote:

Originally posted by garth66:
Here's my ZF painted with Eastwood's AlumaBlast paint....

I agree. I used AlumaBlast as well with satin clear. It looks great. Easy to touch up and has a nice glint in the sun.