Hello all, Anyone have any input on restoring my drive shaft? Should it be natural metal, should it be a polished finish, should it be black, or what? It is a '69 442 W-30 4 speed......Thanks in advance

 

Bare metal.

http://www.gastanks.com/Corvette-Dri...uctinfo/27-01/

 

Yes...bare metal. You can matte clear it to help keep it from rusting.

 

Bare metal. I paint the yokes with cast primer and then I mix clear (flat) paint with a hint of black and paint the tube. The last one I did, I used Eastwood metal blacking solution and then painted it with flat clear, turned out really looking good. Then paint the stripe.

Have fun, Kev..

 

So, if I send it to Quanta and have them do what they do, what do I do about the stripe(s) that get painted on? Do I wipe it down clean of the coating they put on it, paint the stripe(s), and then clear it?

 

Sorry Daniel, I not familiar with "Quanta". If your'e sending it out to have it straighten or new u-joints put in it, then that's a different matter. I was assuming you were restoring this yourself and was going to put the u-joints in yourself. Sorry for the confusion.

 

Daniel, A little more detail on this. The reason I like to paint the driveshaft is to keep it from surface rust. The reason I paint with clear mixed with some black instead of just spraying clear is because I don't like the look of the metal. Freshly sanded or media blasted seams too shiny for a suspension component, it seams like it has a black tint to it rather than a shiny look. I hope this makes sense, hard to describe.

Here's a pic of my 71 cutlass that I did back in the early 90's.

Hope this helps, sorry for the confusion.

 

Not meaning to hijack the thread, but where else do you use the Eastwood metal blacking solution? I'm thinking the rear axle brake backing plates might be a good application?

 

I believe the Metal Blackening solution is often used to 'phosphate' bolts, nuts, washers and such. I painted the brake side of the backing plates silver, and the back side gloss black to match my rear end housing.

 

@costpenn - I used the Eastwood metal blacking solution on a lot of the different brackets and the rear brake backing plates for my 67. I really liked the way they turned out. The basic process went like this: after media blasting, sanding or wire wheel to remove the surface rust and paint, I then applied the blacking solution, big parts I applied it by hand and on the small parts I would dip them. The trick I found was not to leave them in the solution or the solution on the item for any time, dip in and out, then dry by hand or blow with compressed air or both. I then would immediately paint the part with Krylon Satin clear or Flat, depending what kind of sheen I desired and the type of finish I was going for. In my opinion, when I used the Satin, it would give the appearance of black cadmium and the flat gave it the natural steel look. When I left the part in the solution for some time as directed by Eastwood it would give the part a black phosphate appearance and then I would follow it up flat clear. I never had any luck with the follow-up solution that Eastwood supplied; the parts would start rusting within 6 months. It took me awhile to get the process down but the nice thing is, if you don’t like the results, throw it in the media cabinet and start over, the clear comes of fairly easy and if you already have the supplies there is no cost. One other thing to mention, after media blasting the parts I would follow up with the wire wheel to remove the texture left behind from the 80 grit aluminum oxide media. Hope this help and good luck.

 

Tell them before they install the u-joints, to media blast it...then install the joints. Tell them to put a very thin coat of WD 40 on it and that's it. When you get it back, you clean the WD off thoroughly, then finish sand it to clean up the texture the media left behind. I would finish it in 800-100 grit. You may have to start coarser and work your way up. Then clean thoroughly again with a good degreaser. You can try what Kevin says as it looks like it came out quite nice! I just matte clear it....you don't want it shiny. You can find your stripe(s) color(s) in the assy manual.....goes according to your drive train options. If you don't have a manual, you can find it at www.wildaboutcars.com IT'S FREE! Print out what you need!

 

O.K. new st of problems..... I have the wrong driveshaft!!! Please someone sell me one or point me in the right direction. Thanks in advance