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Most of you already know I have a problem with OCD - like every time I have to wait in line at the store I can't stop myself from straightening up the display racks!) that probably stems from 22 years in the USAF.
Anyway, I've been taking advantage of my bad health, which has caused me to stop driving for a while, to do some of those really anal tasks I've been saving up like a kid with Halloween candy.
Last winter I pulled my carbs and polished the intake manifold and the vacuum domes and float bowls, but I'm better at polishing now so I've pulled them off again to do the work over.
I've been taking photos of this project, so if you want to try the same thing on your car, you can see what your goal is.
ANYWAY - I finished putting a better-than-chrome polish on the pieces that can be polished out. Those are still the intake, vacuum domes and float bowls. They are the only parts that can be dismounted for fine work like this.
Looking at my CLEAN, but PLAIN carb bodies, I recalled a 'custom' touch from the early 1960's. It was called a 'Tuxedo' finish, because every part that wasn't chromed or polished was painted gloss black.
In order to paint the carb bodies, everything had to come off. All the levers, cams, screws, butterfly plates, etc. The only thing I left in place was the jet adjustment nut and spring. I taped those off so I wouldn't have to readjust them after reassembly.
To keep paint out of the works, I also masked off the vacuum dome/piston opening, and both air intake and exhaust ends. A little paint migrated in through the butterfly shaft holes, but I just wiped that away with paint thinner when everything had dried.
Taking a step back, I used GUNK spray carb cleaner and a tiny rotating nylon brush in my Dremel to clean every nook and cranny of oil or dirt.
Once everything was clean and dry, I applied two coats of self-etching primer. I let that dry overnight, and when I went back to work on them again, I found the primer to be wonderfully smooth, and even with two coats it didn't fill the small details in the cast-in lettering.
Next, I applied two coats of Gloss Black Engine Enamel and let that sit overnight to dry completely.
The next day I shot them with two coats of ClearCoat, and (guess what?) left them to dry overnight again.
I decided to add a little punch by using DupliColor's Metal Effects Chrome paint on all the small parts I had to take off. This paint comes in a whole rainbow of colors and looks for all the world like powder coating. I decided to stay with a strictly black-and-chrome theme.
I'm sure that these painted parts could have been dried very quickly at about 150 degrees in an oven. Just remember to do it when the wife is out, and remember to open the windows to let the stink of drying paint out!
With the paint completed and everything dry, I put everything back together and then used a microfiber cloth to polish off the fingerprints.
Buffing out the domes, etc. was the hardest part of the job. I tire easily, so it took me nearly a week to hand-polish those 5 parts. I'm sure I could have done it much faster if I'd wanted to.
If you're concerned that you won't be able to reassemble the carbs, just polish the parts that can be polished, then disassemble and paint only one carb body at a time. Use the other one to look at for guidance in reassembly.
I'll be back later to add photos to this post.
Steve
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