When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Another update on the underhood refurbishments.
I have repainted the brackets for the vacuum reservoir and air cleaner, as well as getting some new yellow zinc hardware. Some before and after pictures below.
Paint for the brackets was from Eastwood. The yellow zinc hardware set is sold by Sierra Madre, but the same set is available directly from Wurth for $30 less.
A short write-up on the car is scheduled to be done soon. It will appear in Road Scholars monthly newsletter some time in the future.
Einmalig says they have one. It should be on the way, along with a couple other yellow anodized parts which should complete the engine makeover.
FWIW, there's another early 944 on BaT now that looks to have the same exposed screw coming out of the firewall, although the pictures are fuzzy. Not sure why a plastic cap there would have been removed in the past.
Also looked at the wiper blades, and they're marked "SWF", which means, I believe, they are the ones original to the car.
possibly to ground out to the chassis instead of to the negative ground on the battery. It's close, so ~~~~
Or maybe it got bumped or pried against, cracked, then fell off. It was also possible, the cap never got put on at all. Maybe the parts bin ran dry ? Or just got forgotten, because the previous 15 cars all got a cruise control, then this one was built without one.... humans do strange things, even in a repetitious mode.
Cleaned up the upper (engine) side of the aluminum undertray. The lower side still has some cosmoline so I will leave that alone for the time being.
Also took a look at the wiper blade. It has the "SWF" marking, which I'm guessing is the one that came with the car.
The corrosion on the water tube was pretty advanced, and I was worried about a rust hole developing. Changed it out for a new one and only dripped a little coolant in the process. Really racking up the miles on it--now just over 3700 mi, so it's not a 3600 mi 944 any more.
Another update, this time showing some plating. I tried it myself but it didn't work out too well, so I got some help from a more knowledgeable friend.
The first picture shows a bracket that was originally quite rusty. Evaporust took care of that, and the picture is after rust removal. Second picture is after some plating.
Third picture shows the original throttle bracket. It doesn't look too good in the middle. Chipmunk pee? These are not available new. I bought a used one that didn't look much better than the one in the car, but it came out looking good after the re-plating. I'll be putting the new one on shortly.
I've added almost 100 miles on the car since it arrived. Great fun.
I got the Eastwood battery powered zinc plating kit and yellow chromate from Caswell. That didn't work too well. The friend who helped me had a better setup, with heater and fluid pumps in the zinc plating bucket, along with a box that could vary the power. He also added some brightener. He used the same yellow chromate, but in a stronger concentration.
I'm sure all this is pre-school info to those in the know. My take home lesson is that this process is not complicated, but it takes more than the most basic equipment and some practice to get decent results.
If I were restoring a whole car I'd get the good kit, but for two or three pieces, I'll keep bothering my friend. For hardware, as mentioned above, get the Wurth yellow zinc assortment.
10-19-2016, 11:43 AM
