How to do the black oxide deal (long)

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Steve Meltzer
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How to do the black oxide deal (long)

Post by Steve Meltzer »

As noted in an earlier post, I wanted to “black oxide” all of the parts I reasonably could while doing the engine R&R on my GTC. This diatribe might get long winded and pedantic, but Tom said to press ahead, so here are the details of how I did the black oxide deal. David Booth posted that he’d used the Caswell system, and, after watching some videos, I was convinced that this was easier, less complicated and could do more parts than the Eastwood system. Since this was by far the biggest project I’d ever tackled, I was concerned that parts I removed would get “lost, mixed up or contaminated” with other parts. Having a commercial outfit do the job would require putting all of the nuts, bolts, washers, etc in one container and hope that I could ID where their home was upon their return. For a seasoned or professional mechanic this would be a piece o’ cake, but as most of my questions on Tom’s site suggest, I’m on the other end of that spectrum.

The system allowed me to work at my leisure, doing small batches at a time if I wanted to, or do hundreds of nuts at a time, if I wanted. I bought the complete kit from Amazon and there are enough reagents to do vastly more parts and fasteners than I’ll do in a lifetime. The process has no dangerous chemicals, noxious fumes, nor need for high temperatures, and the solution you use to initiate the process can be saved and reused for weeks and weeks. This is a real advantage in case you want to redo a fastener, or later find other parts you’d like to blacken. I’m big on “waste not, want not” and the Caswell system does this in spades.

They send you some nice buckets that I found to be way too deep to help me ( I donated these to my dogs) and the preservative solution might be duplicated on your own. Some have advocated the use of motor oil, grease or WD-40 for the finishing touches and protectant, but I figured that Caswell would know far more than I, so just I brushed on their final solution and, as noted, there was more than enough. Once dried, it was not messy.

Pictures: As I took the engine accessories apart (carb linkage, manifolds, timing chain cover, AC, etc) I put the parts in separate containers, photographed them, catalogued them, etc. Anything to keep things straight. I then had the option of doing each one individually or in batches, as I gained confidence. The build manual (parts manual) was invaluable when I got confused.

Before you start:

1) As in my litany above, I photographed and catalogued all parts of the project, but my OCD really came full tilt in the way I labeled and arranged the parts that I wanted to black oxide (oooh, oooh, now it’s a verb!). Despite the careful effort, I did make a few errors in my logistics.

2a.) All parts need a good cleaning before they get the “dunk”.

2b.) So all of them were bathed in Berryman Carb Cleaner, and the rusty ones also saw Evaporust as suggested by Ed Montini, et al. Any threads that were still grimy got the wire wheel, either on the bench or with my Dremel. Surgically clean was my goal.

2c.) Once out of their initial bath and rinsed, every part headed for treatment was subsequently handled with disposable gloves so as to prevent skin oils from getting on my nuts. (You’ll need a bunch of gloves.)

2d.) Next, I took the parts in small batches (ID’d, labeled, etc) and grit blasted them. (If there’s any interest, I can post how I used the cheap hand held Harbor Freight blaster with their 70 grit aluminum black oxide (no relationship) to do this.) I don’t have a blasting cabinet, and this was cheaper and much faster.

2e.) Once blasted and cleaned to absorb as much black oxide as possible, I washed the parts (again, in predetermined batches) with Dawn soap and water. Again, wearing gloves to keep them nice and clean for the black oxide. Once the cleaning process was completed, the fasteners, etc. were stored in nice clean containers until I was ready for the big show. Tho’ I can’t think of a reason to do so, brass won’t take this black oxide, nor will copper and some stainless. (e.g. my wave washers only darkened slightly)

Tho’ slow and time somewhat time consuming, this meticulous method of accounting for, and cleaning all parts, allowed me to gain more “hands on” knowledge of the car and prevented loss of parts and admixing of them as well.


Things I used: Clean or sterile urine cup or other measuring cup, take home food containers (plastic, not styrofoam) or some sort of relatively shallow vessel (about 6X15X4 deep, no lid), distilled water, two fabric or plastic mesh strainers that will both fit in the take home container at the same time, (You could do this with one only, but you can do more parts with two. My wife said I had to get these from Jeff Bezos: her kitchen was off limits.). Nearby running tap water or hose, one or more plastic strainers or colanders, relatively clean towels, throw away paint brush, a box or two of disposable exam gloves, 3-4 more plastic drying colanders or strainers, and lots of surface area on which to work. No metal colanders or strainers...they pick up the oxide and just waste it.


3) Before I started, I set up the entire assembly line so I was ready to go. Literally and figuratively, I had a dry run before pouring any solutions.

4a.) First I mixed the blue-appearing Caswell black oxide solution with distilled water. 1 urine cup of Caswell’s solution to 9 urine cups of distilled water. (I dumped the solution IN FIRST, so as to rinse the initial pour with the subsequent addition of the distilled water.) I poured those reagents in the platic take home food container (or other similar container). I used two somewhat flat mesh strainers...not conical, as initially I was trying to keep some of the parts separate from the others so that I wouldn’t get them confused. As with most things we do, there’s a learning curve here, and once you “get the hang of it”, things can be done pretty quickly.

4b.) Caswell says to leave the items in for about 4 minutes, but you can see them blackening and I never really timed the process. I never used the watch shown in the photo. As I worked along, I just moved from station to station completing steps as I went. No matter what James Bond says, you can both shake and stir the parts and the solution to get the best exposure you can. I think this helps ensure complete black oxide coverage. This set up is great for fasteners and small parts but you’ll have to be more creative to do bigger or more awkward items. (e.g. Tho’ I didn’t want to use aluminum foil, I did make a trough to blacken the long throttle rod to which the throttle acuators clamp.)

4c.) Once satisfactorily blackened, I transferred the parts to a medium sized (yellow) colander with a handle and rinsed the parts under running tap water, shaking the parts as I rinsed. I don’t think you need to use distilled water here, tho’ in theory it has no minerals or metals in it.

4d.) While still in that colander/stainer, I brushed the parts with the Caswell protectant solution, saving the brush in a clean ziplock bag for future use. Again, I shook the parts around so as to spread the Caswell final protectant around the blackened parts.

4e.) This step might be unnecessary, but I bought these great rectangular colanders at one of those dollar stores, so next I dumped the parts into them for final drying. Once dry, I returned the fasteners to their home jars for final assembly later.

Please email me if I made any errors here or for any suggestions for my next run. If you made it through this drivel, I thank you for your patience. If you did not, I can hardly blame you. steve
Compulsive cataloging.jpg
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Most things needed for Black Ox.jpg
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Ready for Black Ox bath.jpg
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Drying off.jpg
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steve meltzer,
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DWR46
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Re: How to do the black oxide deal (long)

Post by DWR46 »

Steve: That is a very good write up! You have done a service to the community.
Steve Meltzer
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Re: How to do the black oxide deal (long)

Post by Steve Meltzer »

Dyke, thanx for the high compliment. I didn't realize that when I uploaded the pictures they would be in reverse order [moderator: fixed]. I've already found at least one error in grammar/syntax, despite many proofreads. argggghhhh. s
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Re: How to do the black oxide deal (long)

Post by 330GT »

Steve Meltzer wrote:Tho’ I didn’t want to use aluminum foil, I did make a trough to blacken the long throttle rod to which the throttle acuators clamp.
Items like long rods can be done using a piece of PVC pipe of sufficient diameter and length. Glue on a cap on one end, fill it with the solution and put the item in for as long as necessary. When done, pour out the solution, rinse and save for the next time. This doesn't require a lot of solution and is pretty spill proof along with not being very expensive, just a few bucks for a 10' long pipe, cap and PVC cement. BTW, if you have a small car, take along a hand saw or ask the store personal to cut it as 10' doesn't fit in most cars.

PS, Steve, you can put pictures inline (embedded) in the text. That way they are in the proper order and illustrate the text.
Regards, Kerry
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Steve Meltzer
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Re: How to do the black oxide deal (long)

Post by Steve Meltzer »

The PVC pipe is a great idea, Kerry. How do I embed the pictures, within the text, so that they follow the text and make more sense? thanx. s
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Terry Gardiner
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Re: How to do the black oxide deal (long)

Post by Terry Gardiner »

Great post Steve, thank you.
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David Booth
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Re: How to do the black oxide deal (long)

Post by David Booth »

Since Steve mentioned me as a sort of catalyst in his decision to try the Caswell kit in his post above, I feel as though I ought to add a couple of notes on my experience as it might pertain to the rest of you.

Black oxide finishing is as you probably know, a sort of controlled rusting of the steel surface of your part, but with an oily protectant layer on top to make it black instead of rust-colored. It should really be thought of as a sort of non-permanent finish, no matter whether you're doing it with one of the kits, or sending it out to a professional shop.

Since I work in what is most charitably described as a "sporadic" way, the main advantage of the kit for me is that I can do the finishing on a couple of parts at a time as needed, and have them ready to go on the car in an hour or so. This is obviously preferable to putting together a batch of parts to send to a professional shop, and then forgetting that I did it and having the shop owner get tired of waiting and threaten to throw them out.

Next, as Steve mentions above, you have to be scrupulous about cleaning the parts. Don't blast them while oily, and after blasting, don't touch them with your fingers before starting the oxiding process. A good cleaning step is to dip the parts briefly in acetone.

I get somewhat better results if I brush the parts with a stiff nylon-bristle brush (Harbor Freight throwaways) about halfway through the oxiding process.

Caswell also sells a "sealing" product that you use instead of oil for the top-coat. It's nothing more than a water-based clear paint, which Caswell freely admits, and is definitely NOT recommended. Motor oil, whether new or used, works much better, but obviously only protects as long as it's' there.

Good luck,
David
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Steve Meltzer
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Re: How to do the black oxide deal (long)

Post by Steve Meltzer »

David, thanx for the extra info and tips. Much appreciated. steve
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