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Bare brass radiator tank look

Jonk67

Jonk67

Well-Known Member
Finished aligning and mounting the 24" '68 radiator & shroud last night, fabbed aluminum strips down the sides so that I didn't have to use the top/bottom mounts that the '68's used. Of course the new radiator had scratches on the top so I had planned to scuff and repaint the top of the tank.

Then I decided to see what it would look like stripped.... once stripped i really liked the bare brass look. I really like raw metals - aluminum, brass, copper and this car only has black, ford blue and silver/aluminum in the engine bay. I thought this may look a little different and add somemore raw metal color to the open hood engine bay.

Let me know what ya'll think? I'll clear coat it once shiney, I can always paint over with black if I don't like it later. At first I had forgotten there would be some silver solder but now it just adds to the 'patina' to me and the raw look. I can always put a coat of black on it later if I tire of it.

Test fit:
IMG_0209.jpg


Raw brass:
IMG_1293.jpg


I will paint the metal straps that lap over the top corners black as they come up from the side. Next decision is do I have to strip the bottom tank to match or will it look uneven if not?

Thoughts? I know this isn't everyone's cup-o-beer but I think it looks different and isn't too gawdy or overpowering for color in the engine bay.
Jon
 
I like it too... will autosol polish work to brighten up the solder on the straps that curve around the ends? that might look cool too...
 
Wont it clash with the aluminum on the engine, valve cover, intake, carb, air cleaner, etc? I think it would look kinda cool on a 65/66 HiPo motor with the gold valve covers.

Don't get me wrong, I like the color, i just think it would clash.
 
I like it too. We used to do that to our cars before we got lazy and gave up on the good looking stuff. Now, if it don't make it go faster, we don't mess with it.
 
But John, think of the weight savings of removing those old layers of paint... less weight = more go fast :confu




:sarc
 
I did that to a '65 20 years ago after it came back from the re-corer half-stripped of paint, I just removed the rest and used brasso regularly. I ended up painting the "straps" black. I'll post a pic.

(please excuse the poorly-detailed engine area, this was before I knew better.)

202-010311204155-75981449.jpeg
 
Thanks for all the input, I plan to paint the straps like the above pic, they're too beat up to look any good buffed out and they're just dull steel. I agree with Rick that it would really pop with gold valve covers like original on a '65-'66. I'd like to take a set of early steel VC and have the tall spouts welded on like the T/A cars, maybe I'll do the VC gold then?

Hopefully it won't clash too bad with all the alum. but the alum. VC, carb. and air cleaner lid aren't really highly polished either and everything else is blue or black. I think I'll clear coat it which will dull it some and see what people think at cruise ins/ car shows, heck I can always paint black over it again, no loss. With my hood light it'll be like a beacon at night time cruise ins, just the light used to attracted people as it was since they could see what they were looking at vs. a dark engine bay.

I did decide that stipping the bottom tank to match is too anal retentive for me even :peter, I don't think I can see any of it from most angles. The nice thing is you won't see the gold top unless the hoods open so it'll still be blacked out from the front.
Jon
 
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