I know they were originally coated and dipped. Has anyone ever painted them close to the yellow/goldish color? Want the look but thinking drive ability too.

I used Resto Rick's Quasimoline Paint recommended above, here's a pic before I put the arms on the car.

jess

I used Krylon battery protector and it worked just great!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Krylon-1307-Battery-Protector-11-oz-Aerosol-New-/371249746007?hash=item5670359057:g:BQcAAOSwBahUz-gi

I had my control arms powder coated a natural steel color and then treated them with the Krylon battery protector. I'm happy with how they turned out. I can't comment on durability until my car is assembled and on the road.

Used the resto Rick quasimoline and it came out great.

Cosmoline works great (and it's original!). First pic is my originals being dipped, second shot is an NOS example

Thanks guys!!! Think I'll do resto ricks

Scott is it true that some 71 and up b-bodies were painted black instead? I have a couple of those cars and there is no evidence of cosmoline coating. They are Lynch road cars and have black LCA,s

Cosmoline wore off quite quickly, I doubt you'd find any on most examples, normally you just see bare steel and rust. What you can sometimes see is a line near the ends where the metal is in better or worse condition indicating that some areas had protection for a while and others did not. *Also, don't mistake any inspection paint blotches you see as part of an overall coverage, the torsion bar adjusters are commonly blotched with paint, some of it was black.

Chrysler had multiple vendors for most parts, not all vendors did things the same way in meeting the specs on the print, one might have used Cosmoline while another used paint to offer the required temporary rust protection. Then there were different vendors for different plants (and Lynch Road and Los Angeles are known for having some unique parts sources) There could have been a change mandated by Chrysler to paint them black in later years.

That said, MANY replacement parts were painted black, likely because it offered better rust protection and made for an easier to handle part.

All of my NOS examples have been Cosmolined, and most had part label tags dated in the early to mid 1970's, after 1971 production ended.

So yes, it's possible yours were black. When faced with (any) detail that is out of the accepted "norm" it's always a good idea to document as many unmolested examples as possible to support your case.

Maybe it`s the pics but Resto Rick`s stuff looks a little to orange? All the NOS ones I have seen were more greenish/darker in color.

A.O. Smith was the original vendor to supply Chrysler with the lower control arms, after the arms were constructed, they were place on a overhead conveyor hook line that then took them into a large Cosmoline tank, the LCA's were suspended by the ball joint socket casting hole in the LCA, Chryslers specs were not to sumbmerge the part completely, as wax in the ball joint socket prevented proper speedy assembly on the line, plus the line worker had ZERO time to clean out the socket, the Cosmoline dip line will vary as the level in the tanks at A.O Smith would vary daily due to the consumption/volume of product traveling thru them, when production quotas were met, the remaining stock of LCA's were them completely submerged in a tank of black paint wash to completely seal the part from rusting, these black LCA's were intended for dealer/service stock as shelf life would/could be a matter of years, and as a service replacement the installer had the time to remove any paint from a ball joint socket, or any other assembly end of the LCA,...there could be the chance some may have made it to the assy line because of a vendor shortage?, a misdirected order? any host of reasons.

Mike

IMHO Cosmoline is the only way to get an authentic finish, I only do my restorations of LCA's in Cosmoline, and while it seems it takes forever for them to completely "dry", they are something best done very early in the resto so they can hang around and cure, that being said I have some LCA's that I did 20 years ago with tens of thousands of street driven dry/wet miles on them that still look freshly Cosmolined...the trick is not to overdo the coating whether you spray or dip it in Cosmoline


Mike

I bought new upper/lower control arms around 1985 & they where all black I think possibly one was red oxide,they did get respray bombed black back then.

Got 20+ years on LCA's that were blasted, primed, and sprayed in black satin urethrathane...


Holding-up real well...


Can't see going 'cosmo' for a driver...

what is the drying time for cosmoline. are we talking weeks or months here?

It varies with temperature and humidity, after several days to a couple weeks it usually hardens to a fairly tough waxy texture, it continues to harden over the next couple months as the solvents evaporate from it.

Isn't Resto Rick's item actually real cosmoline served up in a spray can so you don't have buy 5 gallons to dip it? According to his web site,

"Aerosol spray can of Cosmoline rust inhibitor coating as used on Mopar lower control arms. Also an excellent corrosion inhibitor for coating inner panels such as door skins. Price: $10.00"

I bought a can but haven't used it yet.