Natural Finish on Tie Rods

Has anyone come up with a rattle can color that will duplicate the natural finish(heat-treated or drop forged look) on the tie rod ends,idler arm and pitman arm? I had to blast my 30 year old NORS parts and now they are light gray and I need the right color to put back on them. RPM won't do it for me, I need paint and I don't see that one in Eastwood's list.

VHT has an engine paint in rattle cans that is pretty close, but I can't remember the color or part number. Also, you could specify a color or have the correct color scanned and have a paint shop mix a quart or so and spray it out of a gun.

Depends on how picky you are.......If you are like me there's really only one "Natural" and that's no paint.

If paint is a must for you, keep in mind that bare media blasted cast iron is more grey/lighter than a fresh forging looks. I'd find a quality NOS cast iron suspension part and take it to a paint store to have it custom matched. Most cast iron paint I've seen is too glossy and has too much metallic.


.02

If you're going the paint route here's the trick...Spray it with a light color first..Go heavy with this coat to give you the coverage/weather resistance you need to keep it looking fresh...Let that coat flash and then add a darker color as a mist coat..This is the coat you can use as a tint to get that dark,forged color it needs to be...You can actually use more than one color to tint the part if desired to get that "as forged" look...
After the part completely dries use a scotchbrite pad to LIGHTLY scuff and highlight the part to bring out the casting grain,parting line,and other details as needed...
Here's an example using the technique...Eastwoods Zinc phosphate paint was used as the dark tint on this part is adds a nice charcoal tone to the part...

Screamindriver....Very nice job!

Thanks Scott...The scotchbrite also knocks down the shine...Obviously this is for a driver vehicle and the parts seem to hold up very well on the road and endure washings..

That's the look! Impressive.

That's a great technique! I love the look. Thanks for sharing.

Looks great.What light color did you use first?

Supper nice job! I like the look

It's a shame beautiful detail work like that will be seen by few.

Here's an NOS lower Ball Joint for comparisons, no treatment, just pulled out of a box

I think detail work like that is mainly for the person doing it. I have a finished car that has the copper colored left-hand wheel studs and green paint swipes across the spindle hubs. I never pull the dog dishes, but I know they are there. Most that look at the car are clueless about what is under the surface. But they get to say, "I had one just like this...".


It looks like the color is pretty close, just missing a dusting of rust color.

Copper spray paint lightly dusted comes close to rust when sprayed from about two feet away, says fullmetaljacket.

Very, very nice.

the above forged spindle/ball joint looks great, but should a cast caliper bracket have the same coloring & appearance?

Very nice job

Used the Eastwood Spray Gray and then their Zinc Phosphate, followed with the Scotch-Bright and it came out nice, but I am going to pass on the imitation rust this time around. The lacquer feels a little soft, were you able to find a way to harden the paint up? This is going to see some miles. I found some Rustoleum Satin Clear enamel as an option.

Thanks guys I have used different light colored paints in the past anything from a spraybomb epoxy to engine enamel,Seymours stainless steel paint comes to mind also...Having a "soft" paint isn't necessarily a bad thing for a suspension part it will take the road rash much better..
Dan, you're correct the parts probably shouldn't be exactly the same sometimes I use a different mist coat color to get a contrast between parts you wouldn't want every part looking the exact same... Even a mistcoat of flat black will do the job for the slightly different hue...The combinations are endless...

You know it's sad but true most of the details won't be seen unless you make it easy for people to see it...I have two long straight mirrors{4"x32"} I put front and back under a car and angle them with some collapsible wheel chocks to make it easy to look when standing at the car..Very few will actually get down to look under a car..I saw a hemi cuda with a pentastar made from cut glass at a show north of here I thought it was very creative to get people to look under there...
Lets face it at the local/regional car shows everything needs to go for the ride in the vehicle so that's the biggest consideration for the type of hardware in the trunk...

I've dipped some blasted parts in Eastwood's blackening solution before. Do NOT let it soak, just a quick dip to darken the color of the metal a bit. Gives it that heat treated appearance.
Then, you can apply either a matte clear or RPM to preserve it.

Glass bead the part, treat it in the Eastwood blackening for a second then hand polish the piece with 0000 steel wool. The steel wool will make the piece look new and natural again.

hemicuda- could you post some before and after pics of parts you have done this too. thanks

Screamin,

Great process man ! I'll certainly be using that technique for my driver to keep the rust off of those parts !

Thanks for sharing !