74 duster hood latch finish?

Curious on a 74 duster the hood latch,pop up spring,hood catch and striker. What finish would they have? owner says he has 2 original 74 a bodies and the catch and spring are body color. My thought they all would not be.

On a trunk the striker naturally is body color and the latch is normal latch coating?

What is everyone using for the latch coatings if not sending them in for redoing?

One of the Archive threads, there's a few, addressed this. General opinion:
Pop-up spring black phosphate
Hood latch & secondary catch a brownish zinc.
Hood striker body color.
Hood release lever brown zinc.
Trunk latch clear zinc (silver color).
Trunk striker may have varied by plant, either clear zinc or painted.
Attaching bolts to plated items black phosphate.
No painted latches or levers on anything I can think of.
Actually, different parts of the latches were different colors/plating.

Scott Smith's observations differ:
Moparts Forums › topics › factory-finishes-for-70-340-duster-parts-help

1973 survivor

Car was aftermarket undercoated when new. That is the black you see top of inner fenders



Looks like same grey-brown finish as 71 and earlier cars.

More pics here: https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1619053/1.html

The hood catch is finished in black zinc, which means it is zinc plated and dipped in black chromate. The final color is sometimes more brownish than black. See photos here that are labeled "black zinc".

Can’t say I’ve ever experienced or seen black chromate appear brownish, though slight variations in depth of color and amount of iridescent effect does vary. It’s a beautiful finish that’s very durable.

I decided to see if I could find anything on the subject of “brown” chromate and stumbled onto the following link on finishing.com (great forum for all things plating)

https://www.finishing.com/587/97.shtml

Bill posted three photos of examples, where the first appears easiest to read. To me this appears to be a trunk latch with two distinctive finished, black chromate and yellow chromate. The yellow appears very dark as if left in the chromate solution for an extended period or very concentrated bath, as one response later suggests. The black does appear light and unsure why this occurred, thin base layer of zinc? Worn out chromate bath? Reduced time in chromate?

The follow on 2 photos to me appear similar, but black, where I think it may just be the light source adding to the brownish color, particularly on the hood latch as the top surface is the only surface that doesn’t appear black.

Of course while he stated the parts were protected from sun and never installed, plating degradation over 45-50 years Lilly had some affect on the visual aspect of the finish

SF Resto does this plating

He took over the business Jules had that this web board section is named after

Read here:

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthread.../s-f-restoration-in-jules-footsteps.html

And : https://m.facebook.com/pages/catego...estauration-Automobile-1863991680523016/

the correctly restored "brown zinc" hood latch on my '69 Cuda, by Stephan.

These two gentlemen have always performed fist class work, and perhaps more noteworthy is their professional demeanor and ethical business practice.

I found this thread interesting, and apparently at a time when Jules was on the road of discovery;

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/139012.html

Since that time Jules was able to find a solution, with Stephan perfecting the results after his passing.

Hats off to both gents for their contributions to the hobby!

Hi,

What is the average cost to have these latches, strikers, catches, etc. plated?

Best to simply send the photos of the parts you want restored to Stephan. He will get back to you fairly quickly with an accurate quote.
Jim

I agree. Just wondering what folks are paying.

I dug back through my emails and here are the costs to do my Cuda parts. These prices are 2 years old. They are in CAD funds
Main hood latch: $ 185
Safety hook: $ 95
Trunk latch : $ 95
Trunk catch: $ 20
Door latches: $ 150 ( pair )
Strikers: $ 50 ( pair )
Wiper motor 3 speed $ 325
Wiper motor 2 speed $ 225

Thanks for sharing!