1968 Cast Blast paint

[Tequila]

Hello,
I just got my power steering system rebuilt and they painted it cast blast grey. The person who did the work is a well respected Mustang expert locally. Since he put cast blast on the linkage components & steering box I was wondering if I could paint the lower cross member and the tie rods the same color?

I am planning on leaving the cast blast grey paint for the steering components. Or should I paint the tie rod and the cross member black? The lower and upper control arms that I am planning on getting are solid black in color.

Any recommendations?
Thanks

 

[dalorzo_f]

I believe the engine cross member should be semi-gloss black.

Not sure why you would repaint the tie rods shown in cast blast black??? Or are you talking about the idler arm that mounts to the frame on the passenger side? If so cast blast to match the rest would be fine...

 

[franklinair]

Front suspension Natural Parts: Tie rods, tie rod adjustment sleeves, idler arm, drag link, pitman arm, steering box, strut rods, strut washers, sway bar end links & mounting brackets, spindles, upper control arms, spring seats, P/S control valve & cylinder. Lower control arms (all have jacking tabs) black with natural ball joint ends.
This is from the MCA judging rules. Hope this helps.

Neil

 

[Tequila]

I believe the engine cross member should be semi-gloss black.

Not sure why you would repaint the tie rods shown in cast blast black??? Or are you talking about the idler arm that mounts to the frame on the passenger side? If so cast blast to match the rest would be fine...

Sorry.... I meant to ask about the sway bar. Thanks..

 

[Tequila]

Front suspension Natural Parts: Tie rods, tie rod adjustment sleeves, idler arm, drag link, pitman arm, steering box, strut rods, strut washers, sway bar end links & mounting brackets, spindles, upper control arms, spring seats, P/S control valve & cylinder. Lowe control arms (all have jacking tabs) black with natural ball joint ends.
This is from the MCA judging rules. Hope this helps.

Neil

Thanks Neil. Natural finish is for concours right? I will paint the cross member semi gloss black but since I am not going for concours I think I will paint the sway bar and strut rods cast blast grey to match the steering components.

 

[franklinair]

The sway bar looks better black. JMHO. (And the heavy duty type unit helps.)

Neil

 

[Tequila]

The sway bar looks better black. JMHO. (And the heavy type duty unit helps.)

Neil

Consider it done!!! I just got done painting the tilt steering column charcoal black and I had painted the sway bar grey but I can change it easily to the semi gloss black to match the cross member. Thanks guys!!!

 

[franklinair]

I don't adhere strictly to the MCA guidelines, but fairly close.

Neil

 

[J_Speegle]

Hello,
Any recommendations?

Would paint the cross member gloss black as other mentioned. For the steering parts (except the ram) would paint (if you have to paint) using a phosphate color rather than cast blast. Those parts were heat treated not bare natural cast iron plus you have two different finishes on 68 tie rods (heat treated steel for the body and machined cap on the bottom

Shooting cast blast makes everything mono tone - something we saw allot of in early to mid 90's on restorations and something for shows, restorations and ebay adds that often is seen as a negative.

Parts like the throttle bell crank were original plated phosphate so another reason not to choose cast blast. Only thing I would use cast blast on (if I had to use paint) would be the steering box after I restored the machined surfaces and did the cap in zinc and masked those surfaces off

Good luck with your choices - be proud of the ones you make - only you can