Correct Colour For Front Coil Springs

The most common finish would be semi-gloss black, but the more originals I see, the more my opinion leans towards them originally being a dark heat-treated appearance with no paint.

For San Jose I would rather see a dark heat treated finish,

Years ago we were interviewing one of the guys that laid out the plant (drawing the layout, out for us) and he drew a rectangle on the page and stated " theirs were the phosphated front coil springs were kept"

Of course the next question was "why did you call them - phospated" since the common thought of the time was that they were painted. It was odd that of all the details he remember - he recalled that one. But that is what interviews with these people are like. A little detail here another one there,

Assume that they were not phosphated just that they looked that way. And the dark heat treated finish can look very much like IMHO the dark magnesium phosphate

Quote from k code 65

Great story , thanks for input , i was thinking of Painting the Cast iron look as the Rear Springs will be also.

thanks, shane

Painting front coil springs with the "cast blast" type paint would be way too light. We're talking a very dark gray here. Would recommend to just go with black for now.

The manganese phosphate process yields a pretty dark finish, almost jet black when quenched in oil. Did Ford ever use it?

Quote from round2K

The manganese phosphate process yields a pretty dark finish, almost jet black when quenched in oil. Did Ford ever use it?

Yep, manganese phosphate and zinc phosphate were generally interchangeable when it came to fasteners. The way you can tell if a part was manganese phosphate is to touch an original area with some muriatic acid. If the acid removes the finish, it was manganese, if not, it was zinc phosphate.

Quote from CharlesTurner

The way you can tell if a part was manganese phosphate is to touch an original area with some muriatic acid. If the acid removes the finish, it was manganese, if not, it was zinc phosphate.

Just be careful when handling muriatic acid (aka hydrochloric acid). The fumes are extremely potent, and a chemical respirator should be used to prevent damage to the lungs from the vapors. It will also cause burns to the skin upon contact.

Isn't muriatic acid "pool acid"?

Use to use that in a plastic garage can to strip and derust parts in the "old days"

Quote from J_Speegle

Isn't muriatic acid "pool acid"?

Use to use that in a plastic garage can to strip and derust parts in the "old days"

Yes, it sure is. It is commonly used in swimming pools to adjust the water ph downward if necessary. It is a very powerful chemical, and a little goes a long way. It can also be used as a serious ceramic tile cleaner, and is used in a diluted form to "super clean" tiled swimming pool surfaces. It works very fast and aggressively, and has to be "neutralized" by rinsing quickly, or it will begin to dissolve the tile grouting.

If you do work with muriatic (hydrochloric) acid make sure there isn't any bleach nearby. If these two are mixed together deadly chlorine gas will be produced.