Buddy Bar open letter valve covers

  • Hey gents I’ve got a set of buddy bar open letter valve covers that I want to restore, they have been painted on etc…I do not want to ruin the value of these things so I am going to ask if anyone has done this and if you can give any pointers. I was planning on sand blasting then polishing the fins however after reading on a blog I noted someone more schooled than I mentioned one of the ways to tell a re-pop from authentic is the re-pop is too polished. So I guess what I am looking for here will blasting the aluminum or polishing the fins hurt the value? If it’s ok to blast should I put anything on the raw aluminum to protect it and how polished we’re the fins after manufacture…will just a light sanding and hand buffing work or does it require polishing on a buffing wheel. Thanks for any info :)

  • Hey gents I’ve got a set of buddy bar open letter valve covers that I want to restore, they have been painted on etc…I do not want to ruin the value of these things so I am going to ask if anyone has done this and if you can give any pointers. I was planning on sand blasting then polishing the fins however after reading on a blog I noted someone more schooled than I mentioned one of the ways to tell a re-pop from authentic is the re-pop is too polished. So I guess what I am looking for here will blasting the aluminum or polishing the fins hurt the value? If it’s ok to blast should I put anything on the raw aluminum to protect it and how polished we’re the fins after manufacture…will just a light sanding and hand buffing work or does it require polishing on a buffing wheel. Thanks for any info :)

    Originally all the sand cast 1963-66 “COBRA POWERED BY FORD” rocker arm covers and oil pans for Cobras and Mustangs were chemically polished on the inside while the outside was a very fine matt finish and all the tops of raised features were highly (almost mirror) polished. The exteriors were also treated with some type sealer to help fill micro pores in the exteriors and retard corrosion.


    I would not recommend glass bead blasting any engine part surface that is open to interior of the engine. Some beads break during blasting and microscopic shards of glass stick into the metal. The tiny pieces of glass will over time fall free and get into the engine lubrication system. The affect is like putting grit in the engine on purpose. Sand blasting with silica sand is worse. Inside surfaces can be media blasted with dry ice, metal shot, or something softer like walnut shell or baking soda media. Dry ice blasting is the only media blasting method that makes zero changes to the surfaces being cleaned but service providers are few and far in between.


    Assuming a casting has not yet been media blasted by anybody, any hard media blasting has the potential to make the parts less desirable for top end restorations now or later. (I once followed a thread as somebody took a $3,000 Cobra part and turned it into a $600 Cobra part after a few minutes of glass bead blasting.)


    Exterior wise, the oil fill tube and brackets for spark plug wire loom clips have to be removed to do a great job on the exteriors of the castings. The baffle on the oil fill side has to come out to remove and replace the fill tube carefully. That is also the time to do any metal work repairs to the steel parts and get them replated. Some shops discard the original steel parts and install new reproductions. New rivets have to be purchased. A lot of people will not care but high end customers probably don’t want reproduction bits you can see on the covers.


    I am working on some aluminum cast parts that originally had a very fine matt finish like the rocker arm covers in question. I bought a small bench top cabinet and have been experimenting with different size grades of aluminum oxide ‘grit’ and different air pressures to recreate the 1960s matt texture. Small test samples look very promising. I will do more testing on scrap before an ultra rare part gets done.


    Top restorers use all kinds of chemicals and protectants to seal the pores on the exterior of aluminum and magnesium castings as a last step. I have heard of WD40®, LPS3®, Gibbs Oil®, Boshield T9®, and others being used and people being happy with the results. Gibbs Oil is widely used to help seal magnesium part surfaces (works best for me).

    Dan

  • You might want to determine what version of parts you have before doing anything. The original 1964 model year covers were made as production parts for new Cobras. The assemblies Cobras used are rare as loose parts and extremely rare in never damaged or media blasted condition. I have been looking for a PCV side cover since 2005 that is totally unmolested. The covers were sold by Ford as accessories for other 1964 Fords but it must not have been a popular purchase. Circa January 1965 more than one of wooden master patterns started being used and before new 1966 MUSTANG GT350s changed to using the new die cast covers other production revisions happened.

    Dan

  • Thank you Dan this was exactly what I was looking for…BTW I use aluminum oxide in my cabinet. But it appears I may want to dry ice blast these and I had never even herd of that process. I also am pleased to hear the ribs were high polished as that is what I wanted to do

  • Thank you Dan this was exactly what I was looking for…BTW I use aluminum oxide in my cabinet. But it appears I may want to dry ice blast these and I had never even herd of that process. I also am pleased to hear the ribs were high polished as that is what I wanted to do

    You are welcome.

    Dan

  • You might want to determine what version of parts you have before doing anything. The original 1964 model year covers were made as production parts for new Cobras. The assemblies Cobras used are rare as loose parts and extremely rare in never damaged or media blasted condition. I have been looking for a PCV side cover since 2005 that is totally unmolested. The covers were sold by Ford as accessories for other 1964 Fords but it must not have been a popular purchase. Circa January 1965 more than one of wooden master patterns started being used and before new 1966 MUSTANG GT350s changed to using the new die cast covers other production revisions happened.

  • How would one determine witch one I have? All I know is they were open letter, have the “buddy bar” stamp and some knucklehead painted them orange…I can post a pic when I get home. I figured they were period correct for my 65 and authentic so I bought them to match the 3 Duce I’m installing on the car

  • How would one determine witch one I have? All I know is they were open letter, have the “buddy bar” stamp and some knucklehead painted them orange…I can post a pic when I get home. I figured they were period correct for my 65 and authentic so I bought them to match the 3 Duce I’m installing on the car

    Every wooden master pattern resulted in unique castings, i.e. every wooden master was different in some ways a little or a lot. There was only one wooden pattern in 1963 and 1964 for 1964 engines. It gets more complicated in late 1964 as the first MUSTANG GT350s used parts from the aborted production of Cobras. During 1965 several new wooden masters were carved and from then on several versions of castings followed. Oil fill tubes changed multiple times also. The last part number created was introduced in May 1965.

    I have a large slide show I created that has details and pictures of all the 1963-1964 Cobra part versions and some details on the ones made 1965 and later. If you want a copy send me your email address in a message through this site. The current slide show has 29 pages of information and illustrations.

    Parts made in 1963-64 for 1964 engines are tough to find and sought by Cobra owners and restorers. I have hunted for a PCV side cover that was suitable for an unrestored 1964 car since 2004-2005. If one you have turned out to be a 1964 part and could be just gently cleaned of paint I would be interested in finding a 1965 replacement to make some kind of trade arrangement.

    Dan

  • Received and a big thanks!! Obviously, you put a lot of work and research into this document and it is very helpful. Thanks again Dan!

  • Hi Dan. I'm currently restoring a set of Buddy Bar open letter valve covers for my son's replica 289 Cobra that we are trying to get as correct as possible (other than the plastic body!). I have cleaned the valve covers in the ultrasonic cleaner and vapor blasted them, but would like to know a good method to polish the fins and letters. Sanding them with progressively finer paper seems straight forward enough, but once that is done, how does one polish them without getting the black residue on the cast surface?

    Thanks,

    Bobby

  • Bobby,

    To make them look something like they were the day made the exterior (less plated steel parts) would be given a very fine matt finish through carefully selected aluminum oxide media first.

    Then the just blasted surface would be sealed chemically. Some people use a modern corrosion inhibitor product to fill the pores in the metal; there are aqueous and non aqueous versions for sale.

    As manufactured type process.

    Then the tops of raised features would be machine buffed with something like a cotton buff and soft metal stick type polishing compound taking care not to push the buff down between raised features. Originally the tops of raised surfaces had as close as one might get to a mirror finish in a job shop production situation. All polishing would be lengthwise as much as possible.


    Remove any polishing compound residue. I just use WD40® lubricant and a soft cloth most of the time on polished parts.


    Hand polishing type process.

    I have repaired unrestored polished areas, usually tarnished by something like anti-freeze solution or battery acid, by hand slowly. 600 wet or dry paper wetted with soapy water or WD40 lengthwise of the part. Step wise repeat with finer grades each step to at least 2400 grit. Then your favorite magnesium or aluminum polish can be used with a thick rubber sanding block wrapped in fine weave cotton cloth or thin rough leather until the desired surface finish is obtained.

    Dan

  • To the broader audience, be aware that many cover sand castings have lots of small gas bubble voids in the aluminum. Harsh solid media blasting can enlarge voids that were exposed during original manufacture and break open voids just under the surface. Once whatever raised features finishing is done these little pits can be anything between hardly noticeable to very noticeable depending on how many and how large the pits are. Polishing compound in the pits shows up as dark spots.

    Top restorers avoid making visible pitting worse than it was day one.

    Dan

  • Thanks Dan, your information is always appreciated. This photo is after a dip in the ultrasonic cleaner and vapor blasting, but you can see the scratches on the fins that will need to be removed as part of the polishing effort.

    Bobby

    To make them pretty just takes a little time mostly. Reworking them to look like Barksdale's company made them is a lot of trouble; ditto all the aluminum intakes they made or the intakes made by Offenhauser. 1963-64 made parts have evidence of many steps, multiple mill table set ups, and lots of hand work. The covers made for Cobras with 1964 model year engines were all made off a single wooden master pattern. Raw castings were cleaned up with hand files and machined to create oil fill tube and PCV valve versions. The insides were chemically polished to a slick surface. The outsides were media blasted to create a fine dull matt finish and then sealed by something. Raised appearance side features were polished. Oil fill tubes appear to have been hand made in a set of processes that cut pieces of preplated steel tubing to length and added the SAE type beads with something like a Parker® tool set. It appears some type hand tool was used to lock the oil tubes in place. Unmolested oil fill tubes have all the evidence of all the steps required to make and install them as artifacts.


    Circa January 1965 the whole manufacturing scheme was changed and many fewer steps were applied. Multiple new wooden patterns made to revised designs so that oil fill and PCV sides got their own castings meant less machine work was required on raw castings. Oil fill tubes were redesigned and became machine made it appears. The internal chemical polishing was dropped. The external matt texturing remained but to me the covers made 1965-66 were much more variable in appearance of the finish with some covers being quite bright fresh matt aluminum day one while others could be a medium gray color.

    Dan

    Edited once, last by Dan Case: add detail (September 16, 2021 at 6:52 PM).

  • Dan

    Could you send me your slide show on the Cobra valve cover variations? I am particularly interested in the early “closed system” Cobra valve covers.

    Thanks much

    Steve

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