Bracket color
 

I am repainting the accessory brackets on my 72. What type of black? Satin, semi gloss or full gloss

All GM A-bodies I have seen, use satin black for brackets.

All original alt. brackets I've seen we're not painted, they are natural metal.

Pat
I am looking for the shade of black for Alt bracket that mounts to the block and the power steering brackets. these are steel. if they were natural they would've rusted. mine were definitely painted some shade of black.

John

Isn't it a 60 degree gloss? I believe it's the "Underhood" black our sponsor sells.

Performance years site says it is now supplied by Eastwood. Is eastwoods underwood black close to original finish?

I don't know about the Eastwood but I have went to using The Underhood Black from NAPA. May not be correct but I feel it's close. Some others may have used other paints that may work better.

Just cleaned up the ring that bolts lower pulley to balancer. All the oil preserved the paint underneath? Very close match to Eastwoods underwood black.

Original alt & ps brackets for '71's, '72's. 73's were not painted. Originally they had a black phosphate finish which disappears after many years. The brackets & small idler pulley used with the optional 80 Amp idler pulley set-up also received a phosphate finish that faded with time.

71+ w/p & crank pulleys & the retaining ring for the crank pulleys were originally dip painted near 90% gloss. NOS examples of '71+ engine pulleys will often be near 100% gloss black. In estimating 90% gloss am going from experience refinishing these pulleys, & was confirmed again in '98 when I dragged in a garaged all its life 4K mile original '72 Lux LeMans as a parts car. So many times home restorers break out a can of 1613 Krylon or other satin black spray can & paint all the '71+ brackets & pulleys that color, it will look better than nothing, but is not correct.

Ahhhh... Thanks Roger, now that makes sense of all my brackets I've gathered over the years. My HO was missing that rear alt bracket and all 3 of the ones I had we're all natural metal. Faded. Led me to believe they were not painted. My original HO AC bracket looks the same way.

looking at what i have been blasting cinfirms that. the pullys and ring clearly showed that they were dipped. my alt and P/S brackets had been rattle canned at one time black.

Is there a way to duplicate the original black phosphate finish?

Pat - do you have more pics of that engine you can send me - I would love to have them for reference

Black Phosphate
 

Check out Palmetto Enterprises or Brownells. They both sell DIY phosphating solution that is easy to use and effective. Skip the Eastwood stuff. I'm sure if you search this forum you can find some photos and discussions. Also, there are a ton of youtube videos on doing a black phosphate finish as this is the common milspec gun finish.

Lines up with what I have noticed while judging a few documented 72 survivor cars. The finish on the brackets after all these years looked light a light grey phosphate. It was obviously darker when new.

There are a bunch on my web site. I've been documenting my engine and all the original parts. If you need a specific shot, Lmk.

My Palmetto black -71 brackets, they are darker in real life.
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...e/IMGP2695.jpg

And mounted on the engine
http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...e/IMGP3006.jpg