[Warren Seale]

I know a lot of restorations make the master cylinder cast metal gray but my original master cylinder that I removed 15 years ago has a mix of rust and what looks like a black painted finish. I bought the car new so I know that it is the original one. Can anyone confirm that it was painted black in 79? If this was the case, was it flat black or did it have some gloss?

Thanks,
Warren

[2manyT/A'S]

My observation is that factory installed M/C's of that era WERE painted black.
I prefer to paint mine with semi gloss or trim black which is likely very close to what the factory used.

FYI: The proportioning valve hanger bracket is ALSO semi-gloss black & the prop valve itself appears to be natural/unfinished (slight rust).

My data was gathered from low mileage Van Nuys built cars. I would assume that Norwood birds should be the same.

[68ragtop]

My 79 has 41K miles on it & I am 99% sure its the original one knowing the history of the car. It is part black & part light rust. So I would agree.

I also think there was a small evdence of a small white sticker on it too, but I could be dreaming. I'll double check next time I am out in the shop.

[Father&Son73T/A]

Here's mine from our 79 W-72 19k mile car.

[Mr W72]

Here is mine, 11,382 mile original.

[Warren Seale]

Originally Posted by Mr W72

Here is mine, 11,382 mile original.

Ah crap. I see the proportioning valve bracket is a silver color. I went ahead and painted it semigloss black like the master cylinder. Oh well , it's already installed so it stays black.

Is this a Van Nuys or Norwood car?

Warren

[2manyT/A'S]

In the pictures Father & son and Mrw72 provided,the prop valve bracket appears to be natural steel or rust colored.
The ones that I have removed were similar looking on the front, but on the back side where the bracket was clamped against booster/prop valve,there was evidence of semi gloss black paint.
This bracket was likely treated to the same "quality" paint job that the front subframe got at the factory ,which started to come off the first time it got wet or sat in a humid enviroment.
It appeared there was NO prep or cleaning done before the paint was applied.
Might be interesting to pull your brackets & have a look at the back side to see if there is some black paint residue.
It's possible that the Norwood built cars DIDN'T have paint on their brackets,but not likely.

Let us know what you find!

[Bentwheelbob]

Reviving this old thread as I am replacing the booster and m/c on the Gold Car....

Was a consensus ever reach on the color of the prop valve bracket - black. natural steel or gold cad?

[Aus78Formula]

Appear to have been bare steel or blackened with phosphate similar to hood hinges, years on just a steel grey finish.