Joe C
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2005
- Messages
- 78
- Location
- palm coast florida
- Corvette
- 1985 two-tone silver/graphite z51 auto
while my NCRS days are long gone, I still strive to keep things looking "factory." I recently rebuilt an alternator for my 85 daily driver, and tried something, while it may not be unique, was something I stumbled across during the case refinish. i know bead blasting may be controversial, but none the less, I did bead blast the case. I have a small blasting cabinet, and the medium is TP Tool's Speed Bead Abrasive (80% glass, 20% aluminum oxide) - pressure at 80psi. cleaned the case, and as noted, typical bead blasted finish. this is where I tried something new - new to me anyway. I used a small piece of "white" scotch-bright and a little Wenol polishing compound (red tube). it was a real light polish - kind of like cleaning the wife's fine china. the scotch-bright/wenol took the freshly blasted look - both texture and color back to, IMO, a pretty decent, OE factory look. I'M NOT TRYING TO SAY THIS IS CORRECT OR BETTER THAN ANY PROFESSIONAL RESTO, just looking for some feedback and comments. (there' a little color shift in the before/after photos, but you get the idea)
![IMG_0939.JPG IMG_0939.JPG](https://forums.corvetteactioncenter.com/data/attachments/12/12567-a3e360fd14b0464c85b15a9c0f0de05d.jpg)
BTW, what I've found, at least on my C4, the case is not an aluminum alloy, but it seems to be a zinc-aluminum alloy. what mix, I have no idea, but there seems to be only three ratios used in castings. it's too heavy and the color differs too much to be a straight aluminum alloy.
BTWII - i picked up this alternator on fleabay as a spare for $50. the date code on this thing is one day before my original. not that it matters on a C4 daily driver, but what are the odds???
![IMG_0902.JPG IMG_0902.JPG](https://forums.corvetteactioncenter.com/data/attachments/12/12566-df038f48166dab540a70c8c0228445ff.jpg)
![IMG_0939.JPG IMG_0939.JPG](https://forums.corvetteactioncenter.com/data/attachments/12/12567-a3e360fd14b0464c85b15a9c0f0de05d.jpg)
![80-img_0900_962bc0826ba8f74356bdc92ccd591a08df02837a.jpg](https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.corvetteforum.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/80-img_0900_962bc0826ba8f74356bdc92ccd591a08df02837a.jpg)
![80-img_0938_af68649a5c0c55456cc3bedfa8907fb416307232.jpg](https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.corvetteforum.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/80-img_0938_af68649a5c0c55456cc3bedfa8907fb416307232.jpg)
![80-img_0901_2e416635a6a81c8989ceaf1cbbf8984f7dd9e81c.jpg](https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.corvetteforum.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/80-img_0901_2e416635a6a81c8989ceaf1cbbf8984f7dd9e81c.jpg)
![80-img_0940_0ced2af650ac379a096726720e52215def7f20cf.jpg](https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.corvetteforum.com-vbulletin/2000x1504/80-img_0940_0ced2af650ac379a096726720e52215def7f20cf.jpg)
BTW, what I've found, at least on my C4, the case is not an aluminum alloy, but it seems to be a zinc-aluminum alloy. what mix, I have no idea, but there seems to be only three ratios used in castings. it's too heavy and the color differs too much to be a straight aluminum alloy.
BTWII - i picked up this alternator on fleabay as a spare for $50. the date code on this thing is one day before my original. not that it matters on a C4 daily driver, but what are the odds???
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