Topic: Windshield washer nozzles

[67gta289]

Could it just be that the original plating on the tube material wore off faster than on the steel bracket?

[67gtasanjose]

Could it just be that the original plating on the tube material wore off faster than on the steel bracket?

less likely if you looked closely at the pictures or had so whenever they were in your hands. I studied them visually before sending them to the plater. They simply looked like copper tubes with a semi-transparent black coating. Those pictures I posted earlier look alot like what I saw in person.

On EDIT:
I have no extra ones that could have been accidentally switched out for. These are what I took off my car at teardown.

[Bob Gaines]

I get what you are saying and pointed that out in my earlier reply but what do you make of my pictures?  Those, to the best of my knowledge are the original ones from my vehicle and there looks to be no sign of zinc on the tubes, as I said, they are currently COMPLETELY plated silver as you recommended. They also look to be single squirter nozzles too so the "all black originally" doesn't seem to fit either. Mind you, this was more for discussion than to set any rules or anomaly to any said pattern. Odds are, I never changed them out since the car's first paint job...most, if not ALL under hood finishes on this car were 95-100% original when I first bought it only 10 years old...things like these nozzles would typically have still looked much like new (in 1978 thru 80, which is the last time I would have had unfettered access to the junkyards around me). No signs of paint on them (only under them) at tear down so that DOES says they were removed a minimal of 3-times between 1978 and 1985 (the latest repainting prior to removing them for restoration this time).

The tubes do not look like black chromate to me. Black chromate is a very thin coating ON TOP of zinc . The chromate (gold or black) needs zinc to stick.   In the process of wearing /oxidizing off you would first see silver and then (in this case)the base copper .You would not see a darkish color and then copper underneath. It looks to be oxidation of the copper/zinc layer IMO.

[67gtasanjose]

The tubes do not look like black chromate to me. Black chromate is a very thin coating ON TOP of zinc . The chromate (gold or black) needs zinc to stick.   In the process of wearing /oxidizing off you would first see silver and then (in this case)the base copper .You would not see a darkish color and then copper underneath. It looks to be oxidation of the copper/zinc layer IMO.

I'm OK with that description.

[ruppstang]

I went through my stash of windshield washer nozzles and found two original single nozzles. The picture show what Bob was saying that the zinc plating degraded on the tube but not where the hose had covered it.

[67gtasanjose]

Perfect