Similar Ported Vacuum Switch just relisted on "The Bay" right now "On Sale" this time (not me). Listed as a C7AZ-12A091-C for Big Block Fords.
NOTE: Has the same Finishes as John's recent find. I believe this example & John's NOS example above, represent the original "finishes" we may expect to have seen on the Assemblyline back in the day. My ORIGINAL (7-67 dated) one was plated like these two within this thread, leading me to believe along these lines.
I respectfully disagree. The valve end of the "John's recent find" has had the protective gold chromate coating removed by corrosion (white dicast oxidation) compared to the newest picture posted which has the chromate coating still intact (ported dicast valve end) . This is the same coating applied to some carburetors most commonly seen on vintage Holley carbs.
Bob, thanks for the clarification.
My intention was to clarify that I believed John's recent find initially BEGAN it's life looking more like the C7AZ-C example I found and recently posted images of. I also have some pictures of another C7AZ-C example (pictures available upon request) that not only is shaped differently than the one I just posted, it has an overall appearance of the whole ported vacuum switch being "gold" in color, thus NOT having the distinctive zinc-plated lower section. I am under the belief the "all gold" one I have pictures of, is a later Service Replacement. Since I had not mentioned anything about that "OTHER" (all-gold) finish I knew about, you would not have known what I was reffering to when I called the zinc-plated ones as "the same". I hope this statement is a better description of what I was trying to say when I compared John's find to the pictures I had just posted as "the same" as John's.
As always, the 'written words' often fail to communicate the thoughts. Bottom line, my previous post shows what we are seeking to duplicate. John's example "needs work" to get to the Concours-correct plating, I was under the impression that was obvious. I also wished to point out the "gold chromate" finish of an original ported switch portion of the assembly.
So, now the MOST IMPORTANT part of this discussion. A recent request a few weeks ago, asking what "finish we should find on the ported switch",
http://www.concoursmustang.com/forum/index.php?topic=19602.0it is my understanding that we should:
a.) begin with Restoring the finish to a gold chromate vacuum switch (upper section) crimped into a zinc-plated lower section/fitting/elbow.
b.) after being installed into the engine (using minimal shellac sealer), a restorer would
c.) loosely mask the upper gold chromate section & hose nipples (of both the vacuum hoses and the heater hose) and then the restorer would
d.) spray some engine color onto the areas of the ported switch/heater elbow that were not masked off, focusing the spray towards only the lower-most areas of the installed ported vacuum switch.
Is this "correct" or "close" to what we should be seeking to accomplish? (further discussion appreciated).