[KENMO]

I just replaced the alternator on the 327 in my 1960 Vette. It's not chrome just generic flat grey look... Any ideas on how to keep the alternator looking clean?

Thanks kindly....

[Holder350]

disassemble,
have powder coated,
reassemble

[xbody69]

The Cheaper Alternative To Having It Powdercoated Is To Disassemble It, Carefully, And Clearcoat The Thing. Use A Good Clearcoat And Put A Couple Of Coats On It. If Yu Want To You Can Clear A Small Section Of It And Bake It In The Oven For A Few Minutes At 350 Degrees. This Will Give You A Good Idea Of Whether Or Not The Clear Is Cheap And Will Discolor. Good Luck.

[302 Z28]

Powder coat would not look right under the hood of a 60 Vette IMO. I would opt for the clear, but a catalyzed clear.

Vince

[Holder350]

I was referring to either chrome, aluminum, or the new clear.

not any gaudy color. I think that aluminum would look realy nice on it.

[302 Z28]

The clear would be the only powder coat I would use.

Vince

[John Fehlberg]

60 Vette are painted black!

[302 Z28]

Originally Posted by John Fehlberg

60 Vette are painted black!

Actually that would have been a generator, not an alternator.

Vince

[John Fehlberg]

Your right, but 1960 Vette had only generator

[302 Z28]

The orignal question however was "how to keep my alternator looking clean". On a 60's Vette with an alternator conversion it should be IMO bare aluminum.

Vince

[KENMO]

Yes...originally when I purchased my Vette in 1983 it had a generator. replacing it with an alternator was one of the first things I did as well as swapping out the old single line master cylinder to a dual unit...

[John Fehlberg]

Hi, I'm restoring a 1962 Vette right now, can't wait to drive it. Thanks John

[62440]

You could try Plastic-Kote High Gloss Silver Brake caliper paint . I tried it on a couple pulleys and it looked surprisingly Good . And it's good for 900 Degrees Fahrenheit

[red65mustang]

buy a lifetime warrenty alt, take it back for a clean one every time it gets dirty (couldn't resist that one)

Kenmo,
aluminum is unstable and wants to turn back into stable aluminum oxide which is the "white stuff" on a old alt...
the alt alum body is the ground source path for the alt and with all that charge going thru it it accelerates making the white stuff.....
because of the glas body, a vette is hurting/lacking for enough total ground source so it degrades parts surfaces faster....
connect a #8 wire from the body of the alt to batt -, for a no resistance ground path and occasional spray the alt body with WD40....it will stay pretty forever

ps:a alt body does get VERY hot...and all kinds of nasty "stuff" does get on it.....not a great environment for paint to survive in... and.. paint or powder coat is going to reduce heat loss "some" (that's why it's not coated)

[oldred]

Just had this discussion a few days ago in the paint/body section. I had the same problem except I was talking about all the Aluminum castings on my '87 5.0 Ford engine and had fought this problem for years. Actually the clear leaves the fresh Aluminum with an odd (to me anyway) grey color that while not bad just don't look quite right but it was what I had been using. I was looking for that natural look of a fresh casting and I discovered by accident a way to do this. I had some castings that were sprayed with clear but I thought I would change them to the Dupli-color silver "Steel Wheels" and even though it did not look quite right either I thought it was better than the clear. What happened was the rattle can was almost empty and so all I could get was a light mist over the clear, I tried to make it go as far as I could but I ran out of paint. When I returned later after buying more paint to finish the job I was both surprised and very pleased because after drying that thing looked great! I found the trick to that natural look is to first clear coat (this step is important) and then just mist the Dupli-Color paint on lightly, if you get it too heavy it will just look like metalic paint and not a casting. Let it dry before deciding if it needs more paint because the appearance will change for the better as it drys then lightly spray with a satin no-gloss clear for better protection. I used the Dupli-Color Steel Wheels in silver but after I mentioned this it was suggested by someone who had done nearly the same thing to use Dupli-Color "Cast Aluminum" instead, I have now tried this on some small parts and I think it looks even better than the silver but both are very close to a natural cast Aluminum look, closer than anything I have seen yet.