Step 50 - Unhinged

Normally I don't blog about about what goes into or onto the parts and systems that are going back into the Mach during its reconstruction - but this step had some pretty cool stuff behind it.

Freshly refinished hinge

The original hinges were in good condition with some light rust and a couple of coats of black paint.  I did not want to repaint them, so when I read Jerry Heasley's article in March's Mustang Monthly I decided to try to put the original phosphate and oil finish back on.

I started with some paint remover followed with some time in the media-blaster to remove all rust, paint, primer and grime.  I safety wired the hinges closed (using stainless steel wire) to expose the inside of the spring's coils.

Manganese Phosphating in action

This is the stuff.  I used a turkey fryer with a 30 quart stainless pot.  I had to use 4 gallons of water to fully submerge one hinge.  14 ounces per gallon heated to 200F - the propane burner had it to temperature in about 30 minutes.  Drop the part in for 10 minutes then hose it down with WD-40.  Just follow the included instructions and it works awesome.  Note that you do not have to remix to treat additional parts - after I cooked one hinge - I just dropped in the other one.



Following the three prescribed WD-40 wash downs, the hinges looked great.  In my opinion, there is no way to emulate this finish with paint on a part that is as dimensionally complicated as this.  After everything cooled off, I filtered and stored the leftover solution in plastic containers - who knows what other Steps will require some more backyard chemistry.