Henry, thanks for your response. The "new" finish on your fan looks just like what I imagine the original finish would have been. Closely guarded secret I am sure. Chris, I am admiring your set up also. Are there enough people out there with fans who need refinishing that it pays to make up that kind of tooling etc? Apparently so. Neat. I encourage other home DIY'ers like me to try Henry's method outlined at the beginning of this thread. I am pretty satisfied with the appearance, but then again I am pretty satisfied with the looks of any fan that isn't red or yellow powder coated.

We do around 10 fans a year - not too many but we wanted to do the job well. We have also sold around 3 of the fixtures so all in all it hasn't been too bad an exercise.

Chromating fans does give an original appearance but the problem with some of the early fans can be pitting around the hub.

This doesn't really show up until they are bead blasted and cleaned but spoils the look and then they need painting.

Hi Chris. We haven't tried a "chromating" process as you mention. Do you have any pictures of this process?

Henry,

its a simple dip process similar to Alodine treatment for Aluminium - the chemicals are a bit unpleasant and we use them in a heated bath.

Henkel make an Alodine for Magnesium that is sold in the USA but is not imported into Europe as some of the chemicals have been banned.

http://www.silmid.com/MetaFiles/Silmid/04/0436ddf4-1545-4328-86e8-b1ce8d17ef72.pdf

It may now be sold as Bonderite.

BONDERITE M-CR MAGNESIUM CHROMATE COATING CASE - Henkel

We have been using a Tri-Valent solution that we buy from Trimite that works reasonably well.

We treat MFI throttle bodes after machining to protect the bores from further corrosion and then paint using an Epoxy paint specially developed for Magnesium that we buy from Indestructible Paints in Birmingham (UK)

Any pictures of the end result you can share with us?

I will get one sorted out but I am not sure if it will match the Alodine which I would use if I could.

I don't know if this is the same as chris's , but here is my fan that was chromated and then wiped down with HHS2000.
The raw Chromate can be lighter or darker depending on dip time.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1436461557.jpg

The original rivets appear to my eye to be aluminium. Is this correct, and do you replace with aluminium?

The original rivets are aluminum as are the replacements we use.

We make rivets and fan centers as well.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1718631774.JPG

Rob,

Sadly, Chris passed away several years ago now. He was a great person along with being a great resource to the community.

Chris was a great guy. I met him nearly 20 years ago when he contracted Supertec to build two vintage rally engines (one, won the European championship) and one ended up powering a personal friend's car. I miss his knowledge and banter. He used to tease me over head studs.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1718657909.JPG

I never met the customers but he sent me this picture.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1718657909.JPG

That is awesome. Thank you for sharing.

Wow, memory lane Hank.
You just finished my 3.5 when you started those engines.
My 3.5 is still running strong 20 years and 72K later.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1718728308.JPG