Terne Finish ???

lfg

lfg

Member
The JS calls for terne finish on the vacuum wiper line. What color is this and how can it be duplicated?

Thanks, Larry
 
Terne plate is a coat of up to 80% lead, the remainder tin and antimony. It is darker in color than tin plate and oxidizes fairly quickly to a dull gray. The definition of the term "terne" is 'dull, or tarnish'. Tinning and wiping down a steel part with autobody solder (70% lead) will be pretty close. The terne jobs I have seen on many restorations are too shiny and white tin colored, but the judges don't seem to make an issue of it from what I have observed. Your experience may vary!
 
I first start off with Eastwood flex for body solder on the lines and then wipe it off and then i use Electrical solder working it with fine steel wool.
 
MikeK said:
The terne jobs I have seen on many restorations are too shiny and white tin colored
Click to expand...

Breather_Cap-sm.jpg


I haven't paid much attention to what others are doing but if I recall correctly I used 70/30 solder. It was a bit bright after tinning the surfaces so I carefully grayed it slightly with a phosphoric acid solution. This cap has probably grayed another 10-15% on it's own over the last 15 years but still looks pretty good. I did the same with all my original gas and vacuum lines that required terne finish.
 
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