Terne Finish ???

[lfg]

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

Thanks, Larry

[MikeK]

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!

[lfg]

Thanks for the information Mike.

[peters180a/170b]

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.

[Marco Tahtaras]

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Originally Posted by MikeK

The terne jobs I have seen on many restorations are too shiny and white tin colored

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.