The Ford Books Fastener Guide

[Ian1932]

Not sure what i would possibly do without this section of the fords books! The bolts and fastener types would have killed me. One question, what does the "Raven" finish mean?

I feel bad for the guys without a 32' if this information doesn't exist for other years...lol

[35fordtn]

The Raven Finish, or in Ford terms (S-2) is the Modern Day equivalent to Black Oxide.

[philipswanson]

Ravens are a shinny black.

[35fordtn]

Also, while David Rehor did a tremendous job at listing the hardware for 32's in the book he wrote, the Ford Parts catalogs listed all the fasteners from Model A up through the present day. the old Canadian versions of the Parts catalogs in particular do a great job at listed the hardware in the back sections. The part number is usually followed by a S- with a number. This tells you the Finish. In the 1932 Book David has saved the restorer whom does not want to buy hardware in correct kit form a tremendous effort by publishing the complete hardware,,
For Reference:
Most all 1932-48's will have S-2 (black oxide, or Raven), S-7 Cadmium, S-6 Nickel, S-13 Chrome, or S-15 Oxidized

There really are some weird ones that I personally have never encountered such as S-20 which is Cement coated..

PS as a plug in, anyone with a 1933 Canadian Parts catalog extra on hand, I would be a sure fire buyer!

[Ian1932]

Originally Posted by 35fordtn

The Raven Finish, or in Ford terms (S-2) is the Modern Day equivalent to Black Oxide.

So is it a black paint or a black zinc type coating? Thanks!

[35fordtn]

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It is not paint, nor is it black Zinc.. Black paint is simply Black paint (S-4 ford finish). Black Zinc did not exist in the 1930's and is more durable than Black oxide but scratches easy, and has a goldish green tint to it. Black Oxide is all by itself. It is not the most durable coating but sure looks pretty when Fresh! I have found a product named Barricade meant for firearms to be a excellent product to protect Black Oxide from rusting. I just sent off 288LBS to be black Oxide plated today..

A black oxide plater would be easy for you to find.. A Cadmium plater that does a sufficient job is another story.. Then you run into things like fine thread carriage Bolts. Every Carriage bolt with the exception of 4 on a 1932 is fine thread.. Fine thread carriage bolts are near non existent these days, and we have to have them made

Not to give you a sales pitch, check out Fordbolts.com.. It says closed, however we bought my dear old friends business out recently.

[51 MERC-CT]

Every time I wanted a black oxide finish I used Gun bluing.
Waxing with any automotive or floor paste wax makes the finish very durable as witnessed by several parts that have been on a vehicle for over 20 years with no degradation.

[ford38v8]

Originally Posted by philipswanson

Ravens are a shinny black.

Ravens don't shinny up poles.

[DavidG]

I spray on silicone to protect the S-2 finish fasteners that I use.

Unlike real plating (cadmium, zinc, silver, gold, nickel, etc.), black oxide doesn't add any material, but rather colors the steel and a petroleum solution provides modest corrosion protection. It is a very fast process and fairly large batches are done in about a half hour, at least at my source in Michigan.

[Kube]

Originally Posted by Ian1932

Not sure what i would possibly do without this section of the fords books! The bolts and fastener types would have killed me. One question, what does the "Raven" finish mean?

I feel bad for the guys without a 32' if this information doesn't exist for other years...lol

Ian,
One thing you must always keep in mind when utilizing the Ford parts books (even for fasteners) is the parts listed are service replacement parts and as such are not necessarily what was installed upon the car at time of assembly.

As you surely must realize by now DAVIDG here on the Barn is THE go-to guy for any and all precise information desired in your quest for an accurate restoration.

[35fordtn]

Mike is exactly right!
With the exception of if you have the year specific parts catalog for you vehicle, while keeping in mind there was usually three printings in most years.

So.. The 1928-48 Parts catalog those call the green bible will primarily list service parts as Mike (Kube) has mentioned. However if you are doing a 1932 and you have the 1928-32 parts price list from Ford it will primarily (but not always) list the parts originally used on the car. It is helpful to have a printing that corresponds with the production of your vehicle. So, if you have a Late 1932, then the October printing of the 1932 Parts price list is what you would look for.

[DavidG]

Exactly! The further away the year of the catalog's publication is from the model year for which you are seeking information, the increasing less reliable that catalog is for your purposes. Not all of the pre-WWII year's catalogs were/are reprinted, but with the exception of the 1933 versions, as Michael has noted, originals for each model year show up all the time herein, on the V8 club website, Amazon, ebay, etc., most at very reasonable prices, especially considering the wealth of information contained therein.

[35fordtn]

Originally Posted by DavidG

Exactly! The further away the year of the catalog's publication is from the model year for which you are seeking information, the increasing less reliable that catalog is for your purposes. Not all of the pre-WWII year's catalogs were/are reprinted, but with the exception of the 1933 versions, as Michael has noted, originals for each model year show up all the time herein, on the V8 club website, Amazon, ebay, etc., most at very reasonable prices, especially considering the wealth of information contained therein.

David, thus why on Post #4 I mentioned I am looking for a 1933 (preferably canadian) parts catalog.. It's amazing how rare the 1933 one is compared to other various years.. I would imagine given the late production start on 1932's and a total complete redesign on the 1933 Model year really made it tough to have a printed catalog available in a reasonable time frame.

[flatheadmurre]

If it´s not shiny or zink based it´s a phosfate conversion coating...phosforic acid and phosfate salts....then dipped in an waterdisperant oilsolution.
It should be more or less reproduced by something like blackfast...

[itslow]

I've thought a black zinc flake plating would be well suited for old Ford fasteners. It has superior corrosion resistance to black oxide while being more "black" than a standard zinc with a black chromate conversion.

[35fordtn]

I recently had some black zinc done, but it still has that greenish gold hue into it

[flatheadmurre]

Black chromate can be real black.
The amount "brightener" in the zink aplied reflects in how shiny it comes out...lot´s of mixes in the plating to besides pure zink.
Manganese phosfate is another popular coting in automotive that´s black...it´s mostly for rust protection and anti galling...camshafts is a common product where it´s used.

[frnkeore]

Did Ford ever use tin plating?

[35fordtn]

Yes tin plate was either s-10 or s-24 I can’t remember which

[DavidG]

S-10