Thread: Wild Canary down---cheesy aftermarket parts.

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Nope, not a casting flaw. Look at the third picture down from the top. That is corrosion, plain and simple. The neck is too heavy to be aluminum, and yet a magnet has only a very small (almost non-existant) attraction to it. I'm pretty sure the damn thing is made of cast "pot metal" some kind of zinc/lead/tin compiliation, then chrome plated. It was cheap to start with, only cost $20 or so. I think this was truly a case of "getting what I paid for".

Yours is not a unique problem. I've seen lots of those chrome necks corrode away, in a lot less than three years. Using antifreeze formulated for aluminum engines helps a bit, but as you say, they aren't aluminum so they still go away in time.

I think what you actually have going on there is what is called electrolysis or galvanic corrosion. It occurs when you submerse metals into a liquid, and usually the less noble metal gets eaten up. This is exactly what you have in boats that stay in the water, where underwater parts begin to get eroded away. That is why boats use sacrificial zincs, because the zinc will take the hit rather than the shafts, rudders, etc.

You might even have some stray electrical currents accelerating the process. This might sound strange, but I think they sell zincs for cooling systems to protect parts like aluminum.

Don

I wonder too if the bib is one of those marvelous POS wonders Made in China?

Some of the guys who bought chrome plated timing covers made in China found they couldn't seal off oil leaks from the pan/timing cover juncture because the timing cover was the wrong size in that area.

I'd be inclined to buy a GM replacement part - hoping that it was US or Canadian made - and shoot it with some Dupli-Color gloss black engine paint.

Shiny stuff is nice, but if it doesn't cut it....

Originally Posted by brianrupnow

Nope, not a casting flaw. Look at the third picture down from the top. That is corrosion, plain and simple. The neck is too heavy to be aluminum, and yet a magnet has only a very small (almost non-existant) attraction to it. I'm pretty sure the damn thing is made of cast "pot metal" some kind of zinc/lead/tin compiliation, then chrome plated. It was cheap to start with, only cost $20 or so. I think this was truly a case of "getting what I paid for".

We call that "Fine China"

Pat