emissions canister restoration

[roush235]

This is not a very exciting part to subject to a restoration, but thought some of you might be interested.

The original emissions canister in my car is (was) a white-ish plastic material. I had replaced it about a dozen years ago with one which is black (part number E5HE.... would be curious to know if white or black ones were used from about 1980 through 1984). I recently pulled the original out of my parts stash. This is what it looked like:









Obviously it had badly faded and discolored over the years.


After I cleaned it up it did look a little better.





As a point of reference, here is the canister from Sandy's 76 mile pace car. The greenish tint is from the grass... the picture was taken at the Loveland MCA show, which was held on a lawn. But you can get the idea of what it is supposed to look like.





For the restoration, I painted it flat white then applied a clear coat. Here is the final product:






Installed.






Not bad, but not exactly the original look. If anyone has ideas on how to recreate a semi-translucent white plastic look, let me know. I now have a black spare to work with!!!

[4eyes]

My '84 came with black canisters. It has two on it which I think I remember reading some where on here that its part of the high altitude emissions package. Here's a picture of one of them.

Has any one tried using an "oxy-clean" style cleaner on these translucent parts to see if they can get the yellow out? Maybe a mild bleach solution?

[FoxChassis]

My 1983 GT has two canisters. It was ordered through the Buffalo (NY) DSO and sold in Syracuse (NY), so it would not have the high-altitude emissions package. Marti report for the car also confirms it did not have that package.

[82GTforME]

Is there a part number on these? Ours is black on our '79 2.8L. It did not specify "high-altitude" on the Marti either.

[4eyes]

See Bob you have to give these guys something to correct to get them to post! If you just give hum drum accurate info everyone just looks at your thread but doesn't comment. I figured that out about six months ago and it's a lot more fun getting people to comment on a thread. Hope others will post because the emissions systems in these cars were one of the first things to get removed. We need to document correct parts and installation as others will be asking about it down the road...

[TopGear85]

I've never seen a white one before? When did they make the switch to black?

[82GTforME]

I've never seen a white one before? When did they make the switch to black?

Makes you wonder if they all the same internally other than the color or if they were different between engine types? Our was 9/21/78 San Jose built and is black. (I put the right pictures in above, I had blindly guessed at work copying from an old post because photobucket is blocked and I couldn't see the pictures)

Is there a part number on these? Ours is black on our '79 2.8L. It did not specify "high-altitude" on the Marti either.

[sowaxeman]

Pretty sure the canister on my '82 GT is white.

[4eyes]

The black one I posted is a 1400ml canister. The ones from '79 cars look to be 925ml versions. The half cylinder on one side is similar to later versions of 925s which have a nipple coming out of that part of canister.

If your '82 GT has the rare 4.2L it would've come with smaller canister, unless it had high altitude carburetor(only year different canister used on 4.2L for hi altitude carb.) in which case it would've come with larger canister like the new 5.0L in '82. Let us know which canister you find because it's also very clear Ford never followed their own rules.

[4eyes]

double post!

[Travis T]

Both my 84 GTs had two black canisters.

[sowaxeman]

The black one I posted is a 1400ml canister. The ones from '79 cars look to be 925ml versions. The half cylinder on one side is similar to later versions of 925s which have a nipple coming out of that part of canister.

If your '82 GT has the rare 4.2L it would've come with smaller canister, unless it had high altitude carburetor(only year different canister used on 4.2L for hi altitude carb.) in which case it would've come with larger canister like the new 5.0L in '82. Let us know which canister you find because it's also very clear Ford never followed their own rules.

Mine is a 5.0....it is definitely the white canister just like the black one above, but white.

[Saturn V]

Bob, I would rather have an original, faded/discolored part instead of one painted white, but I realize that your decision will depend, to some degree, on which option will net you the most judging points. (Would points really be deducted for a presentable, faded original part vs. a white-painted part?)

I don't really know what I'm talking about here, but if I were to try and restore an original white part like this, I'd think about sanding and buffing to try and eliminate minor surface imperfections, though the plastic might be discolored/cracked all the way through. Another option might be to try to find an auto paint specialist who could apply a white/cream-tinted clear coat of the appropriate sheen to an original white part. This might cover up surface imperfections and discoloration, while still maintaining some of the translucence, which is important to the original look.

Another option is to scour the wrecking yards for cars that might have included the same part number canister (or one substantially similar). Maybe certain climates are less damaging to the plastic? (I'm thinking SoCal, but older, unused cars tend to get crushed over there, right?)

Working details like this is what keeps the restoration hobby interesting, I suppose. Good luck!

[roush235]

Good ideas.

I will try to stay with original parts when they can be brought back to a reasonable finish. But I thought this piece was just too far gone. Maybe there is one on a low-mileage car somewhere, or maybe there are some NOS ones out there somewhere.

A "reasonable representation" will net the same points, usually.

A friend has salvaged another white one from the junk yard. I don't know how good or bad it looks. When I get it I will consider another approach.

[JACook]

The '83-'85 GTs have two canisters because they have two fuel bowls on the carburetor.
The '84-'85 CFI GTs only have one.

[JACook]

Moved burntorange84's questions to their own thread in the 'Exhaust & Emissions' section, where
they will hopefully get more attention.

[79mustangcobra]

I was lucky to find a NOS whitish tan charcoal canister.

[TopGear85]

That's a great score! So are the white canisters left overs from the Mustang II?

[79mustangcobra]

That's a great score! So are the white canisters left overs from the Mustang II?

Yes, I think they were