QUOTE(Pat Garvey @ Jan 20 2008, 09:34 PM)
I cannot speak to what was done to "six" trannies. But I can speak to those on the fours - won't try to make a distinction/connection between the two either.
When I made the first serious concours prep for my 72 four I spent dozens of hours scraping a waxy substance from the transmission AND motor case. I was a QC chemist at the time & had access to loads of acetone - spray, scrape, wipe. I did this outdoors, which explains why I'm still alive!
Under the waxy substance was bare metal. No chromate or dichromate plating. In fact, several years later, when the motor & tranny where out of the car, I actually polished the casings with a Dremel & Simichrome. They were gorgeous, like chrome plating, then they oxidized to the original gray finish.
Pat
In my parts stash, I have parts of a 901/914 transmission including a differential side cover. The exterior is in typical rough condition (no trace of any coating), but the interior has a tan/yellow color that I think is typical of a chromate conversion. Usually this process involves the entire part being submerged, so I would expect that if the interior shows evidence that the entire part was probably done this way.
Then again, I am unsure of the source of my side cover (year, model, etc.). So I am going to pay real attention when I service my side shift transmission to see what it looks like on the inside on all of the castings.
I may open up this topic on PP to see what they say.