Cars that came with styled wheels....basically Rallye and Magnum 500 style wheels, had the drums brushed with an orangish red paint. You couldn't see the drums on cars that had wheel covers so the paint wasn't applied to them.
The RPM comes in a small tub and is a paste. The parts you want to seal are heated to 120 degrees, then the RPM is brushed or rubbed on. It melts into a liquid and turns glossy so you can see the areas that have been treated. Once it dries it's invisable. I'll post a link to the Valiant thread. There are some closeup pictures of the bare metal componants. They have been treated for over a year and still look like new.
http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=A12&Number=6156475&page=1&fpart=1As far as the steering colomn goes...things may have changed by 73 but the earlier years were all painted black. The paint was cheap and it didn't last long. The power steering boxes should also be black and not bare metal. I would have sworn that mine was bare metal. I've since seen pictures of survivor cars and they all have traces of black paint on the steering boxes. Mine will be painted an almost flat black...flatter then the K-member.
Also, after blasting parts that you want to leave bare metal, rub them with 0000 steel wool afterwards. It takes away the blasted look and leaves you with a new appearance.
