I'm assuming Ford left the steering bracket wood block raw, but is there a coating I should put on? Boiled linseed oil? Polyurethane?

Also big thanks to John Semprez for his help riveting my steering column. I'm getting close to having my coupe back on the road.

I always coat them with black paint. Don't know whether that's "correct" or not, but it looks nice since everything around it is black as well.

The ones I've seen over the years didn't have any paint or coating that I've seen. Its probably a good idea to put something on it for preservation.

The cars and remains of chassis that I've disassembled didn't have one. One had the remains or what was left of it.

Over time they were left out or rotted away.

Probably one of the most neglected pieces on the car.

Linseed oil boiled or not is fine for indoor furniture use. It does nothing to preserve wood that is exposed to oil or moisture.

Polyurethane clear or black enamel work well.

I have several NOS wood blocks. They all have a very thin black paint on them. Almost like a "black stain" They also show signs of runs and drips. They may have been dipped in a very thin black paint and then just thrown in bins to dry. I have also removed several original blocks thru the years. Even though the part exposed to the weather was in poor condition, there seemed to be traces of the black paint in hidden locations. I have no real written evidence to support this, just the "fossil evidence" I have seen thru the years. ... I will try and post a photo of my NOS blocks later ...

I'll go along with Donnie. I've had several NOS blocks over the years, that appear to be as Donnie described.

I have also had several original blocks with remnants of thin black (probably wash) still on them.

Gilsonite, in mineral spirits.
I usually paint them flat black, close enough.
Kevin

Here are some pics of NOS blocks.

These four are with no flash and show the black color fairly accurate to in-person.








These five are with flash. They show how thin the paint really is.











The next three show some of the wood inside the cowl area. It is original wood, and appears to have the same black coating.

Excellent photos Donnie. I brush painted my new block with a thinned black paint and then wiped it down to get rid of the excess for a thinner look. Thanks!