Hello Fellow "F"-Chatters, I was just wondering is there any way to duplicate (or close to) the zinc plating on lock washers? The reason I ask is because a have a few O.E. lock washers that need replating, but because of the nylon, you really can't replate them without damaging the nylon. Thanks Guys, Chris.
So your talking some kind of Popular Mechanics backyard plating system to make all them 30 year old parts look like new again?? Yeah baby, someone tell us.
Eastwood offers several types of those backyard plating kits; zinc is one, cadmium is another. I would think for small (hardware) parts they would be okay, certainly a minimal expense to find out.
Eastwood offers a 2 stage paint system to replicate the look, its a pain in the backside, you paint one color and then paint the second. Eastwood's plating kits are tin-zinc plating, good corrosion protection but it does not look like cad plating. Although I had good looking results with the Eastwood 2 stage paint kit, I prefer plating. For cad plating, you can go to http://www.caswellplating.com/ and use their kit, I highly recommend it Mike
find a plater in your area and send them there, I have bolt and nuts plated on a regular basis, with lots of them being the old Ferrari Nylock nuts, have never had a problem with the plating method affecting the nylon. You might want to ask if the plater acid washed them first. If he does you might want to go ahead and sand blast the nuts so they do not have to acid wash. That may damage the nylon. Wade
Nylon's pretty inert, however sand blasting can chew it up. Better to tumble or vibrate them in abrasive media followed by polishing media. Eastwood sells the machines, not too pricey. I've got a $20 Harbor Freight tumbler that works pretty good except that it likes to break the oversized o-ring it uses for a belt fairly often(sigh)...
I often just replace my ratty old fasteners with stainless....that way there is never a problem ever again.
I like the stainless too. They nylon inserts can be redyed with Yellow Rit fabric dye. Be cautious with the dye because it is easy to over-cook it and it will turn a darker yellow. Do a few at a time until the color is right. Stainless looks good, but does not stick to a magnet so they are hard to pick-up if dropped. Mark
Aren't there replacement parts available? Can you post a picture of the parts in question along with the actual size? Seems there must be some way that is easier than replating, like, replacing. DM
I saw the link above for a US based electroplate kit supplier, but for the European based buddies there is also: http://www.frost.co.uk/productList.asp?catID=26&frostCat=Electroplating the zinc kits are near the bottom of the page. Frost is a great supplier for vehicle restoration equipment, they sell loads of amazing stuff and also have spray zinc coatings. I bought some crackle finish paint from them for my 355 oil tank and now it looks like new.
Go with the Eastwood plating kit.I have used it many times and if you follow the directions and do thingds right,you cant tell the diff from factory. Tim.
