Has anyone done any plating with yellow zinc chromate as a DIY? If so what all was involved and what was the quality of the result? Ciao, George
George- The zinc plating that starts the process is not that difficult, but the chromic acid, especially hexavalent, for forming the chromate coating of the zinc is really nasty stuff and not really suitable for home use. There are alternative forms, but not as effective. Might be better to just have someone who knows what they are doing perform it for you. http://www.jimruffi.com/yellow_zinc_plating/electroplating.htm Taz Terry Phillips
I used Caswell's DIY home plating kit to do my calipers and suspension pieces. I debated in the beginning of the project whether to plate or paint and went with the plate. I had done anodizing years ago in my garage and had excellent results, so I figured this would be the same. I should have stuck with painting the components. Although the process wasn't difficult, it was time consuming (because once I had the system up-and-running, it's easier just to keep on going. The solutions had to be heated and it takes some time to come up to temps) and some parts didn't plate well and had to be re-plated again. And considering plating in general is a sacrificial coating (it's meant to oxidize first to protect the steel underneath), I didn't want all of this effort to be wasted a few years from now, so I ended up clear-coating the parts anyways to protect the finish! If I painted from the beginning, that would have been one step only! This Caswell system uses chemicals that although are toxic, are safe enough to use at home - if you follow proper safety procedures. I had no issues using their chromate coating. The real zinc process involves some pretty potent chemicals that even professional shops have to be careful (what with all of the enviromental laws/regs that are involved). If you're going for concours looks, go with plating and have it done professionally. If not, just paint or powdercoat. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Guys, Maybe you did not see it inthe 308 section. I had my metal fuel lines (between the fuel distributer and injectors plated and the SOB doing it clogged several of them IN the middle of the pipe. ANY suggestions on how to unclog them?????????? mwr.
Hi Peter, Thanks for your lengthy and detailed reply. I do not want to work with any hazardous chemicals. I can powder coat highly polished parts with a translucent gold color that mimics yellow zinc chromate very closely. I have some new yellow zinc chromate parts that I will powder coat with this color to see if there is a perceptable difference between coated and uncoated. My plater wants to charge $100 to do a handful of bolts and brackets. I may still go that route of plating first, then powder coating if there is a big difference in the results I get from my comparison test. Your parts came out looking fantastic, Peter! Lastly, for a clogged fuel line, take it back and tell him to fix it, or cough up some deuchmarks. In the worst event, make your own fuel line out of SS, easy to do. Ciao, George
I'm not sure what part of the plating process would bridge such a large opening. It sounds like some debris entered the lines during media blasting. Sometimes the beads can get packed in tight places. Letting any of that get to the fuel injectors will be pretty much the end of the line for them. Try snaking a piece of safety wire into the tubes and whack them against a benchtop a few times. You might see some crap come out. Shoot some carb cleaner in the ends and blow them out with high pressure air. I always put a piece of ductape over the ends of anything hollow before bead blasting.
Huge waste of time with crappy results. The caswell plating gets ruined very quickly... CAD it ain't. I went to painting the bigger parts rustoleum metallic gold...looks close enough and rust resistant...
Zinc Chromate trivia - when I was engineering for Air Force contracts, I learned the strong yellow color was intentionally added to 'prove' the protective coating when applied to steel or aluminum actually existed. Yes, it has a very slight yellow tint naturally but yellow or even green coloring is added for show. The amount of coloring varies with the supplier.
Yep I could not get the The Caswell plating kit to work properly ... I take parts to the professionals (again) now. Pete
This is one of the better at-home setups I've seen. It's very difficult to accomplish without doing lots of test samples first. You seem to be doing fine at your efforts. The pros will be better since they have optimised their systems and have been able to acquire the best/purest chemicals. BTW, you can't electroplate w/o using hazardous chemicals. Also, I would not plate my own fuel injectors; parts therein are likely plated before assembly, and the internal springs are likely not plated. Same goes for coating the metal fuel lines; trying to plate the inside of devices is risky for a small operation, since there would be sufficient 'binning' to select the successfull results and 'discarding' for the unsuccessful, thus sent to be re-run; personally, I would have painted only the outside of my fuel lines to give a concours appearence.
As you state myrob1, I ran NUMEROUS test pieces to get the right effect. The "Copy Cad" system is basically a mimic of cadmium plating which is grey and flat. To achieve the zinc effect, you add a brightening agent and the amount you add determines the level of shinnyness. You also have to calculate the amount of current you need based on the surface area of the part, which was sensitive too because too much or too little gave poor results. Like I first mentioned, I did have to redo alot of parts. It was too bad that I didn't have any reputable plater near where I live (most specialize in chrome for the hot-rod/biker crowds) and shipping out BOXES of NLA parts to a far-distant place wouldn't even be considered... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Peter...looks like you spent a lot of time...I hope your experience is better than mine. My pieces, upon exposure to water, looked horrible in a matter of weeks. They started to bubble from under the plating (I sandblasted the parts prior)...
Short of taking parts to a plating company, it sure looks like the next best alternative is to powder coat with translucent gold. Polish up the part in question, then shoot & bake. I've had good result with this approach. Ciao, George
I'm not sure which Caswell power supply you have, but I found their basic system just doesn't cut it. It can be done, but you haver to really babysit the process to achieve good results. Going with their much bigger and much more expensive system yields better results right from the start, But it does take a lot of pieces of practice to get it right. If you are getting bubbling the surface isn't clean or the current is too high. did you see any bubbles or foaming while you were doing it around the edge of the piece? After blasting I rinse with an abundant amount of alcohol. Either Isopropyl or Methanol. After that either Acetone and/or Methylene Chloride. All or which can easily be called nasty. It is time consuming but when the parts are done, well worth it. I try to collect a bunch of pieces before doing a run since setting up is half the time. It's a hard sell though when you tell a customer how much it will cost do do what seems to be a small piece. It's a labor of love!
