I am looking at doing my own zinc plating because I have lots to do. I am thinking of getting one of these kits. Has any one used a kit like this and are there any do's and dont's I should know about?

http://www.janekits.com.au/mainframe.php

Yeah I bought the combined zinc and nickel plating kits from there.
The zinc one works OK on bigger stuff, but if you want to plate small nuts and bolts etc I'd send them out to someone who does barrel plating, instead.

I've not tried the nickel plate kit, it's supposed to be heated to 50C or so and I haven't got a round toit, yet.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Find out as much as you can about this before you buy, and try to see some finished product if you can, there is a lot more to electroplating than most people think, I say this as a qualified Electroplater

Kev As a matter of interest, The zinc plating kit, Do they use an acid or alkali electrolyte, ( my guess is Acid ) also does the kit include zinc anodes? or do you have to add chemicals when the zinc ions are depleted

I've not used it for a while John, I need to find the book...
Yes there is some stuff in the kit to top it up with.
I'll bring the book next time I come down.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Thankyou for That Kev I would be very keen to have a read
Regards
John

Totally agree. I bought one from somewhere on the Central Coast yrs ago, turned out to be a waste of money. Preparation critical apparently cos a lot of stuff I did, the plating eventually peeled off. You live & learn.

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1967 Cooper S - new front bearings to do.
1965 Cooper S shell - Slow progress. No time or money!
1966 Deluxe- next rustoration!
Mk 2 & XJ6 Jags. Less said the better.

Plating does not like any contaminenets whatsoever - thats why it falls off!Its even more critical than preparing surfaces for painting
Cleaning process for those interested is as follows
Strip any remaining cadmium or zinc plate - use dilute Hydrochloric acid -3 parts acid to 1 part water
immerse in Zonax metal cleaner - concentrate 6oz per gallon ( sorry about the use of imperial ) at near boiling point for 2 t0 5 mins
Wash in cold water Scub with pummice powder - Ajax is OK- on a clean laminex board with a toothbrush
Wash
Acid etch in 20% solution of HCL for 1 minute in a plastic bucket
Rinse
Then plate
Dont even think of touching the item once you have started - almost impossible to wire up for plating
The best plating solution is a chloride bath made up of Zinc chloride and potassium chloride but the Ph is critical
Acid zinc baths are the easiest to set up but there are drawbacks
Having said all this the right way to do it is send all the bits you need doing to a shop that does barrel plating
You can even asked it to be passivated so it finishes a light gold colour to match the BMC finish

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Mk1 Cooper S
Mini K Rally car