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I zinc plated my collection
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Author:  Mick [ Thu Nov 25, 2010 11:28 am ]
Post subject:  I zinc plated my collection
I've got a new engine for the 62 cooper on the go, and I was running out of clean bolts. So I figured it must have been time to scrounge up all my crusty old nuts and bolts and drop them in for plating.

Alliance plating in camplefield did the barrell plating for me. It costs $88.00 for a 20 litre bucket full of what-have-you. That will get you bright zinc or yellow(gold) finish. It costs $10.00 more if you are after black or olive drab finishes.If you look at the photos, I think you can see it's fantastic value, and I have bright and shiny bits for all kinds of jobs which might crop up.

I'll need to normalise the springs in a hot oven however. I might need to do the same with the studs which sneaked in, I wouldn't usually put hi tensile manifold studs through the process in case they lose some of their tensile strength, but there you go.

Now to sort it all out into piles!

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Author:  MG Rocket [ Thu Nov 25, 2010 11:57 am ]
Post subject: 
Great idea and excellent value.
How do you "normalize" the springs?
Author:  68Rusty [ Thu Nov 25, 2010 12:22 pm ]
Post subject: 
Yes, Great value!

Springs shouldn't have had any heat effects as zinc plating is just electro plating process.

Zinc plating suits these type of parts a lot in my opinion. But depends on the look one is after i guess?
Author:  Mick [ Thu Nov 25, 2010 12:30 pm ]
Post subject: 
Normalising according to the platers is to crank the oven up to 200 degrees C and leave the bolts at this temperature for two hours or more. A plater will usually do this on your behalf, but I didn't ask, so will throw them in anyway.

It relieves the internal stresses caused by the plating process I am told. I am mindful of it, but not had a problem to this date with the bolts I've plated personally because the normalising has been carried out on the whole pile, not just the springs. However I make sure I leave out important components usually like hi-tensile bolts and studs etc. just to make sure. These parts are usually painted over on the engine, so don't need a pretty finsih beyond being clean.

I plate everything I find in my bucket. Its easy to etch prime and then paint if I need to later on.
Author:  Flute [ Thu Nov 25, 2010 2:30 pm ]
Post subject: 
Looks great, I see the PCV valve covers there, must get mine done. Will have to see what else I can get done. Do brake boosters get done this way? Were the disc brake dust covers painted black originally? Cheers.
Author:  Mick [ Thu Nov 25, 2010 3:08 pm ]
Post subject: 
They were black, and will be again.
I'll paint them before urging them on.

What date are you after flute? I'll check them to see if I have a match. One is mid 68 but I'm unsure of the other till I take a look.
Author:  Flute [ Thu Nov 25, 2010 3:18 pm ]
Post subject: 
I have the correct 8/68 on mine already but have to keep polishing it so was just seeing if the plating is the way to go. Are the brake boosters done this way? I remeber seeing yours on your rebuild thread. Must go back and have another look to see how they get pulled apart. Cheers.
Author:  Mick [ Thu Nov 25, 2010 3:32 pm ]
Post subject: 
The rear pay of the booster was( is it the vacuum chamber??). I always thought the early ones were clear zinc, bit mine and another I have seen are cad plated the golden colour.

The main body of the booster was not plated or painted either, but many choose to do so given the chance. I bead blasted mine and then gave it a coat of clear to keep it in it's finished state.
Author:  gafmo [ Thu Nov 25, 2010 9:20 pm ]
Post subject: 
by chance did you give any item a sand.wet & dry beforehand to see how it would turn out
Author:  Mick [ Thu Nov 25, 2010 9:30 pm ]
Post subject: 
gafmo wrote:
by chance did you give any item a sand.wet & dry beforehand to see how it would turn out


No, are you wondering if you can get a mirror shine?
Author:  Harley [ Thu Nov 25, 2010 9:34 pm ]
Post subject: 
I've had heaps of parts plated for my car in silver zinc. Really good for the price, but what I did first was get the parts bead blasted to be spotlessly clean. Makes a big difference to the shine factor. :D

Be careful though with any nuts / boltswhen getting plated. It's not just high tensile ones that can give problems.

Whilst in storage waiting to go on the car, a but of wd-40 or similar will stop or slow them corroding. The parts won't rust or anything, just the plating can go a crystally white in some spots.
Author:  blueminivan [ Thu Nov 25, 2010 9:39 pm ]
Post subject: 
How clean are the bits and bobs need to be Mick?
Just a bit of a wire brush before sending off?
Author:  Mick [ Thu Nov 25, 2010 9:45 pm ]
Post subject: 
blueminivan wrote:
How clean are the bits and bobs need to be Mick?
Just a bit of a wire brush before sending off?

As I collected them they were literally thrown across the workshop as they came out and into the bucket. So they were miserable usually.

I threw in some thinners (but petrol would do) to swish around and dissolve the grease and oil. They were happy with them just like that, just don't take them in all in a terrible state. It taints the chemical baths.

I didn't wire brush anything, although it could only help. Still, only about 1% imho are less than excellent.

BTW, if you're looking to get this done, make sure that the place does barrel plating for a large bucket of nuts and bolts. Otherwise the cost will be astronomical as each bolt is individually wired up and hung into the baths.

Barrel plating uses something like a large chip fryer to put the whole lot through the process. You may lose some small self tappers however to the basket. It happens sometimes.
Author:  gafmo [ Thu Nov 25, 2010 9:50 pm ]
Post subject: 
Mick wrote:
gafmo wrote:
by chance did you give any item a sand.wet & dry beforehand to see how it would turn out


No, are you wondering if you can get a mirror shine?


No..Bugger...would have been interesting
Author:  Phat Kat [ Thu Nov 25, 2010 10:01 pm ]
Post subject: 
Hey Gaf,

I have my doubts that it would come up looking mirror like, just because a few things I've had plated have been near mirror to start with and they didn't look that amazing after the plating....

However... just cos I'm such an awesome dude and all... I have a set of extractors here that I'll be getting plated, so just for you I'll polish a section on them just to see how they come up. :)
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