flyingbrick Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 I'm sending some parts off for gold zinc plating and it occurred to me that I could tidy up a whole lot of my stuff by sending it off at the same time. There are a few reasons- it's cost effective, easy (I'm not doing it), durable and it also looks pretty damn sweet/professional. So what shouldn't someone send off for plating? Are there any issues with material embrittlement or warping or WOF/CERT guys getting upset? So far I'm thinking of the following- Cast front hubs (bearing surfaces covered in tape first) Forged steering arms Swaybars A million assorted brackets Front stub (stub itself would be covered in wax tape first) High tensile steel bolts/linkages/nuts Pressed steel suspension arms Etc etc etc Any constructive info appreciated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNAMUCK Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 Datto_610 would be the man to ask. He zinc plated anything that would fit in the bath at his work for his 180b when hw worked at an electroplaters. There may still be minor hydrogen embtittlement with zinc. But not as bad as chrome. You can get black zinc plating too. Which Is Sweet for parts that look naff silver or gold. (Which Is quite a few parts on a car) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOHC Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 Gold zinc looks like ass barrel plating is a cheep option for small parts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOHC Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 Bright zinc = silver 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted September 7, 2016 Author Share Posted September 7, 2016 What's barrel plating? I had some parts gold zinc plated the other day and they look great. Did a search and black zinc looks great and far better at hiding any scratches or flaws in the finish... I'm sold! Does their cleaning process remove paint? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickTheFox Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 I'm pretty sure they drop everything in an acid bath first which should remove paint. One thing I've wondered about zinc playing is if you can mask off a piece to avoid it getting coated in zinc. Is this what you meant by wax paper? Also has anyone had any experience on getting really small parts done? I've got a few small m4 bolts and nuts that I would love to get plated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNAMUCK Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 Many platers hate paint. Greg's work didn't want to know about painted parts. I txt him to come on here and contribute. But he's probably too chooched to remember to. Blairdy druggo's.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted September 7, 2016 Author Share Posted September 7, 2016 I'm pretty sure they drop everything in an acid bath first which should remove paint. One thing I've wondered about zinc playing is if you can mask off a piece to avoid it getting coated in zinc. Is this what you meant by wax paper? Also has anyone had any experience on getting really small parts done? I've got a few small m4 bolts and nuts that I would love to get plated. Well you can use denso wax tape to keep galv off stuff so I figured it would work with zinc too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOHC Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 if they have rust when you take them to get zinced they come back shitty, I have used a wire wheel on a bench grinder with very good results. and I have done a LOT of nuts and bolts this way in bright zinc. I saw 3 motorcycles witch had all the bits done in gold zinc and it looked like shit, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNAMUCK Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 I've polished the Shit out of parts with a wire brush wheel before plating. Parts get fizzed in acid which will alter the condition of the surface. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleeektoy Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 A lot of stuff on my celica was gold originally and re-doing it looks great. Theres also an olive colour originally used on the headlight buckets that turned out awesome 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozin Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 Yeah if it's painted you're shit outta luck. Black is boss but few platers do it and the price is a lot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted September 8, 2016 Author Share Posted September 8, 2016 So I made a few phone calls. Paint is no problem (but of course you pay for it) They will do nothing high tensile due to hydrogen embrittlement HOWEVER when probed further for specifics he just said no high tensile bolts and everything else is fine.. So I asked someone very experienced in engineering and automotive shit and he said ABSOLUTELY no to getting anything forged done...no front stub assemblies, no steering arms, nothing at all like that. Makes sense but good to get a definitive answer that I can trust. Also.. olive drab and gold etc is all the same price. Back seems a bit harder to get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UTERUS Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 http://www.cpplating.com.au/zinc-plating/hydrogen-embrittlement-relief-her/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UTERUS Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 I can't find anything about zinc plating cast or forged parts but it looks kind of interesting so I'll have a look later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kicker Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 Blasting guy I went too showed me some old vw cases that he had cleaned up. Studs were blasted and gold zinced and looked the tits in the shiny new case. I guess like any finish, prep is key Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvmyvl Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 So who would you guys recommend to use in Auckland? At the moment, im sending a shit load to Acme Platers in Onehunga. Looking for other options, as the quality has started to drop, and the lead times have been getting longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted September 8, 2016 Author Share Posted September 8, 2016 We have stuff at work done through terei brothers plating. Seems all good and bits seem to get done quick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
66gt Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 I use Otahuhu Chrome Platers. Getting all my MK 1 GT fastenings blue zinc and they come back mint. Might not be the cheapest in town but the quality is great. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvmyvl Posted September 10, 2016 Share Posted September 10, 2016 Well I went out and about on Friday, and had a look around auckland at all the zinc players. Terei Bros won at the end of the day. John knows his shit and is one hell of a nice guy. Had a good look around his small workshop, and saw the plating process happening in front of me. The zinc comes out so shiny. Almost twice the price per kilo, that we are paying now, but with the price comes quality, and speedy turn around. Bob at Otahuhu Chrome Platers sends all his zinc work to Terei Bros to get done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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