what plating type, and diy or farm out?

I've got a zinc plating kit but have never used it. The actual process is quite involved and kit / materials not cheap. My intention was for small items like carb linkages rather than anything larger.
Forget powder coating. If you have an item blasted and primed or plated as Kieren states then powder coating OK but a lot of places just powder coat the bare metal and all it takes is a chip of the finish to allow water under so rusting starts and it comes off in sheets.
On the MIG welding forum I asked about whether to get things like hinges etc of my Mahindra cadmium plates and answer was epoxy prime then top coat is just as good / maybe better.
For anything that will be subject to severe conditions I have it galvanised (and then paint) but I'm lucky in that a mate is foreman of a galv plant and his boss doesn't mind small jobs being done for friends of staff as long as no money changes hands - "buy us a pint" type of thing. Often I just take a big bag of cheap biscuits from Tesco and such into the staff room and that keeps everybody happy

Paul H

I've never had anything zinc sprayed but would be wary about a fully boxed chassis or any other hollow item. OK for a channel section chassis or other "open" items and difficult things such as axle casing (you don't want galv on machined surfaces and can't seal as the heat would cause it to explode - I believe there are ways around it if you find a good galv plant though). Proper galvanising involves submerging the whole item in a vat of acid to totally remove any traces of rust after blasting. It then gets dunked into another vat of molton zinc which flows into every nook and cranny - including the hidden internal surfaces. If you zinc spray then the hidden areas can still rust away as unprotected.

Paul H

I bought a yellow passivate plating kit, to do the kind of finish you find on stuff like exhaust clamps and so on. It works pretty well as long as you make a decent job of cleaning the workpiece off before you start - if there's any imperfection on it, you will see it on the final job and have to start again. I had a look at the Frost kits, but they're pretty expensive - the one I got was from a company called Gateros Plating and cost quite a lot less than the equivalent Frost kit.

Check very carefully how much stuff you need to plate - you might be able to get it done at a local plater for less than the kit will cost, a chap I know got quite a pile of bits done for not much money. I think a commercial plating company will have access to better cleaning products than normal people can get hold of, which might contribute. I've had some good success with my kit, and I do like to do stuff myself rather than just take it somewhere. Typical start to finish plate process was a couple of hours, plating with nickel first followed by a few minutes dip in the yellow passivating solution, then leave to dry for a couple of days.

That sounds quite cheap for the Frost stuff. Looking in their catalogue dated Winter 2013/14, it lists the common plating module (the buckets, power supply etc.) at £52, and the "extra" kit for the yellow passivate plating (anodes, salts, passivate, tank, scouring powder) at £91.91 for the 5L version or £153.19 for the 10L version, roughly £140 or £205. Just the yellow passivate salts are £37 for 5L. Perhaps on-line it's cheaper, or maybe there's an offer on.

I think I paid about £150 for the Gateros kit which had enough to do (I think) 9L of solution, but also includes extra bits like a tank heater and agitator which speeds the plating process up a lot. I'm a bit vague on the details because I put it all away just before last Christmas (2012) so I didn't have any trouble with it freezing over winter, and haven't had it set up at all this year. They do a cheaper kit but it's only a bit cheaper.

A lot of the Gateros stuff is aimed at giving the same finish but avoiding the very hazardous stuff - they list a "replica chrome" kit that *looks* like it produces a great finish, but without having to use the harmful stuff that real chrome plating uses.

I can't say any more than "loads". The kit I have comes with various potions and bits and pieces - the main thing is the electrolyte and anodes, then there's the yellow passivate. So basically you clean the part (in the acid pickle, part of the kit) at the start, wash it off, nickel plate it (for around 40 mins), then wash it again, then dip in the clear passivate for a couple of minutes, then (if you want the yellow finish), dip it in the yellow for a couple more minutes. The electrolyte comes with a very strong solution that you can use to "top up" the strength of it, so once you've used it for a while you stick a couple more capfuls of this stuff and it rejuvenates it. You can tell it needs this doing when the first stage stops coming out bright - you should get a bright nickel finish after the first go, and if you don't the yellow won't work all that well.

So far I've plated quite a lot of stuff, ranging from small washers up to bonnet catches, and I'd just had to put a bit of the rejuvenating "stuff" in before I bottled all the parts up and put it away.

Hi Droopsnoot......just ordinary citric acid?? what mix???

Thanks