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Nov 22, 2009 22:11:26 GMT
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I wanted to plate some parts on my Plymouth during my resto so I bought a zinc plating kit. Tried it out. I got a bunch of stuff sandblasted, then I dropped everything in dilute hydrochloric acid (brick cleaner!). Then I used the plating kit. Stuff comes out sort of silver coloured but there is a passivate solution that you can dip parts in which gives them that cool goldy yellow look.  Quite please with how some of the bits have come out. However they say to use this 'dry acid pickle' stuff, and in fairness, some of the parts I've tried to plate haven't come out very well so they may have benefitted from that extra cleaning stage. The adjuster block here on the left has just come out of the acid. I rinse under the tap using a scotchbrite pad which takes off the dark residue.  Then I went straight to the plating tank. Here's my hood latch !  |
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75 Range Rover 2 door 82 Range Rover 4 door
84 Range Rover 4 door 78 Datsun 120Y 2 door
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98 Electric Citroen Berlingo 00 Electric Peugeot Partner 02 Electric Citroen Berlingo
04 Berlingo Multispace petrol 07 Land Rover 130 15 Nissan E-NV200 15 Fiat Ducato
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Nov 22, 2009 22:31:06 GMT
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Nice work there Will. When I've had stuff plated in the past, the guy has always said that stuff plates better and looks nicer if not sand/grit blasted because it textures the surface. They normally go from a stong acid dip to wash to plating. I had some really rusty old bash plates on my Delica zinc plated before I painted them. I handed them over rusty with lots of the old paint still on and they came back looking superb! Here's a before and after:   then painted with good old spray cans (and they still shine lovely today despite what I've put the car through thanks to the metal being plated  Might be worth trying the acid route only to get them ready for plating (bypassing the sand blasting?) if you want the really nice finish? |
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Nov 22, 2009 23:20:02 GMT
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blimey they do look nice. THere is a plating firm about 10 miles from me, they did some calipers for me but it was quite expensive going from manky rusty to nice plating. I think sandblasting is ok for cast parts since they are rough anyway but I think if I get any pressed parts plated i will do what you did and not sandblast.
What did they charge for those bits out of interest?
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75 Range Rover 2 door 82 Range Rover 4 door
84 Range Rover 4 door 78 Datsun 120Y 2 door
78 Datsun 620 Pickup 81 Datsun Urvan E23 86 Datsun Vanette van
98 Electric Citroen Berlingo 00 Electric Peugeot Partner 02 Electric Citroen Berlingo
04 Berlingo Multispace petrol 07 Land Rover 130 15 Nissan E-NV200 15 Fiat Ducato
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Nov 22, 2009 23:41:03 GMT
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The complete set of bash plates done in clear (silver) plus all the bolts, nuts, brackets done in black zinc was £35 for the lot. I didn't think that was too bad especially seeing as all the panels were quite large (I'm sure you can guess the rough size?) and the surface was quite poor. Here are the bolts - I didn't get a shot of the brackets   |
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10mpg
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,253
Club RR Member Number: 204
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Funny this post, i was just talking to one of my customers earlier today about setting up a similar system for doing bits as they come of his car, as he is an electronics fella we were debating on weather to it on a fairly large scale, so we could drop large items like hubs and crossmembers in...
We were going to make a tank to strip the rust and scale by electrolysis then transferring them to the plating tank once clean, we are thinking of using the big chemical drums that farm supplies come in, 200 litres i think pleanty lying around the farm where my workshop is..
where did you buy the solutions from if you don't mind me asking?
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The Internet, like all tools, if used improperly, can make a complete bo**cks of even the simplest jobs...
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mine just came in the kit that i got off eBane along with the zinc bits
you need some big slabs of zinc, don't know where you'd get those
i don't know where to buy chemicals in bulk. would be handy to know for when i run out
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75 Range Rover 2 door 82 Range Rover 4 door
84 Range Rover 4 door 78 Datsun 120Y 2 door
78 Datsun 620 Pickup 81 Datsun Urvan E23 86 Datsun Vanette van
98 Electric Citroen Berlingo 00 Electric Peugeot Partner 02 Electric Citroen Berlingo
04 Berlingo Multispace petrol 07 Land Rover 130 15 Nissan E-NV200 15 Fiat Ducato
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you need some big slabs of zinc, don't know where you'd get those Try a galvanizing plant and ask if you can have a bucket of the floor sweepings which wll contain drips of zinc. There can be quite big drips that are larger than the lumps of zinc that come with the kits (I've got a kit but haven't used it yet). Nornally the big lumps simply get chucked back into the molton bath of zinc but I'm sure they will be able to sort you out for a couple of beer tokens. For large items like crossmembers I'd have them hot galv'd anyway as thicker coating than electroplating. Paul H |
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Nov 23, 2009 20:40:41 GMT
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Thats a real neat process to employ for detailing.
Great results both of you.
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I flicked over this thread a few times but glad i checked in now. Bruce i see what you mean about the merits of zinc plating like we spoke about - jesus they're clean looking!
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Club Retro Rides Member
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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Nov 25, 2009 10:44:32 GMT
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do you think he'd do some bits for me Bruce? i want nearly everything on my fiesta plated which is a bit above doing it at home. Dunno how many years it will be untill i get round to wanting that done however!!  |
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Nov 25, 2009 11:14:48 GMT
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No worries Dude, I'll give you a call sometime soon with details on what they do quantity wise/price etc....
It's a small 'one man band independent' type place where you fear to walk anywherewithin the workshop in case the pools of liquid on the floor will melt through your foot....and any of the few staff look like some kind of Nosferatu/Quasimodo hybrid beings that live amongst the plating tanks!
That said, they are really, really helpful and happy to deal with 'Joe Bloggs' public (those who are brave enough to venture in) rather than a lot of companies who either want minimum order £50 stuff or will only deal with massive quantities/big companies. They have even plated really stupidly small stuff like 4 x individual bolts for me....there & then while I waited....£3.00!!
I'll have to try and get some pics next time I'm there....I love the place now that I know I won't immediately die from toxic contamination. Remember that scene from Robocop near the end? That's what I thought would happen to me the first time I went there. I'm so glad there are still places like this out there where health & safety consists of a token pair of goggles for those lucky enough not to have had their eyes burnt out already ;D
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Nov 25, 2009 11:18:54 GMT
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....oh.....and the owner once zinc plated a Fiat 500 bodyshell for a customer. It warped/buckled when the shell was removed from the tank due to the colder air over the large surface areas cooling unevenly. (He'd not done anything this large before)
The customer sourced a 2nd shell but this was treated to the luxury of a heated workshop while it was dipped. No buckling this time and the staff really enjoyed it because they were warm for the first (and probably last) time in years LOL!!
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Nov 25, 2009 15:16:48 GMT
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was it galvanized?
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75 Range Rover 2 door 82 Range Rover 4 door
84 Range Rover 4 door 78 Datsun 120Y 2 door
78 Datsun 620 Pickup 81 Datsun Urvan E23 86 Datsun Vanette van
98 Electric Citroen Berlingo 00 Electric Peugeot Partner 02 Electric Citroen Berlingo
04 Berlingo Multispace petrol 07 Land Rover 130 15 Nissan E-NV200 15 Fiat Ducato
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Nov 26, 2009 10:08:00 GMT
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Do you mean the Fiat 500? If so, then no....it was zinc plated. The place I use don't do galvanizing. They do zinc plating (various finishes but mainly clear, yellow & black), nickel plating, chrome plating and anodising (any colour/shade you like) I've only ever used them for zinc plating and will be getting lots of parts from the Rascal plated in yellow very soon. I also want to get some stuff anodised so can let you know how this comes out? Here are some pics of more bits of the many that I've had zinc plated: EGR blanking plates that I designed and supply to the Delica Owners Club  Lift shackles that I designed for L300 Delica's that I get made in batches every now & then (uprights & sleeves are plated, bolts and washers are as bought in BZP finish)  'underslung' lamp mounting platform I designed to allow spotlamps to be fitted below the standard bull bar (with all mountings hidden) Before: (I didn't get any shots of the triangular OEM brakcet when it was plated....but it came out like new!)  After:   |
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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Nov 26, 2009 10:18:17 GMT
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oo anodising too? winner. could do with some of that too
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could always copper plate or brass plate some bits. don't know if it will go onto zinc plated items though.
whats the way to zinc plate? is it zinc on neg and items on pos, or is the zinc in some sort of powder form and pored into the water?
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I used to work in an electro plating factory many years ago, anything that came in was wiped down with a rag to remove oil and then it went onto racks and straight into the acid tanks, no blasting or scrubbing. They flat out refused to take any rusty parts though as it contaminates the cleaning solutions and they have to change it more often, we used to sneak stuff in though and the acid will take off the rust as well.  Wanted to chrome plate a whole escort shell on the night shift but the plating tank was 4" to narrow to get one in sideways, believe me i did think about cutting the roof off an ddoing it in two bits. I used to chrome backy tins and give em to me mate to sell for me on Romford market. |
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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Great results.
Just a side note.
I was using some degreaser the other day (5% sodium hydroxide) to clean some internal parts. I noticed the oily gunge comes off a lot easier and quicker if I heated up the parts first using a fan heater then sprayed on a little degreaser, the dirt just ran off as opposed to me having to scrub hard and saved a lot of time.
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1985 Bedford CF2 camper 1991 Volvo 240 Turbo |
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For anodising and power coating, my dad might be the man to speek to.
I must confess, they do have minimum order charges, about £50 for either, but (and I am not just saying this) they are some of the best in the business, certainly in anodising.
Sorry if this sounds like a terrible plug, but I might be of help to someone!
Lewis
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I just got another box of bolts replated at my local platers for a tenner, some in black, some in yellow. hardly worth getting the kit out next time me thinks.
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75 Range Rover 2 door 82 Range Rover 4 door
84 Range Rover 4 door 78 Datsun 120Y 2 door
78 Datsun 620 Pickup 81 Datsun Urvan E23 86 Datsun Vanette van
98 Electric Citroen Berlingo 00 Electric Peugeot Partner 02 Electric Citroen Berlingo
04 Berlingo Multispace petrol 07 Land Rover 130 15 Nissan E-NV200 15 Fiat Ducato
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