Doing some plating

[CDOUGLEHMAN]

So I went ahead and tried the Caswell zinc copy cad plating system here are a few pictures of my adventure





I have a lot more to do. I bought the yellow for the brakes,blue for the clear and I am going to try the black cromate to replace the black oxide bolts. I will post these when I get some of these done

[Scott A]

That looks like really nice work and results.
Did it turn out easier or harder than you thought?
That is a lot of buckets.
Scott

[CDOUGLEHMAN]

The process is simple if you do everything that is suggested. I got this kit for a few reasons when I first started restoring my car I sent off around 30 lbs of bolts that I had pulled from the car to get zinc plated. I believe I got it all back but what a mess. The bolts and clamps came back pretty good but these were probabley done in a barrel plating system which is great but if anybody that has ever done any plating it is only going to be as good as the surface prep. I had a few items that needed to be replated . Then of course I found another pile of items that needed some form of plating. I could have sent it to various places to get the job done . But while my car is getting the metal work addressed in another state,I figured I wanted to be more involved with the restoration than just an assembly man and check writer.
I am pretty handy but I do not work on cars For a living.
I will probably only restore this one and if all goes well maybe I will do one more. I do love the journey .
I will leave the painting,and metalwork to the guys that have had decades of experience.
The motor rebuild was a great experience. The suspension work was rewarding ,and of course who can leave out all the learning about these great cars.

Anyway plating and polishing is something I can learn and if I screw up a bolt or a set of calipers . I can just redo it it the same solutions.
There Are a number of great things that I really love about plating at my shop.
1. I can do very small batches.
2. I can do one project at a time like the brakes.
3. I can complete the whole project and move on.
4. I don’t get all my parts mixed up.
5 when I get a batch thru even if it is one set of fastners. I do not have to revisit them till the time comes when I finally get to put the part back on the car.
6 it is relatively safe process. The muratic acid is the strongest odor coming from the process and if you keep the lid on when it is not in use it is not bad.

The biggest thing I can say about plating and polishing is it all boils down to surface preparation.
I have a large blast cabinet that I bought a couple of years ago to get the suspension,engine tin and seat pans Ready for paint. It works great for pretty much everything that will fit into it.
I set this plating station up temporarily on this table to see if I could get good results. Eventually I will make a plating station that will not be as much of an eyesore.

I have about $500.00 dollars invested in the whole kit not inculding the blast cabinet.
I have always enjoyed instant gratification and the Restoration of an Old Porsche has been a hard lesson in patience!
This plating system gives me the fix that I need .while I wait for the finished body to come back to me.

[chris_seven]

Doug,

Do you 'bake' any high strength bolts after plating? I think it is quite important to consider this for any Grade 8.8 or stronger bolts and would do the same for Black Oxide treatments.

There is a possibility that the cleaning and subsequent plating process can produce surface hydrogen which can damage the microstructure of high strength steels.

https://www.sharrettsplating.com/blo...-need-to-know/

The 'baking' process isn't difficult to achieve and an old domestic oven should do the job.

My local plater even bakes calipers but I don't think this is necessary as they are typically made from a Grey Cast Iron which isn't really susceptible to this issue.

Any steel part with a hardness of greater then 30HRC would be of concern and I would bake them - 375 degF for around 4-6 hours depending on size.

[CDOUGLEHMAN]

That is a great idea . Do you think a toaster oven would work?

[chris_seven]

Anything that gets warm enough it's not a sophisticated process - you just need to bake out the hydrogen.

[michaelaiellosr]

The chem guys call it "hydrogen embrittlement". On fasteners, the structural weak point is located at the stress riser between the head of the bolt and the shaft. So don't go using replated bolts for critical (load-carrying) suspension parts. Other than that I wouldn't worry about it.