To yellow zinc or gold cad that is the question?

[55Outlaw]

I have a 1971 911 T Targa and since I took the rear suspension apart to replace the wheel bearings and all the rubber bushings I thought I would clean everything up a bit. Some stuff is obviously still gold cad from the factory but some stuff it is hard to tell. Also are there any other coatings that were used beside the gold cad or black paint? It would be great if I could get a list of what parts are supposed to be what coating. Is yellow zinc very different from gold cad in appearance? I think it is hard to get yellow cad in Cali anymore so I have sourced a place in Hayward (http://www.eps-plating.com/) that does yellow zinc. Pictures speak a thousand words and I would love to see the parts people have refurbished in the correct coating so I can identify which parts go where. Does anyone have any tricks to get the spring plate removed from the torsion bar? It seems to wiggle around some but I will damned if I can get it off yet!



Thanks for all the help,

[Haasman]

Michael- Great questions and thanks for posting the source

Hayward that does yellow zinc

.

I would suggest posting your year and model for starters. Porsche changed the fastener plating over the years.

On my 65/66 I had to resort to drilling a hole in the outboard end of the torsion bar cover and use a stout punch (with lots of "break-free lubes" to get them apart.

[55Outlaw]

I revised the thread based on the suggestions from Haasman.

[dho]

Michael, for removing the spring plate - Hassman's trick works. Since I was replacing the torsion bars, I grabbed the torsion bar with vice grips and used them for leverage to pry the spring plate off.

dho

[Haasman]

As you probably already know, handling torsion bars carefully is important. You don't want to bang or chip the paint on the bar. Since they function by twisting, even and complete paint protection is important to prevent failure. It is recommend to cover the bar with a light application of grease when reinstalling.

[55Outlaw]

I just got an email from Jose at EPS Plating and they still do gold cad plating so that is the way I am going to go on any parts that are supposed to be done in that color.

[nickb4]

I was under the impression by 1971 Cad plating had gone away replaced by Zinc. I have also noted there are some exceptions e.g., the seat rails remained CAD plated. There are perhaps more exceptions but I'm not aware of them. Depending on how original you are trying to go you may want to double-check.

[55Outlaw]

Well I finally got everything powder coated and gold zinc plated and started mocking everything up before I re-install it on the car. I tap and die'ed all the nuts and bolts and had take some powder coating off a couple of area's that didn't get taped off properly.

[csbush]

That is lovely- nice work

[SIMI BOB]

Many years ago I sent out all the nuts, bolts and washers for a VW engine I was rebuilding for Cad Plate. The owner told me that the spring washers would get brittle and crack, and he was right. Most of them broke in two when I installed them.
Bob B