JBT3

Planning to send a batch of parts off to Burbank to get cad plated. How clean do the parts need to be? Not sure what kind of cleaning process if any they use before plating and I’ve never used a service like this before. Thanks

JT

Rob Edwards

Everything should be dirt- and grease free, and anything that has any rust or heavy oxidation on it should be wire-brushed or bead blasted (though the beading can leave a 'frosted' finish that may leave a more satin final finish, post-plating). Their first step will be an acid bath to remove the old residual plating but the cleaner the parts you send, the better the final result will be. You will also want to disassemble every hose clamp so the screw is separate- otherwise there will be a bare spot on the threads when it's tightened back down.

That's awesome that Burbank is still doing Cad- I haven't taken a load of stuff up there in several years, but they did very nice work in the past.

Kevin in Atlanta

Wear a mask when you use a wire brush or bead blast Cadmium is a carcinogenic.

Bertrand Daoust

+1 to what Rob and Kevin said.
The cleaner the parts will be sent to the plater, the better result you'll get.

JBT3

Thanks Rob. I may have to invest in a wire wheel and some good pads. I don’t have any rusty parts yet, but if I get off my butt and take my suspension apart to send along, I’m sure I’ll find some rust. For parts under the hood, I’m hoping my ultrasonic cleaner will do the trick on them.

Kevin - thanks for the heads up. I was aware but it’s a good reminder

NoVector

An alternative to sanding, wire wheel, etc., is a parts tumbler. I bought the 18-lb harbor freight tumbler and their "rust cutting" media with a wet solution I found on the internet (RV antifreeze, simple green, dawn and a couple other ingredients) and it works really well. Let them tumble overnight.

karl ruiter

I use sulfuric acid (battery acid) and an acid brush. I find this gives me a little more control as to how much I remove. Just the staining? The yellow top coat? All the zinc? Rust too? I think this may have been recommended by the company that made the plating kit I have. Tons of safety issues, of course, so read up on that.

MCR 85 928

Where in Burbank are you going? (Im in Los Angeles)

JBT3

yikes! Thanks, but I’ll pass.

http://www.burbankplating.com

Eplebnista

I have used evapo-rust to clean parts as the lazy mans alternative to a stronger acid solution. Drop the parts in for an hour and you will remove the yellow chromate. Leave them in for a day or two and it strips off the zinc or cad. I have had some luck with just stripping off the chromate, carefully polishing the underlying zinc or cad and then redipping in a chromate solution. If you suspect the part is cad plated protect yourself if you do this because cad is nasty. If you are going the plating route, the better the parts look when you send them off, the better they will look when they return.