Glenn M

I'm looking at getting this kit to replate the items in my engine compartment.
http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/zinc.htm

Rob Edwards has had luck with sending his out, I'm not sure of the cost?

Thought this might be another solution, plus side is you could replate as needed when you removed parts.

Thanks

leperboy

I haven't used that particular kit, but I have used Caswell Plating kits for other projects and have been pleased with the quality and results.

Matt

GregBBRD

I'm not sure about this, but someone mentioned to me that you'd have to be pretty patient to do all the hardware on a 928, with that little power supply. Seems that the amount of power needed is directly proportional to the surface area that needs to be plated.

Glenn M

Greg,
When you guys send the parts off do you do any prep work? If so, what?

Thanks

GregBBRD

Yes, we do. The pieces get cleaned very carefully to remove all the grease. If there is any rust, we bead blast the stuff to get rid of all traces of any corrosion.

I'd be really interested in how that kit works. Having had a bunch of pieces plated, I can tell you this....no two "batches" turn out exactly the same. They vary in both color and sheen. It would be great to be able to get 100% repeatable results.

karl ruiter

I have used that kit to replate pretty much all the hardware on my motor and engine compartment. Takes a little while to get the process consistent, but, once you get it down, it is pretty quick and has a lot of advantages:
-You can do your parts in small batches, so you don't get your parts mixed up.
-You can control the look of the parts (to an extent, anyhow)
-No shipping or parts lost by the plater
-You can have your parts whenever you need them.
-The corrosion resistance seems very good
-The kit seems like it will last many, many years and many projects with just a few inexpensive refills (the only thing you will run out of is the zinc brightener, and only after a long time).

I prep the parts by bathing them in paint thinner or a simple green solution to remove the grease, then straight battery acid to remove prior plating and rust and such (while not putting any of it into the air), then hit the bare metal quickly with a wire wheel. The zinc plate bath takes about 10 minutes (about 10 fastners at a time at 2 amps) and the yellow color bath about another 5 or 10 minutes.
It ends up taking quite a bit of time, but I justify it to myself because corrosion resistance is a big deal here in honolulu.
My next plating project is to repair pits in a p/s rack shaft by plating with copper, sanding, replating with copper, (repeat until pits are filled), then a layer of nickle on top.

blown 87

Dave C (Worf) has done a bunch of stuff with his, he can answer any questions you have Greg

Glenn M

Karl,
Do you have the small kit? I will have to get more details on your method, sounds great.

Cheers

dr bob

Karl--

The rack shaft deserves a hard chrome spray followed by centerless grinding, so the surface stays harder than the seals and/or contaminants. Nickel alone may not be up to the task, plus it pits when exposed to the elements over time. In my limited experience with high-duty industrial pieces anyway. Think of the rack as a hydraulic cylinder piston, and you'll find a place that can do it for you easily.

karl ruiter

I have the 1.5 gal kit. It works pretty well if you are just doing fastners. When you start looking at brackets and such it is sometimes a tight squeeze to get things into the 1.5 gal bucket. You could always make a custom bucket that is shaped around your part, but it is a hassle. For bigger parts I am going to go with their brush plate kits. I think this will be too slow for brackets and stuff but will be very good for applications such as:
-CIS fuel lines
-Spots on the chassis where the galvinize has been sanded or worn away

Bob, it seems like the rack shaft is made from unplated steel. Chrome would be good, but I am thinking the nickle would be at least a step up from the bare steel. It this incorrect? Anyway, I have an extra rack (thanks to 153BigBlock) and I have noted that people have had mixed success doing their own rebuilds so I was wanting to experiment and perhaps come up with an easy solution that would improve the success rate.

dr bob

Karl--

Since there's a shipyard in your back yard there in HI, there's a good chance that there's a place that does hydraulic pistons there too. A phone call will let you know quickly. Otherwise there are more than a couple places on the mainland. Even if the original shaft is unplated, an industrial hard chrome spray and grind will work wonders for restoring correct radial play on the shaft, and will dramatically extend seal life. If there are any wear morks on the shaft now, the spray and grind will fix them. My discussion was a suggestion that there is a cheaper and better alternative to the relatively soft copper and nickel materials you proposed originally.

Giovanni

Don't use the eastwood kit, it requires clearcoat after zinc plated and if not the part becomes corrosive very quickly.

NoVector

It's been a couple years since Glenn started this thread. Wondering how the parts are holding up and whether you would still recommend the Caswel kit for home plating. There's another company called Gateros (http://www.gaterosplating.co.uk/Zinc-Plating-kit.php) in the UK that also has a kit for about the same price but I don't know enough about the process to know what to look for in a kit or which one would be better