Mongo

I painted some of my zinc components, while others were sprayed with WD40 and lightly scrubbed with a brass brush and terry towel.

Arnoud

I also assume that yellow zinc plating will not last 25 years, and will find out in the years to come how long it actual will.

Just started a week or so ago with my own first DIY attempts for yellow zinc plating on some parts:

17prospective buyer

I want to get a breathing air supply system for blasting. I use sand alot because it's plentiful where the main house is (from the plows in the winter), and i'm making do with a P100 respirator. Also using coal slag whenever i can because it has a lower silica content. Doing blasting outside is a must, and doing it so the dust blows downwind of you eliminates alot of the risks of crystalline silica exposure.

17prospective buyer

Follow up guys.

Took a bunch of parts to Precision Plating (35 Oakland Ave. London, ON), they were pretty good. A guy there warned me about plating not getting on tight spaces/crevices, as in the hood hinges specifically. So i said maybe i won't do them, he said they might as well give them a shot. So, i took:
-hood hinges
-charcoal cannister clamp/bracket
-various bolts
-EVAP system hose clamps
-throttle/cruise control cable bracket
-ABS/PS resevoir bracket
-dipstick tube
-front engine lift point bracket
-head coolant passage block off plate
and a few others i can't remember.

I blasted all of these parts with sand, they turned out good in the end, with great adherance, very good quality plating overall. Only problem is that the plating is so thin that the texture they go in with is the texture they will be when you get them back. So, it isn't as lustrous and shiny as the factory plating, still they look very good. This was more of a trial run, and i will deffinitely be taking many more parts to this place. The whole lot only cost me $140, they seem to price out small jobs on the spot, naming a price as they see fit when you present the parts to be plated. There doesn't really seem to be any minimum lot or batch.

As for the finish longevity, time will tell. But i think i will shoot some clear coat over them next time i go home to work on the car, just for protection.
Next steps:
-use finer and/or softer blast media like walnut shells or aluminum oxide to produce a smoother finish, or continue using sand but polish them to a finer roughness with sandpaper to produce the desired finish

That's about all i can think of for now... it all went pretty smooth

I'll get some pics tomorrow.

Bart-Jan

I've had many parts replated in yellow zinc. I brought it in large buckets and varying on the mood of the guys at the platers, costs varied from 10 to 20 euros per bucket. They put all small parts in a huge tumble that goes through several baths of degreasing, derusting etc. Paint was not removed. Bigger parts like hoses with their connectors fixed on them even went fine! Even fuel dampers are still okay after replating...

Driving through rain did not affect it up till now (app. 5000km and 3 years have gone by). I never drive when there's salt on the roads. If I would, the yellow zinc coating would quickly get dull and ugly.

Yellow plating I'm told lasts better than silver finish by the way. But also this type of plating is subject to the environmental freaks for debate.

69gaugeman

Don't bother blasting the parts. They put the parts through an acid bath that removes all the old plating and rust. Save your time, lungs, and get a nicer finish.

Hilton

Wow thats cheap - the cheapest local place I found was around $150 for a large tub of bits (lots of nuts bolts, plus bigger stuff like AC pulleys, fuel rails etc.).

My issue with paying for it was the quality of the plating finish - there was significant variation in the chromate passivation layer, and also the amount of zinc deposited by their process, despite me doing all the bead blasting prep work to remove all the original plating.

It was also brave of you to trust the fuel regulators etc. - those bits I deliberately kept out of the batch after reading Rob Edwards' experiences with diaphragm failure.

I've since plated my regulators and dampeners on the 87 myself, using special plastic caps with o-ring seals (from AC stuff with the same thread as fuel fittings) to keep the chemicals out of the inside and away from the diaphragms.

17prospective buyer

Here's some pics of how it turned out...

Rob Edwards

I'm beginning to understand the conquistadors' thing for gold...

dr bob

Bad case of OCP.

Are these yellow zinc or did you splurge on real CAD?

dr bob

And kudos to the other dr edwards for allowing all those metal bits on her new kitchen stone countertops. Or... what she doesn't know won't hurt you?

Rob Edwards

Nah, yellow zinc. Couple years from now it'll all have faded to something closer to Cad...

Leon Speed

Seems like Rob has easy working hours because there are many evenings of sorting fun in those bags.

Rob Edwards

Repeat after me, the 928 mantra. Don't ask, don't tell.

huskeric

oh so wonderful!