Personally, I say go buy a kit and have some fun with it.

http://www.gaterosplating.co.uk/Zinc-Plating-kit.php

 

+1

 

+2, looks fabulous NoVector!

 

2 main types A2 and A4 latter being the better quality. Actually stainless is high tensile, especially cap head 12.9 i think.....so far superior to steel plated fasteners!! a bit of copperslip and no gauling and no rust.

 

Not quite

Grade 12.9 is the highest High Tensile grade commonly available off the shelf and is not Stainless Steel.

Stainless Steel Property Class 80 has an Ultimate Tensile Strength (UTS) marginally less than Grade 8.8 (same as imperial SAE Grade 5) A4/80-800N/mm2, G8.8 827N/mm2. However it's yield strength which is more important for most fastenings is lower - A4/80 = 600N/mm2, G8.8= 640N/mm2. It is generally only available as A4 or 316 Grade.

Stainless Property Class 70 is available in 304 grade (A2) and 316 grade (A4)
It has a yield stress of 450N/mm2. So can be safely substituted for Grade 4.6 bolts - Yield stress = 240 N/mm2.

The 928 does have a lot of bolts specified as G8.8 where strength is not an issue. From a bit of digging I did a while back I recall coming to the conclusion that Porsche really only used Grade 4.6 bolts for interior fixings. If it was outside, underneath or in the engine bay they used G8.8 (or better) even if it wasn't required.

 

There are probably 50 or 100 fasteners on the car where strength really matters. The other 1000 or so really don't matter much. However I've had bad luck with the corrosion resistance of hardware store fasteners. They will start to rust here in Hawaii in 6 months or a year, while the stock fasteners often look great after 20. I've done my own zinc/chromate thing too, and that's ok, but my results are pretty inconsistent as to how long it lasts.
On my boats, I've started doing anything I can from titanium because stainless parts can corrode from the inside and suddenly fail after a year or so of use in a salty environment, while titanium never corrodes. And, it's not really THAT expensive. Consider you are doing a water pump job. If you are concerned about cost you probably go Lasco, for $500 or so. Probably closer to $1k if you are going to Porkension it also. For an extra $60 or $70 you can do all the water pump fasteners in titanium. If you have ever had one of these fasteners stick or break you can see how this could easily be worth it.

 

A sharp impact is all that is needed for stuff like that. At least for me. Most stubborn fasteners i've had feel impossible to get out with constant torque applied, but come out like butter with sharp sudden impacts. If you don't have an impact you can sort of simulate the same effect with a ratchet, provided you can swing the damn thing. Melting the Loctite with heat is a good measure too for bolts that have it.

 

Which kit did you purchase? and can I assume that they results you've shown were done with one of these kits??

Great results!

Thanks,
Bob

 

Hi Bob - I bought their "ultimate" kit because I didn't have a 220 water heater, air pump, etc. And I use a 22 amp battery charger for power.

Their video explains the process:
I don't know long-term results as I just started doing this a little over a year ago. But, it's kind of fun... everytime I do a project I just cean/rezinc stuff. Truth be told, I'm not smart enough to put 5 lbs of stuff in a bucket, take it to a metal shop and then remember where everything goes--doing little jobs at a time makes it easy. I'm looking forward to my top end refresh this spring so I can do the fuel rails, FPRs, bolts, etc. .

 

Cool Jon Thanks

 

Agree. I plan to try.

Hilton, I never would have thought of plating that part. Looks like you plated the "sensing wire" too, does it still work properly?

 

No it doesn't work he just plated it for art.

 

I wasn't risking anything - as you can see from the first pic, it was rusted up and the bottom section was caked in a tar-like substance, and was thoroughly failing to work. I opened it up to investigate after finding lots of scary crap in the bottom of the fuel tank (varnish, mud, sand-like stuff, rust flakes)

Bead blasted it after a solvent bath, washed it thoroughly and plated it (which also plates the wires), then passivated with the chromate dip.

Then discovered once I installed it that the passivation stuff doesn't conduct very well, so my tank gauge was jumping from zero to full with every shake of the car. I fixed that by removing the sender again, and using some fine-grade wet and dry paper on the wires to remove the coating.

Has been just fine since!

 

Expensive stainless bolt and nuts simply fail, especially if exposed to heat from my experience. Do not use them for exhaust work.

I recently was trying to remove these highest quality fasteners on a Buddy's car exhaust (the expensive nuts failed in a matter of weeks)

I've never cursed so much under a car!

 

Its getting harder and harder for makers of anything plated to get approvals for the process - not only the coating has do a certain job, but the whole process has to be considered eco-friendly these days. My last employer has a plant in China, and they have to keep fighting off people offering them cheaper and cheaper sub contract work. One was plating, and I was told that the cheapest platers would dig a hole, line it with plastic , fill it with plating solution , hang a metal basket of material in the solution, connect a wire to the basket, and throw it over the nearest overhead power line.....
jp 83 Euro S AT 55k