Metal cleaning and plating

[Purple_rob]

Hi all,

I started a small topic about metal cleaning a while back and got recommended some great stuff by bilt hammer that removed rust.

Well following on from that I have tried their gel and water solution and have got to say they are excellent. They provide a non toxic safe product for the simplest DIY.

I'm not here to sell that lol so i'll get to the point.

I want to look into electro cleaning and zinc plating. I'm sure Raj will look into this forum (hi) as you have some great zinc plated parts in your engine build that I have been browsing. But as always I dont have the time to run parts around or anyone local to do this.

So.... I thought I would look into plating myself. Now fortunately I have done some homework on this previously when looking into chrome plating but did not have the funds to back my ideas back then.

I was looking at this kit which is both cheap and offers ground base to learn the chemicals etc.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250309983689&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=015

Has anyone done any plating and can offer advice. My first project will be stripping and refurbing hubs and carriers. These are big items but I'm sure when I get into stripping brackets etc it will become more economic in money than seperately sending parts to the paters.

Raj, if you come across this, was the head on your clean engine rebuild shot blasted, electro cleaned or chemically dipped?.

Thanks for your thoughts all.

[richi]

i seem to remember mike wilson?!?!? saying he was going to start doing this, the main problems arnt the chrome, plateing etc it getting the bracket or whatever perfectly clean so it looks really good once chromed up, drop him a pm im sure he will help ya out

[Ashy]

I guess thats why having access to shot and glas blasters at work is so handy :)

[Adam L]

I guess thats why having access to shot and glas blasters at work is so handy :)

I was just about to suggest that. They'll get metal right down to the bare surface...

[Schakal]

nice thread :agree:

is this stuff any good for refurbing the reflective
material inside the headlights as well by any chance ??

[raj]

I want to look into electro cleaning and zinc plating. I'm sure Raj will look into this forum (hi) as you have some great zinc plated parts in your engine build that I have been browsing. But as always I dont have the time to run parts around or anyone local to do this.

Has anyone done any plating and can offer advice. My first project will be stripping and refurbing hubs and carriers. These are big items but I'm sure when I get into stripping brackets etc it will become more economic in money than seperately sending parts to the platers.

Raj, if you come across this, was the head on your clean engine rebuild shot blasted, electro cleaned or chemically dipped.?

rob, i cant comment on the ebay kits as ive never looked into doing plating at home.

if you want a perfect finish after the brackets have been plated you need to make sure the brackets are free from any pitting, if not it will look abit scabby when plated, but regardless of looking scabby it will still be ok. you can see abit of scabby bits on the crank pulleys.
http://www.rtoc.org/boards/picture.php?albumid=25&pictureid=216
i have all the brackets chemically cleaned before i send them off to the platers. i have the chem cleaning done separatly as i have a mate that does blasting/chem cleaning/tufftriding/nitriding etc.
im sure if you where to take parts direct to the platers they would have to chem clean the bits anyway.



regarding the heads on my engine builds, all of them where bead blasted[not the really coarse type] note that i never have the head face bead blasted but only the combustion chambers with the valves in situ. i keep the valves in situ as i dont want to damage the valve seats.
some say you shouldnt blast clean alloy but this is the way ive always used and to date have had no problems what so ever. i also have the heads rinsed in a lubricating fluid after the bead blasting.
http://www.rtoc.org/boards/picture.php?albumid=22&pictureid=120

[Purple_rob]

All the answers I coudl have hoped for :). Well I have a blaster so all I need to buty is some medium.

I've contacted the guy direct off ebay to see if I can get a better price so I will keep you posted :).

Any more suggestions/ideas are very welcome. To date yours is the only picture I've seen with someone doing this.

[raj]

make sure the head is dry when blasting it, if its wet or greasy the blasting grit will stick. and make sure you clean the head properly after bead blasting it, consentrating on area where the grit could have travelled to ie valve guides etc.

let us know if you strike a deal with the ebay seller.

[Purple_rob]

I just love the look, I'm such a perfectionist and something like a blasted cylinder head is eye candy.

Matey come back with a discount so I've asked for a little advise and keep everyone updated.

This is the rust remover for anyones reference. I know I got a PM also :)

There is a Gel or solution + I think they also do protection stuff. (yet to read and test)

http://www.bilthamber.com/deoxc.html

[michael tierney]

frost also do kits and products for refurbishing.i was looking for 2 tins of carb paint but they wanted £30 for post!i would imagion its a bit cheaper over there!!

[Purple_rob]

A member asked me for more info on the bilt hammer and I completed a quick test and done some pics that I thought you all might want to see.

http://rtoc.org/files/?path=Technical%20Files/purple_rob/Rust%20removal%20-%20bilt%20hammer/

I wanted to continue this discussion, unless i'm boring everyone :). (It quite interests me).

I was wondering what protection you could put into say a exhaust manifold (turbo exhaust section). They are always rust and looking awful.

Would say the carbon tuff process protect the metal?. Would this be more likely to crack being more brittle?.



For anyone info the ebay seller does offer an off ebay reduction in price. Around £5 if both kits are purchased and a couple of pounds of the price.

I will be contact him again to see if there is a better offer so enable me to buy. (Very small budget right now)

[raj]

that bilt hammer stuff looks like it works ok :agree: the process looks like it works the same way as hammerite kurust.

i might get some of the bh stuff to try on stonechips.

[Purple_rob]

the metal is unprotcted once the process is done. it does need some kind of protection.

[Purple_rob]

Evening all,

I have made significant progress in the plating area and contacted the above supplier and received the kit.

Friday night I was getting strange looks from the missus as I sat there with my blue marigolds, a face mask, scales and a calculator to work volumns out.

Anyways, I successfully mixed the elctrolite and moved on to some plating.

Thinking I would be clever and use a low voltage power supply I had kicking around I started plating. Well.... lets just say it didnt work :).

As far as I can tell you should use a DC power supply as AC as it doesnt work :).


I then moved onto using a single aa battery as my power source as I was starting with a fairly small part, and had excellent results.

Attached is a picture of a penny that I have zinc plating + with the standard yellow/gold passivate.

Obviously this will open up a whole new world of refurbishing car parts that I can now work on but need a little more practice in bigger parts.

I will definately be putting up something with more details for those who are interested.

Let me know what you think :)

[Scoff]

interesting stuff !

what dc voltage does it reccommend ? is it dependant on the size of the tank or the work ?

[Ashy]

Cool, yeah I would think DC would be better than AC!

Looks good tho, does it give off fumes etc?

:smokin:

[Purple_rob]

Yes, basically you increase the amperage with the size of the part. I asked the same question and below is basically te answer.

You need 100ma/sq inch which means that for every 10 square inches you want to plate then you would need 1 amp so a sheet of steel 5"x 5" would need a power supply or 5 amps.

I'm using 1.5v on the small parts and will need to look into what I need going forward.

[tiff_lee]

Excellemnt work Rob I wonder how long the finish will last?

Reminds me of that chap once on dragons den gold plating IPODs in a similar fashion.

[Ashy]

5" x 5" would be 2.5A :crap: ;)