Refinishing - Change of plans and progress

[=Enigma=]

Well I'm getting very close to re-assembly time after refinishing all of the suspension parts and fasteners. Just a few more items to aquire to complete the suspension refresh/brake upgrade.

Long story short; after paying someone to bead blast all my suspension parts and doing a nice job painting everything very carefully with a rattle can ($300 blasting, $~100 paint & supplies), I decided I wanted to go ahead and have it all stripped and powder coated. To my surprise, I was able to get it all bead blasted and powder coated for roughly the same ($375) cost as the original finishing job. Woohoo! And boy does it look great! I should have gone this route in the first place. Live and learn. The part clean-up was a bit harder with the powder coating, but definitely worth it in the end. The list of 36 parts that were plated for $375 are listed below. Was the latter a good deal or not?

Also, I'm just about finished zinc plating the original fasteners with the factory yellow chromate finish, although I like the finish just a bit darker than the factory finsh. I knocked off the rust and corrosion using a wire wheel, and then put them all into a bath of hydrochloric acid to take them down to bare steel. The next step was the plating which was a real learning process. After a couple weeks of experimentation and two different rectifiers, I was finally able to come up with a repeatable process and formula that got me the finish I was looking for. I used the Copy Cad kit from Caswell for the zinc plating and the Yellow Chromate formula for the color. This is a very time consuming process. Unless you are simply interested in trying this for yourself out of curiosity, I recommend taking everything to a professional plater. Probably cheaper if time is $$$$ to you. That said, I'm still glad I did it myself. Looking at the finished product and knowing I did it myself is very satisfying. Pics below.

The last items (that I'm aware of) I need to complete the brake upgrade are the front and rear disc brake conversion adapters and cross drilled rotors, but getting these items is proving to be a bit of challenge due to a possible communication problem. Anyone have Ross's telephone number?

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2 - Front Transverse links

2 - Steering knuckles

2 - Front Strut Assy

2 - T/C Rods

2 - Front Hubs

1 - Front Crossmember

4 - Front Crossmember - special washers (upper/lower)

2 - Steering rack mtg brackets

1 - Steering rack mtg u-bolt & bracket

1 - Front Sway Bar

2 - Front sway bar reinforcing plates

4 - Front/Rear upper spring seats

2 - Rear transverse links

2 - Rear Strut Assy

2 - Rear Transverse Link Braces

1 - Rear Transverse Link Member

2 - Rear Transverse Link Mtg Brackets

1 - Differential Mtg Member

1 - Rear Sway Bar

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$300 - Blast and coat - Good deal or not?

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[240znz]

Nice and shiny. Great work!!!

I heard once that nylocks should not be re-used due to the fact that the nylon won't bite the thread as well the second time around. Maybe worth a look at getting new ones???? I'm not sure, anyone else heard anything about re-using nylocks?

It might be an idea to use some Loctite thread locker if you re-use them. Worth a thought.

[=Enigma=]

Yes, I've heard the same thing, however these seem to be in good shape and provided enough resistance when re-installing so I'm not too worried about it. I ordered replacements anyway and intend to replace them with the new ones once they have been re-plated and finished in yellow chromate.

[Panamared]

Nice work Enigma.

[ChrisA]

Looking good Adam! Nice write up too.

Chris A.

[Dat240ZG]

Just saw this post. Ross is a great guy to do business with. There are quite a few parts that he's manufactured that are under my other Z. Always great quality, and pretty good communication as well. The one thing is that Modern Motorsports Ltd. is his business on the side and as such, contact is via email.

I've never had any problem at all, in fact, just the opposite. I had a lot of dumb questions when I was first planning out my suspension mods and he was patient with all of them. Great guy to do business with.

BTW, I'm not on his payroll

Bryan

Dat240zg

[santamaus]

I am getting ready to refinish the suspension on my Z. Does anyone have any recommendations for a powder coater in the Everett area? Or is there a better coating that I should be considering for the suspension?

Should I also do the half shafts or is there a problem with balance doing that?

[Zed Head]

Seems like a lot of extra work to disassemble the half-shafts just to powdercoat them.  The rubber boots and nylon bearing spacers might not handle the heat for a normal powdercoat material.

"Suspension" covers a lot of parts.  Coating choice really depends on why you're coating them, for rustproofing or looks or durability.

[santamaus]

All the above really, though protection and durability is the main reason. I have to replace the u joints anyway, so they'll be taken down already. As for suspension, I mean the big pieces-- crossmember, arms, that sort of thing.