is it possible to restore some of my parts to its original yellow zinc color?

Restore? no. Replate, Yes. Or paint from Eastwood. Plenty of info on this, just search cadmium. Personally, I have just located a service that I plan to use in Long Beach that specializes in automotive restoration replating. I hope to pull some parts this weekend and take them in to see the quaility of their replating.

Edited September 17, 200816 yr by rtaylor

Please let me know how that goes.

I've been looking at Caswell Plating https://www.caswellplating.com/ as a potential source of chemicals and equipment to do my own plating when it comes to it. They are a bit pricey, considering what the chemicals cost on the open market, but where else is an individual going to do better?

Edited September 17, 200816 yr by Seppi72
fixed URL

I just had a 2.5 gallon bucket (65 lbs. worth) of S30 fasteners, brackets, linkages, etc. yellow zinc plated for $50. What's really important is to run the parts through a tumbler twice, the first time using an aggressive cleaning media and the second using a polishing media. That takes the most time - three weeks in my case to get all the parts through both tumbling processes.

John, thats a bargain. Do them yourself or by someone locally??

I piggy back on a Porsche restoration shop that's in my complex. They send hundreds of pounds of stuff in large batches to a local plater.

you gotta love hookups from work..

Chris. This is a link to their website. Afriend took parts from his street rod for chroming. They did a great job on the chrome. So I want to see how they do on the yellow cad plating.

I spoke to the guy and he said that he does individual batches, especially on the small stuff, because it is easy if you are not careful to loose some of the smaller washers, nuts and screws in the tanks, such as the little hose clamp washers...so he pays more attention to the contents. We'll see.

http://www.artisticsilverplating.com

Edited September 17, 200816 yr by rtaylor

I've been looking at Caswell Plating https://www.caswellplating.com/ as a potential source of chemicals and equipment to do my own plating when it comes to it. They are a bit pricey, considering what the chemicals cost on the open market, but where else is an individual going to do better?

I have been looking a this Caswell system myself just for small stuff, but was concerned at the finish and final color. I think I read it is not really a cadium plating but a similar color. Did you or has anyone used this system.

Cadmium plating is great stuff, no doubt about it. Generally cadmium coatings are applied making use of a cyanide-based plating bath. Cyanide is most forms can be deadly; not to be messed with casually. Also, IIRC, don't heat cadmium plated stuff and breathe the fumes.... that cyanide issue again. I looked into doing some plating a while back and the EPA folks suggested that it would be okay, but the disposal of some of the chemicals would be problematic and expensive. That was a decade ago.

Yeah, the Caswell plating system is actually Zinc plating. You can add the dyes that give it a Cad plating color. I've been looking at this system for myself.