Restoring and prepping hardware for plating - the "easy" way

[RIP260Z]

I have my parts and the majority of my hardware aqua blasted (vapour blasted) first. Nuts/bolts etc are wired up into a ball so the blaster can pick them up with his protective glove. Single bolts/nuts he won't deal with, as they can't be held easily. Uses a rust inhibitor, so they don't rust straight away. Aqua blasting much less agressive and doesn't remove any metal. Then sent to be plated.

That is how I do it.

[siteunseen]

It comes in plastic jugs and you need good airflow with it. The fumes are bad up close. I've done a couple of gas tanks using it in my garage with the doors up, open. Poured the used stuff in a 5 gallon bucket and put a good fitting lid on that. Kept it in my garage using it for small stuff for a week or two.

[inline6]

2 hours ago, Patcon said:

Have you contacted them to inquire about their process steps?

I would expect:

Degreasing

Pickling - which will remove rust

Plating

Chromating

Possibly a post plating baking to remove nitrogen

Some platers might also offer abrasive stripping services. I am planning on using the same plater motorman7 uses. We'll see on the results. They told me all the paint needs to be stripped and rusty parts might be pitted...

So I inferred they don't do any abrasive stripping. I have been using the SS media. It actually has a little paint thinner in it from me cleaning it. That helps when tumbling. I wont go to the level you have because I'm not sure it will matter. Pickling tends to dull the metal and can change the surface finish. It all depends on how the plater handles it.

I have spoken to TFC also. I would be open to using them too.

I talked with Irina at TFC a couple of months back.  When I told her I prepared the hardware by bead blasting and tumbling, her reaction communicated to me it was clearly unusual.  I didn't ask much about their process, I think because I didn't know the right questions to ask?  All she said was to separate the hardware and label what type of plating color: clear, yellow, black, or olive drab.  I will give them another call and ask them about their process given what I have learned since.  I'd like to know they are going to put all my parts through their normal process, how they will handle the items with plastic on them, and some other things.

I recall now that I got their info from Duffy Mahoney's thread.  He said it was the third plater he has used, that Ztherapy used them, and "If zinc is intact and oxidized or whatever, then I don't do anything.  Rust has to be removed, paint has to be removed, some places can acid bath before, so not much prep is needed at all."  Consistent with what others are saying here.  

I am curious what kind of finish is achieved just from muriatic acid and neutralizing.  Shiny?

Edited August 8, 2021 by inline6

[inline6]

6 minutes ago, RIP260Z said:

I have my parts and the majority of my hardware aqua blasted (vapour blasted) first. Nuts/bolts etc are wired up into a ball so the blaster can pick them up with his protective glove. Single bolts/nuts he won't deal with, as they can't be held easily. Uses a rust inhibitor, so they don't rust straight away. Aqua blasting much less agressive and doesn't remove any metal. Then sent to be plated.

That is how I do it.

Have any pics of the parts after plating?

[ETI4K]

5 hours ago, inline6 said:

I watched a couple of Youtube videos of using muriatic acid.  Looks like that stuff has some pretty serious fumes.  And it can cause "everything in the shop to rust" if not stored properly.  Can one simply store in a sealed plastic container?  Do you typically use it outside instead of indoors?  

I stored a gallon of brand new, unopened muriatic acid in a closed cabinet with other paints. It rusted every single can in the large cabinet.  Now I keep it in the open and not near other metal.

As has been mentioned, it works RIGHT NOW for removing rust - all of it.  The fumes are quite serious.  I only use it outside, and even then am very careful to be upwind.

Right now I am considering whether to use it to remove light surface rust everywhere on a previously blasted car because it works so well and it's so easy.

[Diseazd]

6 hours ago, inline6 said:

I watched a couple of Youtube videos of using muriatic acid.  Looks like that stuff has some pretty serious fumes.  And it can cause "everything in the shop to rust" if not stored properly.  Can one simply store in a sealed plastic container?  Do you typically use it outside instead of indoors?  

I buy a gallon in a plastic container. I only use enough acid to cover the parts to be plated......in a small plastic container. Of course you need to exercise caution, gloves, googles etc. care not to breathe fumes, but that should be just understood. It only takes 3 minutes.......they come out clean with no rust. Dilute the residue with water and you’re done. Why vapor blast when it’s just that easy! Put the top back on the gallon jug and there’s no way it affects anything else around it. IMHO. 

[RIP260Z]

23 hours ago, inline6 said:

Have any pics of the parts after plating?

My site, some pics of parts before and after plating on this blog page  about 2/3rd down (though there are few elsewhere scattered in the blog pages...)

https://csp311.net/blog/page-6-ページ6/

For me, I am also looking for a consistency of prep and finish so everything looks the same. Part of the reason I haven't bothered with home kits. Even NOS parts are going back in to be re-plated, as they have faded over time.

I'm turning out to be a little OCD, but as much as possible the sharp edges are all chamfered, as this is where the plating process will cover the least. (imagine the amount of plating on the cutting edge of a knife). It's also where anything powder coated starts to go first.

[Zpenman]

I have not delved into the world of plating (yet), but have had excellent luck using naval jelly to remove rust from hardware. It works best if the hardware is degreased first. I have soaked hardware in naval jelly for 48 hours and after rinsing was rust free. Low effort with high yield.

[ETI4K]

Has anyone zinc-plated hood hinges, or anything similar with "inseparable" components?  I need to know if the plating action occurs in the spaces under loose rivet heads, between close plates, etc.  I am given to believe it will not work as hoped.

Ultimately, the goal is to protect such assemblies from rusting at the joins, but for example, re-riveting the hood hinges sounds like a tough haul.

[Patcon]

1 hour ago, ETI4K said:

Has anyone zinc-plated hood hinges, or anything similar with "inseparable" components?  I need to know if the plating action occurs in the spaces under loose rivet heads, between close plates, etc.  I am given to believe it will not work as hoped.

Ultimately, the goal is to protect such assemblies from rusting at the joins, but for example, re-riveting the hood hinges sounds like a tough haul.

Plating is all line of sight basically. So I'm gonna say no. I have some parts that have been plated and if the hinges aren't move around when plated then the shaded area doesn't get plated. So I doubt the tight areas near the rivets will receive any plating. Painting has similar limitations

[ETI4K]

Was afraid of that.  Maybe a bath in PPG DX products, if it can still be found.  I have used these before, but it has been a long, long time.

DX579: Metal Cleaner
DX579 is a multi-purpose phosphoric acid based cleaner and prepaint conditioner for most metals. It can be used to deep clean a metal surface prior to paint or to prepare a surface for a subsequent chemical conversion coating (when followed by DX520 or DX501). DX579 is blue in color and could lighten over time.
 

DX520: Metal Conditioner
DX520 is a phosphoric acid based conditioner that will deposit a uniform layer of zinc phosphate on properly prepared galvanized and steel surfaces. DX520 is intended as the second step in a two step process, following DX579 application. DX520 is pale green in color and may turn darker over time.

[CW240Z72]

Evapo-Rust or CLR do wonders for removing rust when prepping hardware. I tried the media blasting but its very difficult with the smaller parts. I soaked everything in CLR overnight, and wire-wheeled every part. Doing so gives the metal a nice luster that shines through the plating.

Don't bother with itemizing everything in zip locks, as you'll get everything back in one big box. I wrote every fastener down by size/length/thread pitch/qty and transferred that over to an Excel sheet for easy tracking.

 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by CW240Z72