Zinc platers

[Patcon]

I am wondering who everyone is using around the country and how do you feel about the results?

It would be nice to find a plater that could handle the Datsun hardware and make it look good but wasn't irritated at helping the hobbyist out. Distance is really irrelevant because the difference in postage is insignificant to getting good plating.

I have been trying out a plater in Phoenix who will for the immediate future remain nameless. I have been less than impressed!!!

I sent a package out weeks ago. Got strung along with they're almost done, almost done for the last couple of weeks. They called and took payment last week and I received a box today. The parts are ok looking and will probably work but the bigger issue is I'm missing about 25#' of miscellaneous nuts, bolts, washer, etc.!!!

We'll see if they find them...If they don't I'm screwed

 

[jfa.series1]

Charles,

I've been using these folks for years with excellent results and I've referred a bunch of fellow Z owners to them with no complaints or problems.  I'm fortunate that they are on;y a 15 minute drive from my home. As to the problem of lost bits, that will occasionally happen but I have pretty well remedied that by stringing small stuff - nuts, washers, springs, ...etc. onto wire loops that I tightly close. I do something similar with small screws by wrapping a thin wire several times arounf the threads and twsting it to lock it closed then daisy-chain more screws and finish by closing the wire into a loop. They do only cash or check for individual accounts.

http://www.texasprecision.net/

Jim

[grannyknot]

Charles, the plating you did in your garage was very impressive.                 

[Patcon]

Update: They appear to have found my missing hardware, hopefully it's all there

Thanks Jim

I love Texans so that might be a good option. I also did some wiring of small parts prior to plating. We'll see what I lose and what I don't

Chris,

Thanks for that! I can get pretty good results with smaller parts. Larger parts can be more problematic. It is also very time consuming to plate in small batches. It would take 100-120 hours to plate a whole car's worth of hardware, that might be low. I was hoping to find a solution for bulk parts and then do some plating at home to fill in around that.

It's bad when your DIY plating looks better than the professionals. Sort of disappointing...

[grannyknot]

12 hours ago, Patcon said:

. It is also very time consuming to plate in small batches.

Yes, I have to admit that I am taking all my plating needs to service now and the expensive plating kit and power supply are just sitting on the shelf gathering dust. I'm all about DIY but some things are better done by others.

[dutchzcarguy]

On 10/7/2021 at 11:27 PM, Patcon said:

We'll see if they find them...If they don't I'm screwed

Ah...

On 10/8/2021 at 1:16 AM, Patcon said:

Update: They appear to have found my missing hardware, hopefully it's all there

Hope it's all there then!  I just went a month ago? to the plater  Galvano here in the netherlands and i always care to put nothing in it under lets say 8 mm big.. i had 3 very small screws in a batch of 50 Lbs or so?  and... i got everything back in good as new condition.. (very small ones i put a ring on them and a nut that way they always come back.. never failed!)

Including the thirsty ride in my 300zx 😉  i had to pay about 200Euro for the badge.. not bad.. they said it was not very profitable as there were a lot of big parts this time..

 

some nice fuel lines..

springs i use a small piece of steel to stretch them so it is plated perfect!

40 Lbs of steel stufffff........

fuel intake 280zx (gonna use this one on my 240z one day...i think it's better hope it fits.. (these are also on the 280z i think?))

 

Edited October 30, 2021 by dutchzcarguy

[Patcon]

So I got the missing hardware. It looks ok...

These bits didn't plate

The steering coupler also didn't plate but might have if I had strung a wire through it. The finish on this was very motly

Some Clear zinc

The finish on this wasn't stellar

These also weren't as shiny or even as I would have hoped

Overall it's ok and much of the hardware looks pretty good. At this point I'm just glad they found the hardware. That would have been really painful to have lost all of that yellow hardware

 

[siteunseen]

You're trying to plate rubber steering puck or those four sleeves?

 

[Patcon]

33 minutes ago, siteunseen said:

You're trying to plate rubber steering puck or those four sleeves?

 

The four sleeves...

[Captain Obvious]

The parts that don't look like they were plated...  I think they missed the vats completely. Looking at the rest of the stuff, I don't think it's possible they went through the same process and came out looking like that.

But glad they found the missing bits! That would have been no fun to replace all that!

 

[Patcon]

9 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

The parts that don't look like they were plated...  I think they missed the vats completely. Looking at the rest of the stuff, I don't think it's possible they went through the same process and came out looking like that.

But glad they found the missing bits! That would have been no fun to replace all that!

 

I totally agree! I will probably try to replate some of that on my own and see what I get

[Av8ferg]

I’ve used a place in San Diego that I’m pretty happy with. Turnaround was about a week. Prices are good. They charge by the hour and I’ve done two batches. Fist was about 13lbs and that cost me ~$210 with tax. I did a joint venture with Captain Obvious. I think the results were good, not perfect but very good. They didn’t lose any parts either. I actually walked into the place and watched thee process. They specialize in doing classic cars so they’re familiar with what people in the car hobby want. Here is the before and after of a few items. I had the do ALOT of bolts and nuts, they came out awesome. A note, I always take account of how a place looks to make a judgement of the type of management/leadership at a business. If it’s a mess and filthy with a bunch of dudes wearing nasty work clothes it can be an indicator. I use the same theory of restaurants. If the bathroom is a mess, imagine what the kitchen looks like . This place in San Diego was spotless, people were wearing matching overalls and the place was super nice for a plating business which you expect to be something from a Chinese slave labor camp.



Place is called Anocote Metal Finishing. 858-566-1015
Ask for Debbie and tell her you want Yellow Zinc plate .


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