Electro-plating for noobs....

[89rallye]

Ok so I've been looking at zinc plating and blackening kits but I find them a little misleading,

Now although the simple DIY kits claim that it's all you need, once you start reading into it there's cleaning, pickling, heat, agitation..... Etc

Anyone out there have any experiences, advice, hints or tips, where's best to buy? Whats actually required for good home setup/finish.

Now my next stupid question,

I'm looking to do bright zinc and yellow'd zinc on my door catches. I've had them soaking in degreaser for weeks...

Problem is of course that everything is riveted and can't really be stripped down, everything I've ever seen being electroplated is stripped bare.

So the question is can I simply stick the lock complete into the tank? Will the coating effect the mechanisms? Obviously concerned about greases etc inside the lock contaminating the solution.

A few examples, good thing is I have a few duplicates to practice with but I don't want to destroy £80 worth of zinc solution either.

Needs yellow'ing





Needs bright zinc'ing





There's certain bits and pieces I can remove (like the spring in photo above) but not a lot.

Is it worth going to the hassle of plating? Or just paint?

Opinions welcome

[tractorman]

The yellow plating is nickel plating, not zinc - a small niggle, but one that may save embarrassment later on!

I suspect that the plating will cause problems with locks etc as it will tend to put the plating over rivets and make the operation stiff at best - immovable at worst! It will also cause problems with springs by bridging the coils together and some serious "picking" will be needed (and will probably damage the spring).

I did try some aerosol tint spray from Frosts's, but it is a much too deep colour - a solid gold for want of a better description - to be a good imitation (even though I used a silver/aluminium base colour) and, if I got a very light coat on, it made it rather streaky.

I haven't yet seen a good imitation of galvanised metal and my only suggestion would be to remove the rust and try some "Cold Galvanising" spray - though it looks much like a grey matt primer - to give the bits some protection. I don't care what anyone says, using silver/aluminium paint on what should be a "bare" metal part fools nobody and looks rather cheap and tacky: a lot of car sales places did that in the 70s and 80s to make rough cars look better!

[jimmyybob]

I use cold blacking on a daily basis, its just four tanks and a one minute dip in each and works super well on bolts but everything must be spotlessly clean, i usualy bead blast parts before dipping.

All our stuff comes from here.
http://www.blackfast.com/

[JPB]

How about new parts? I'm not usually in the habit of suggesting such a thing when old parts are functional or at the very least reusable, but I'm thinking that given the brilliant parts availability enjoyed by classic VWs, new bits could well be cheaper than having the old ones stripped & dipped.

[89rallye]

How about new parts? I'm not usually in the habit of suggesting such a thing when old parts are functional or at the very least reusable, but I'm thinking that given the brilliant parts availability enjoyed by classic VWs, new bits could well be cheaper than having the old ones stripped & dipped.

It's like everything else I life though, you can't get better than oem originals.

Even though The VW community does enjoy a vast array of aftermarket parts, most of the quality is pants so unless you can hold out for nos parts it's not really a good idea.

Original earlybay (68-71) parts are getting very difficult to get hold.

Plus I'm a softie when it come to reusing things, these locks for example have been on this van from day one and doing there job perfectly for the last 42 years... So they deserve to be put back on

Back on the topic in question, I've been talking to an electro-plater who's obviously been talking me out of the home kits but does actually give a good argument as to why.

And I quote...

How it's done professionally.

what you need to do is strip all the old zinc off in hydrochloric acid, then into a hot caustic bath with about 1000 amps running through it to remove all the old smut left on the metal, back into the hydrochloric acid, then into the plating solution for about 20 minutes, then into a passivate to get the yellow colour.

The yellow passivate is quite a nasty chemical and im supprised you can by a kit with it in to electroplate at home.

Any how Im not very good at explaining things, huggie knows this. But it shouldnt even cost £80 to re-plate these and personally I would take them to be re-done at a platers with the proper chemicals and equipment that will give you a finish that lasts than piss around at home with nasty chemicals

I just had a look at the kit, It should work. The most important thing is to make sure your pre treatment is done correctly. I.e make sure all grease and rust is removed and that you dont get any water breaks when you remove the parts from the buckets. If you dont clean your parts correctly you might find the plating will bubble off.

Be really carful when using the yellow passivate. ITS VERY CARCINOGENIC and will get absorbed through your skin if you spill any on yourself.

And if you are plating load bearing fasteners these need to be de-embrittled after plating or they will snap.

what are you going to do when you finish using your kit.. you cant just tip chromic acid down the drain

[TerryG]

doing there job perfectly for the last 42 years

Are you sure? after 42 years the levers / pins will be worn very badly. I fitted new locks to my 1968 minor a few years ago as you could open the drivers door and start it with anything that would fit in the lock eg a teaspoon handle, screwdriver, long finger nail, etc.

Even if you don't want to replace the whole lock it may be worth your while getting some replacements and swapping the levers / pins over.

[89rallye]

Yep,

German engineering, one key fits all and locks are as tight as the day they were born.

[skipper]

I reckon you would be better off taking them to the pro`s mate.
One other thing about whether to disassemble: I doubt very much that the micron-thick coating will have any effect on the operation of moving parts, but it will look better when it`s all back together if you do take them to bits.

[89rallye]

I reckon you would be better off taking them to the pro`s mate.
One other thing about whether to disassemble: I doubt very much that the micron-thick coating will have any effect on the operation of moving parts, but it will look better when it`s all back together if you do take them to bits.

I'm starting to think that way myself, I don't really have the space at the moment for tanks of nasty chemicals kicking around my garage.

Although I do I like the thought of having it there ready just to be able to do the odd bolts and things like that quickly.

I might just dump them into someone else's lap and let them get on with it, I've got loads of chroming to do anyway which will go to a professional outfit.

[suffolkpete]

The yellow plating is nickel plating, not zinc

It's cadmium actually.