Zinc plating

[Albion]

Hi guys, works on my S Type are pretty slow. Having dismantled the car a few years ago, I find myself trying to work out a plan. Presently I am figuring out which components fit where and which parts need to be sourced as well as how things should be done. Useful information is gathered from much knowledgeable people on this forum, and this makes the whole process even more interesting and fun. On a particular post Glyn mentioned zinc plating, of which I am considering some DIY. One one has got experiences to share?

[Glyn Ruck]

We had industrial zinc platers close by that would put our small stuff in with their bigger daily loads. The requirement is endless as you work your way through the car. From all the door mechanisms to many nuts, bolts, washers, brackets etc.

I'm also interested in someones experience of DIY plating. I was warned off of it by people saying it's a waste of time if you don't have enough work for it because you spend your time replacing underutilised chemicals & never have the right sized baths.

These are interesting times on the forum. Orlando & Rob doing small things on their cars ~ major work behind them, Joe's well documented "Miss Kitty" making great progress, you getting going with your build up ~ paint behind you, me doing finishing touches & having started the registration process to get mine back on the road etc.

[Albion]

After watching some youtube clips I opted to experiment! It is practically impossible to gather all that needs to be plated and commission them at once, because there are far too many small bits. So, basicly I thought it might be possible for me to plate parts as needed at my own pace. Why not give it a try? So I set up a rather rough setup. No scales no measures, nothing. Just to satisfy my curiosity! Got myself a zinc anode, Epson salt, vinegar, sugar, distilled water, muratic acid and a mobile battery charger. Picture shows left part plated while right part which was just dipped in muratic acid for some minutes. Yesterday I could barely tell the difference, but today I could see that the plated parts is darker and much more dull. More experimenting on the way.

[Orlando St.R]

Excellent! That's very impressive. I'm used to the bright silver zinc plate on items you buy - nuts and bolts, etc. Yours is more subtle and less noticeable. Well done.

[Albion]

Apparently a dull finish is normal and one only has to brighten up up by polishing it with some steel wool. Which I havent tried yet. Looking at the picture I had posted, the advantage of plating is visible as rust colouring is noticable on the other part which had been cleaned in muriatic acid. In order to have good results though, good planning and preparation is of utmost importance.

[Glyn Ruck]

It all depends what you want which is entirely personal. We do know that Jaguar used silver cadmium plating on most plated components. No longer permitted in many countries for environmental reasons.


Silver cadmium plating starts bright but looks like this original E Type bonnet hinge/balance link weathered.

Silver cadmium plating weathered..JPG (75.18 KiB) Viewed 3009 times

Conventional zinc plating direct from the bath should look like this. It will dull with weathering.

Zinc plating new from the bath.JPG (78.17 KiB) Viewed 3009 times

Some people use yellow zinc passivate which is wrong on most things apart from the brake booster body where Jaguar used yellow cadmium plating. I don't know whether this applies to all booster bodies but it certainly did to mine & many originals I've seen.


I applaud you for giving DIY plating a bash because as you correctly say the plating requirement is ongoing through the entire build never mind how well you plan.

I'm interested in your dark finish & how well it works for the spanners in the toolkit that rust if you don't keep them oiled. I'm no plating expert. There are obviously different processes. This is what I'm accustomed to.

wp38987836.png (37.96 KiB) Viewed 3004 times

[NigelW]

A friend of mine does his home zinc plating for his motorbikes, he did my front wheel hub covers for me. A twist on the usual result as he polished them.

[Albion]

Hi guys, here is an update of my experimenting with zinc plating. One can find plenty of information online, but finally since I am not much into chemistry, it is just a matter of experimenting.

And so I got myself a small fish tank to start with. It included a small filter which up till now seems ideal to keep the electrolyte in movement. Since I read that temperature is also a factor, I bought a submersible heater which I set to 22deg celcius and a thermometer. Water temperature as I started was around 15deg Celsius and it gradually increaced to around 18 or 19deg. By the time I finished plating the throttle rod it did not reach the target I set of 22deg. Don't know if this makes any difference, but the following item I plate I make sure I get the temp warmed up beforehand and see if I notice any difference. I put 10 litres of distilled water in the tank to which I added 450ml of white vinegar, 550grams of Epsom salt and some sugar. Some claim that sugar helps in obtaining a brighter finish. Obviously there are appropriate solutions ready available, but I can't source them locally. On the net I found a couple of companies in UK an Germany who can supply complete kits for DIY, but unfortunately if is difficult to ship them over due to being listed as Hazardous material. So for the time being I have to do with what I find. Still haven't been able to find some kind of brightening agent through as the end result is pretty dull. Once dry, it polishes out nicely though. For the time being, not as bright as newly bought but I am happy with the results.

[Albion]

Also, I would like to add that I left the rod in the solution for around 45 min either side. That is much more than the information I found online.

[Glyn Ruck]

Looking good!

These were some of the sites & discussions I archived when trying to educate myself on the subject a few years back. (Trying to keep it simple.)


http://www.nulltime.com/zincplating/sho ... index.html

http://www.thisoldtractor.com/gtbender/ ... omposition

http://www.finishing.com/130/89.shtml


Kits & chemicals are readily available in SA.