Hardware Plating Prep by a Noob

[khamul02]

AND time-consuming missteps.

1. Take everything off the engine. Bag and label things as you go.
2. Clean everything. This proved to be very time-consuming because I, as have many others in this forum, was putting groups of parts through a multi-step cleaning process.

This meant putting one small group in the ultra-sonic cleaner or using multiple labeled containers to keep all of the groups separated. In the tumbler, the groups had to be put in one at a time to keep them together unless they were vastly different. This is insanely time-consuming. And about halfway through I came up with a streamlined “ish” solution.



Because I have never rebuilt one of these engines and I knew all of my hardware was going to have to go to the plater in one large batch (I am just doing everything in yellow zinc), I thought I would document each group so when it came back, I could then reorganize it and easily be able to identify anything missing.

Once I laid out a few groups I realized that I could have done this on the front end and cleaned and tumbled everything together after the groups were documented via a picture. This allowed me to put 50 items in a batch rather than 10 or 12. Huge time saver!



I still have a bit to go and will be adding to these images but below is a link to what I have so far. Once back from the plater I can lay them all out and easily put a list together for belmetric and pelican to order lost and one-time use items (Aluminum/Copper/Wave washers) as needed. I didn’t document all of the nylon nuts because I was just throwing them out as I dissembled. I know where most of those go (valve covers, sump..) but I will need to identify those locations once everything is in hand.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/166NN3khUrESMcciHZSgEjEtuxTEy0NRz

For someone who has done this several times, this is probably overkill but for those like me it provides some reassurance.

------------- Cleaning Process -------------

I will also mention my cleaning process which isn’t that involved.
Someone on the forum from Wisconsin took some stuff to a batch plater and did very little prep work (degrease/de-rust/oil). His stuff looked pretty good. I’m basically following his lead with a few extra steps.

I’m using a 5-gallon ultrasonic cleaner in a few different ways. It was like $150 and is large enough to fit cam housing into.



I give everything a 30-minute-high heat ultrasonic bath with dawn dishwashing soap (1 cup).

Next, I give it a hot ultrasonic bath using a large glass container in mineral spirits for another 30 minutes.

Then I clean them up with some parts cleaner and throw them in a $60 Harbor Freight tumbler with some Resin Abrasive (and a splash of evaporust) for about 3 hours.





After all of that, they get cleaned again with parts cleaner and go into a bath or evaporust for an hour. That gets them rust-free and removes the old plating.

Then more parts cleaner and I thread chase everything that has threads.

Finally, I coat everything with some WD40 and bag them until they go in for batch plating (cost $30 a batch + $30 shipping).

It sounds like a lot of work, but it really isn’t. The machines are doing everything. My only concern is I’m not sandblasting or putting anything on a wire wheel which is pretty normal prep.. but we will see how this goes.

[Trackrash]

Waiting to see the results.
Nice write up by the way.

[lateapex911]

Just a note, things like those copper washers...you'll be replacing those right? they're not supposed to be reused or plated.
how is the tumbler working?
I sent my stuff to Tru6 in MA, Shaun posts here, the plating came out superb. I didn't clean anything at all, figuring he's a control kind of guy and wants them cleaned his way. Pricing was cheaper than I could have done it for

[khamul02]

Originally Posted by lateapex911

Just a note, things like those copper washers...you'll be replacing those right? they're not supposed to be reused or plated.
how is the tumbler working?
I sent my stuff to Tru6 in MA, Shaun posts here, the plating came out superb. I didn't clean anything at all, figuring he's a control kind of guy and wants them cleaned his way. Pricing was cheaper than I could have done it for

Yep. Those Aluminum and copper aren't going out. This wasn't too bad in terms of work once I worked out the workflow. The cost of the equipment is really negligible as I will be using it to clean up a lot of parts on the engine as I move forward. And again, the cost of the plating is $30 total + $30 for shipping. $60 total is a pretty good deal IF the results are solid.

I will post the results once things get back to me.

[mepstein]

I bought a large HF tumbler but went back to a wire wheel mounted on a bench grinder. For most hardware, one pass on the wire wheel is all it needs. I also send out for batch plating.

[khamul02]

How did those springs turn out? Did they stretch them while plating?

[Dpmulvan]

Don’t use chemicals/ cleaners on parts and send them out to be plated. I did some parts for a guy and he used some sort of washing soda in a dishwasher to clean them. After bead-blasting and degreasing the parts still contaminated my chemistry, had to throw out $300 of plating solution.
Parts have to bead blasted and degreased anyway so your wasting your time.

[emac911]

Originally Posted by mepstein

I bought a large HF tumbler but went back to a wire wheel mounted on a bench grinder. For most hardware, one pass on the wire wheel is all it needs. I also send out for batch plating.

Parts look great, who do you use for plating?

[mepstein]

Originally Posted by khamul02

How did those springs turn out? Did they stretch them while plating?

The springs all work normally. Only some pot metal parts didn't survive the plating.

[mepstein]

Originally Posted by emac911

Parts look great, who do you use for plating?

Just a plating company that does big batches. A friend did mine on the side. It's all about the prep and this load of parts did take quite a bit of time. Every nut, bolt and piece was either blasted or wire wheeled or both.

There is real value to using a place like True6. Shawn does an inventory of before and after. If any of my parts are lost from my guy, it's oh well. Think about how hard your parts are to replace before you send them out. I also just wanted clean and shiny so my prep was fine for me.

[emac911]

Prep is the key to a nice finish. The plater I had used in the past is no longer in business. I found a place in Baltimore that seems to do nice work, so I am going to give them a try.

Who is True6?

I bag and label all fasteners. I usually just take bolts out of each bag and take a picture of the bolts with the bag. When they come back I get the kids to help sort on the kitchen table. Make it a game!

[mepstein]

Originally Posted by emac911

Prep is the key to a nice finish. The plater I had used in the past is no longer in business. I found a place in Baltimore that seems to do nice work, so I am going to give them a try.

Who is True6?

I bag and label all fasteners. I usually just take bolts out of each bag and take a picture of the bolts with the bag. When they come back I get the kids to help sort on the kitchen table. Make it a game!

Shawn - True6 is a long time pelican member who does this service professionally. Outstanding work.

I messed up big time on a big batch. I sent 3.2 fuel rails to be plated. They must have held a bunch of acid because when I got the parts back, everything was corroded and damaged. It all had to be redone. That was all on me. I'll be sending those difficult parts to shawn for tlc.

[Danimal16]

I will attest that Shawn - Tru6 does a great job at a very reasonable price. Being I am in California and Shawn is in the North East, even the cost of shipping was worth it.

[Jeff Alton]

We clean and tumble our hardware and small parts. Multiple different tumbling media to arrive at a fine polish. Then sent off for CAD plating. Parts look like new, with proper color. Different from yellow zinc plating...

Cheers

[lateapex911]

Originally Posted by mepstein

Shawn - True6 is a long time pelican member who does this service professionally. Outstanding work.

I messed up big time on a big batch. I sent 3.2 fuel rails to be plated. They must have held a bunch of acid because when I got the parts back, everything was corroded and damaged. It all had to be redone. That was all on me. I'll be sending those difficult parts to shawn for tlc.

He also does other finishes, plating is just one aspect. He KNOWS Cerakoting and Cerakoting (H series) is NOT a walk in the park for even an experienced painter. Also, Powder coating, anodizing, polishing stainless, and other restoration of parts. IT's archival quality work. He's also super helpful.

[emac911]

Originally Posted by lateapex911

He also does other finishes, plating is just one aspect. He KNOWS Cerakoting and Cerakoting (H series) is NOT a walk in the park for even an experienced painter. Also, Powder coating, anodizing, polishing stainless, and other restoration of parts. IT's archival quality work. He's also super helpful.

Does he have a website?

[freesaints]

tru-6.com

[khamul02]

Originally Posted by Dpmulvan

Don’t use chemicals/ cleaners on parts and send them out to be plated. I did some parts for a guy and he used some sort of washing soda in a dishwasher to clean them. After bead-blasting and degreasing the parts still contaminated my chemistry, had to throw out $300 of plating solution.
Parts have to bead blasted and degreased anyway so your wasting your time.

I don't think the batch processing places bead blast anything. I think they deal with mostly production pieces that are ready to plate. I figure these extra steps would help but we will see. I will send a couple of peices in with no prep to see the difference.

[khamul02]

Originally Posted by Jeff Alton

We clean and tumble our hardware and small parts. Multiple different tumbling media to arrive at a fine polish. Then sent off for CAD plating. Parts look like new, with proper color. Different from yellow zinc plating...

Cheers

CAD plating is a tougher finish and how the original hardware was plated, correct? Is there a huge price difference?

[pkabush]

My understanding is that Cad plating has been all but phased out due to to environmental concerns.
That said if anyone knows of a place in the Seattle area that’s still doing it, I’m interested.