[piscator]

What Chris said +

I 'm just finishing this up and absolutely agree on the slippery slope. There are lots of good threads on this topic for you to search for and you might even check out one or two of mine. Particularly regarding Bead Blasting and DIY plating.

I'm not trying to toot my own horn, I posted those threads because one of the challenges I found was deciding how to refinish various parts. The 'gold standard' is to have everything plated or powder-coated. That get's expensive and moreover, it's time-consuming. My answer was to plate some things myself and not powder coat anything.

I think it's much easier to beadblast and coat parts as part of the work-flow. Rattle can paint and products like POR15 are so good these days that I've been perfectly happy using those. Here's a couple of specifics.

Semco Products are really terrific, but you'll need to go to a body shop paint supplier to find them. I''ve used both POR15 and Semco's Rust treatment and the Semco product is a definite improvement. Unlike POR15, Semco Rust Treatment can be applied to bare metal without having to acid etch. It's great on freshly bead- blasted components. And it can be used as a VERY tough primer. Just scuff it with a Scotch-brite pad and spray with rattle can paint.

Semco's 'Satin Trim Black' is my favorite rattle can paint and it dries very quickly. So does their 'High Build Primer." The Rustoleum and Krylon products are also great, but the Semco stuff seems just a bit better.

Plating. I enjoyed learning about and doing my own zinc plating because it fit in with my work flow the way the paints do. But it did require experimentation and some investment. For a one-time project it's better to send stuff out.

Fasteners. A good and varied supply of nuts, bolts, washers, (particularly Schnoor and Nordlock), locknuts, cotter pins, etc. has been indispensable to my project. It's such an annoyance to stop because you don't have a certain 6mm bolt. Do a search for Belmetric, a family owned company that does a stellar job.

Brakes. Don't even think about it, send them to PMB in Salt Lake City. I plated and rebuilt my own because I wanted to learn more. But I'll never do it again. By the time I'd futzed around cleaning and plating those big calipers, ordering parts, making plates to release the stuck pistons, etc. -- it took more time and it cost more than if I'd sent them to PMB.

That's the penalty for being a hardcore DIY'er with a stubborn streak!