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Hi I have a set of Lola 340 suspension components that I need to get plated. Does anyone know much about the process and what is required to duplicate the original finish. I have been told you cannot sandblast them to get rid of the old plating but then you cannot plate over the old stuff. Any advice appreciated.
Cheers
Blair
Blair;
The process is electroless nickel plating, and most any plating shops can do it.
Iverson
Nickle plate is the same as chome plate, but without the protective chrome layer. It's either going to be polish+copper+nickle+chrome, or polish+copper+nickle, which is what we use for shiny bits on the car. Satin is when the part is bead blasted instead of polished before the copper is applied.
The plater can "unplate" to redo parts.
Standard plate shop nickle will be ok if it is baked out after the plating process. I believe this is supposed to be done within 30 minutes. I'm not a chemist. If they don't have an oven, bake it yourself. At the least, wash all of the residual chemicals out of the innards as they are CORROSIVE and will devour your parts from the inside where you can't see it happening.
Platers come in "industrial" and "appearance" flavors. An industrial plater can do satin, as well as Zinc and Cad for stuff like iron calipers. At least in Texas they still can.
Platers will have one guy up front who knows how to do your job. Only talk to that guy. Don't expect that since the last job was done to perfection that the next one will be too. They are as flaky as painters and will lie to you. Or worse, they will ruin your parts. Always talk to "the guy" yourself. Every time. Ask If the part will fit in the tanks, if the part has any issues that will be a problem, and if the chemicals are fresh in the tanks.
Good Luck
Quote:
Originally Posted by carl correll
Also get a firm quote in writing, my $75 cad plating project turned into $425 when I added in a bake operation, it also took them three weeks longer which was a joke so get it in writing (cant say that enough).
Go here, hold down the Ctrl button and hit the F key. Type electroless and hit enter. Should just about do it for you.
Any nickel plating shop can do the job.
You can indeed re-plate over old plating - have done this for 25+ years for repaired a-arms. However, every edge of the old plating will show up big time, as well as whatever the surface condition was of the old plating.
Best that you first have the shop strip off the old plating (done with cyanide, if I remember right), then sand/polish the bare metal to get it smooth and free of scratches, then bead blast (glass bead) to get an even satin finish.
Once done, flush out any remaining plating fluids from the interior of the parts to keep it from corroding the insides of the tubes, as well as keeping it from leaking out and etching your new nickel plating.
Make sure to tell the plater if the part is brazed or bronze nickel welded.
The stripping process (if chemical process is used) will be differnet for those two processes.
If the shop uses "normal chemical stripping process, Walter Preston told me that it will damage that kind of weld / braze.
Original Lola parts from that era had cad plating that you could almost wipe off with a dry rag.
FYI Pat Prince has a local plating shop he has used for many years. The suspension rockers for my 85 VD were replated through Pat. Depending on your level of expertise (mine is "low") Pat may be the best source for removing bearings, inspecting the parts, etc.
Dick
several years ago I went to a well respected So-cal plater of all things very expensive and hotrod/barrett-Jackson. Quote for polished and plated was 6x the cost of just blasting and plating, so I now have "satin nickel"
turns out if you have them de-plated (basically putting them back in the tank and reversing the current) and then lightly blasted, then take them home and go over them with 400 and then 1000 grit sandpaper, the quality is about 95% of having them polished.
I have some plated engine mount trunnions that came with my Ralt RT-40. I noticed that there seems to be a LOT of fine rust dust falling out of the various small vent holes in the tubing, so obviously some internal corrosion has occurred. Any ideas how I could estimate the extent of the corrosion, and determine if the parts are safe for use on the car?Quote:
Originally Posted by R. Pare
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blah
Hi Blair,
If the finish looks satin then chances are it has been sand / bead blasted then electroless nickle plated. Electroless nickle plating doesn't affect the structure of the steel - no hydrogen embrittlement. It is microns thick - 5 to 7 micron from memoryt. there are planty of places in Auckland that do it. Stripping nickle is a pain possible and not cheap.
Are you heading to NZ for the Festival?
Regards,
Marty
The "weep holes" are drilled in otherwise closed tube structures like trunnions to let the air escape somewhere other than that last bit of weldment. Otherwise the air screws the weld and blows a hole there. You really should weld them shut before plating.
Since the toothpaste is now out of the tube, and the problem is in a pretty critical part of the car, I'd at least have somebody do an ultrasonic on them. It's not going to show the extent of distruction internally, but would show thin spots. I'd be more concerned about what it's done to the welded joints on the inside.
These parts will fail eventually from this. When "eventually" comes is just a guess. I'd replace them before that day comes.
Is why I always wash out my plated tubes, etc as soon as they come back from plating. Once rinsed out a couple of times and dried, I always spray an good quality oil inside the tubes. When installing rod ends I use anti-sieze. This will minimize any corrsion caused by moisture inside the tubes, and will negate any corrosion caused by residue.
I also wipe the arms down with oil as a manner of cleaning them.
Best,