Home Zinc Plating

[Russell]

My Z is going into the body shop in 2 weeks to have all the rust addressed and a respray. I will put a restoration thread up for that but in the meantime...

Part of the deal to get the costs down is that I am going to strip the exterior of the car and I was considering cleaning up and plating all the nuts, bolts etc. that I remove.

What are peoples thoughts on the Zinc plating kits you can get? Looking at about £50 or so for the basic equipment needed.

I know getting it done properly isn't particularly expensive but at least if I do it myself I can keep each part together and labelled properly so it goes back where it came from.

Also, once I have the basic equipment I can do all sorts, including the parts on the racing lawnmower I am building.

 

[Huw]

Hi

I did have a go with a kit from Frosts, it is easy to do but I was not that happy with my efforts. Mainly down to getting the stuff I wanted plating grease free I think. In the end I used a local firm and had all my nuts bolts and small items gold zinc coated for roughly the same cost as the kit. I also had my brake calliper zinc plated prior to powder coating.

To get around the 'what when where' problem I just took lots of photos of all the fasteners that went with each item off the car e.g the bolts accociated with the water pump for example. Turned out not to be that difficult putting them back in the correct places.

Huw

 

[uk66fastback]

I'd say it's a toss up logistically. You've still got to label, photograph and collate whichever way you go, unless you're going to do them in VERY small batches.

Personally, for the cost, I'd get them done by a local firm as it isn't that expensive and if you do, there's more time to put into the racing mower!

 

[Russell]

Thanks for the replies, I think I will go with getting somewhere local to do it.

Were the bonnet hinges originally plated? Mine have been painted over the years.

 

[A2Z]

Were the bonnet hinges originally plated? Mine have been painted over the years.

Bonnet hinges are finished in the body colour (the only caveat is that if the car is metallic the clear finish is not applied under the bonnet). The bonnet hinges were not factory-plated when new, although NOS ones are.

 

[Russell]

Bonnet hinges are finished in the body colour (the only caveat is that if the car is metallic the clear finish is not applied under the bonnet). The bonnet hinges were not factory-plated when new, although NOS ones are.

Thanks, I think I will get them plated as well so it looks fresh