The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest DIY Zinc plating/copy CAD

I would like to zinc plate some bolts, and smaller components.
I have been looking at a few kits, currently leaning towards this Caswell kit.
Any and all advice is appreciated.
Thanks,
Curt

There is one 30 minutes (?) away in Naperville? Assuming you're still in Sandwich.

http://www.epa.state.il.us/land/hazardous-waste/household-haz-waste/hhwc-schedule.html

http://www.epa.state.il.us/land/hazardous-waste/household-haz-waste/

Last one I did was about 15 minutes away from me. Boxed everything up, threw it in the back of the pickup, drove across town. They opened the tailgate and took everything. They asked if I needed any of my boxes back. Gave me a survey to fill out, which, I'm assuming, would distract you from the fact that you were waiting in line. I didn't do much waiting in line. I never did finish the survey. It was a drive-through. I was in and out in 5-10 minutes total, if even that.

Hazardous waste, especially the household or hobby kind, isn't a great mystery. The government would rather collect it than have you put it in the trash or the ground. Otherwise, they don't care how you got it or why. Unless it is some kind of class A explosive or something. Then they might have some questions for you. With businesses, they want to track the waste from cradle to grave, at least for 3 years.

It's not easy, but it can be done. I've had success taking bunches of industrial / commercial paints and chemicals. No questions asked.

Just trying to help.

You are correct that there is some stuff they won't take. Around here they have days for the nastier stuff.

I'd say send them to me but that would open up a whole nuther can of worms!!

Yes, our local taxes pay for one or two nasty-waste drop-off days per year.

I made a motorized basket with a blasting nozzle rest to go inside my blast cabinet. Set the PSI to about 35-40 psi, put a few pounds of nuts, bolts, misc into the basket and walk away for an hour or so. Blasting is important to make sure the zinc sticks properly.

Then, there are lots of zinc platers out there. You would be surprised. I have to drive about 30 miles but the last batch I did was 60 cents a pound. Since they are clean already, they dont go thru the entire process, so its cheaper. Also, I had about 100 pounds so I may have gotten a discount. But even if you did 10 pounds at 5$ a pound, its still reasonable. It wont be that much. Then you dont have to worry about EPA regs.

Then, to top it off, they didnt use Zinc plating in the 50s, they used a much less politically correct CAD plating which would have the EPA spinning in their ergonomic office chairs! There are a few CAD platers left, but none in our area. Way more expensive these days.

So how long will this plating last, assuming your truck isn't in a climate controlled garage when you aren't trailering it to the shows? The original cad plating probably held up long enough to drive the truck most of the way home from the dealer.
Carl

Yep, agree Denny. So what I have done to get the closest hue/tint to CAD is go with Stainless. Put a CAD part next to a Stainless one, hard to tell the difference. Thats being very very picky. Zinc is fine for most builds. Problem is, there are no clutch head stainless bolts that I know of. Have to go with button *allen head. (you cant tell the difference between them unless you really look) So on one hand, have to change the head from clutch head to allen, on the other, its a plated surface that wont last more than 10-20 years in a climate controlled environment. Hard choice to make. How important is Preservation to you in your Restoration process. Opens a whole new can of worms. One side will argue Preservation of the original hardware is a factor, the other will argue losing the original hardware to preserve the truck is a small price to pay. No winning this one!

Then only stainless clutch head bolts that I have seen are for rear fender attachment ( Stainless Clutch Head Rear Fender Bolts Kit ).

Stainless looks like cad? Did you spit tobacco juice on it, or wipe it with dirty hands?

no, you just dont get POLISHED stainless hardware. Then they are almost impossible to tell the difference.

OK, got it.

Not trying to start an argument, but one of the finishes used on carburetor hardware from the 1920's forward is white zinc.

White zinc with a yellow conversion coat was being used at least as early as 1939.

But to the OP's question: even when we were doing 500 + carbs per year, it was cheaper to have plating done by custom shops. And yes, I DID TRY one of the expensive "home" plating outfits.

Don't recall the brand, but it came out of southern California. We paid roughly $1500. for it about 1990. I was NEVER happy with the results, and sold it to a friend for experimentation.

Jon.

Jon, what I decided after trying to get my carb body properly plated and failed over and over was, Eastwood's carb paint for those who want a perfect looking finish. Of course, for how long, but I just couldn't find a solution for carb bodies. Anyone having a solution, I'm all ears. But I do have to say, before you put gas into the equation, my original 216 motor with Carter carb has the best looking finish I have ever seen!