The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop DIY chroming a 235 engine

while rebuilding my 235 i decided to do a spot of diy chroming.

235 engine diy chrome



total cost was around 1000usd including a buffing machine and all the chemicals which isnt bad considering local prices to get one part chromed was around 250 a part and i have plenty of chemicals left to do any number of other things

hardest part to do by far was the sump draft tube as it was impossible to degrease the inside so i had to seal both ends first.


anyway i think it came out nice especially the oil filter housing and the theromostat inlet casting

I chrome plated:-

cooling fan
Thermostat casting
fuel filter housing
manifold clamps
throttle linkages
fuel pump top
sump draft tube
oil filter housing
various bolts
and some other bits and pieces

stuff that was easier and cheaper to buy already plated like the rocker cover and timing gear cover I just bought off the shelf

As they used to say when I was a lad, if it don't go, chrome it.
But all kidding aside Mike, that is cool. Is that a Caswell
chrome kit you were using? I see you had to do 1/2 at a time
with the draft tube, you didn't mention the side cover, did
you find that already chromed or did you do that half at a
time also? And how did that work out, was there a parting line
where you did the other half? I see also that you did copper,
did you do nickle over the copper then the chrome, i.e.,
triple chrome? I'm assuming you buffed, then copper, buffed
again then nickle before the final chrome? I understand that
90% of the job is buffing, but about how long did it take for
the actual plating baths?
Reason I'm so full of questions is I've got a couple of
Caswell kits on the shelf and have been just plane scared to
use them without knowing how to dispose of the chemicals
after they peter out. I'll bet you had some real issues in
Japan, aren't they super fussy about that sort of thing?

Thanks for the pix. What's that open wheel car we see in
the back ground??

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Looks real good. I wondered what my Blue Flame 235 would look like chromed and based on your pics and craftmanship it would look good

Dave

DrMike looks good I too would like to know more details. I see you have a 8" buffer in the back ground. What did you use for polishing compound? Would you be willing write a Tech tip for all the rest of us??????

Thanks again for posting the pics. Looking forward to hearing more about this.

hi Denny,

yes it is. draft tube was impossible to clean of oil inside so i plugged the ends of the main body then did that first with the outlet sticking out the tank then inverted it to do the outlet, after taking off the plugs. that way i didnt get any chemicals washing out the oil from inside.

with buffing no join line is visiable as i gave everything a thick plate so plenty to polish flat.

yes

yes polishing the parts prior to plating is 95% of the work. get it mirror then plate then buff it back to mirror. i didnt use chrome i used `copy chrome` which is actually cobalt. so no safety or disposal issues to deal with. i flash copper plated first for 40 mins then copy chrome plate for 90 mins.
most important step is to 100% degrease before plating.
but its definately addictive lol.. good luck!
yep a F3 car and a Reynard F3000 mecars ...500bhp and only 500kg....terrifying!

i used the white compoud.

i found that it was quite easy to prep parts if i simply followed the following-

1. orbital sander with 80 grit
2. orbital sander with 120 grit
3. orbital sander with 180 grit
4. buffing machine with white compound
5. kitchen sink and dish washing liquid to wash off most of oils
6. 20 - 30 mins in hot degrease tank
7. plate flash copper
8. plate copy chrome (cobalt)
9. buffing machine polish


this gave me a good mirror finish and no scratches

after plating its usually necessary to go back to the buffer to flatten any rough plate surface and final polish especially if you do a think plate.


with copy chrome (cobalt) you dont have to use copper first on steel but i found it was better to do so as you can see when or if you polish through the cobalt plate when you do final polish.

to plate the zinc alloy parts you need to plate copper first

my plan is to chrome plate the pedals and the gear lever (shifter) next...i think theres not much left after that to chrome lol

Beautiful car Mike. I drove midgets here in the states for a
while and had a few chances to get into the USAC Sprint car we
had for awhile, which has similar power to weight ratios to
that formula car, was really fun to drive. Built a Pitts
special biplane some years back and that was mild in
comparison with it's 160hp and 750lb. weight but still fun to
fly. That almost felt like you just strapped a set of wings on
your back and all you had to do was think and it did what you wanted it to.
Thanks for the update on the copy chrome, that's the kit I've
got on the shelf. Sure looks good. So there isn't a nickle
base for the cobalt. That's obviously a much thicker deposit
than chrome as it, really needs the nickle for protection
since the chrome is deposited so thin.
Can you get the copper thick enough with their kit's to cover
scratches or blemishes such as those often found in the zinc
castings? Sort of like you would use a primer/surfacer buildup
in painting.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Very interesting. I was not aware this system is available. I am curious if you experienced any fuming condition that was hard to ventilate. We used to called them "heavy fumes" at work for lack of a better description.

For those interested as I am, here is a Caswell link with a very informative half hour video of instruction.

http://www.caswellplating.com/elect...ing-kits/triple-chrome-plating-kits.html

And as an old SCCA guy, kudos on the immaculate F3.

Ask then how you dispose of the chemicals when they are used up
Drew, a few years ago when I bought my kits from them they
couldn't give me an answer other than dispose of it properly,
which I took to mean a has mat facility......BIG BUCKS.

Denny G

yup the flash copper can be put on thick and used as a filler sanding it down to fill in marks in the surface and polishing easily before going to cobalt.

if really pitted you can also plate with acid copper after a quick protective flash copper which will enable you to add a really thick `filler` cu layer quicker if needed

Denny, With any toxic chemical it's a problem for sure. But, we had this old adage at work. "The solution to pollution is dilution". Quaint, but true and is how even on a large scale it is done, of course with other added neutralizers. Water is the universal solvent. Providing you are not disposing of a 50 gallon drum of chromate solution, and if you want,just keep cutting it with water. It would be nice if you had a pH meter, but likely you don't, so buy acid/base papers from a pool supply and as you dilute keep checking until it's neutral. You can decide what to do with it then.

Thanks Mike, you've given me a bit of a boot in the hind quarter
to get going and try out my kits. Got the 4.5 gallon sizes
so I should be able to do some fairly decent sized parts.

Wonder if I could use a long plastic tray rather than the
5 gallon bucket for a tank so I could do a long narrow piece
like a side cover?

Denny G

Denny, maybe use a plastic rain gutter section or slice a 8"
diameter sewage pipe in half and add caps? Just thought.

hi denny yup this is what i had to do for the cooling fan. it wouldnt fit inside the 4.5 gallon drum so i used a larger box.


for the gear shift im going to use a bit of drain pipe, vertical, bottom end capped and move the shifter gradually down it as it plates

probably something similar would work well for a side cover to get the coverage you can `move` the part over two plates in the bottom of a shallow tray

or you could simply use the 4.5 gallon drum and plate one half at a time
with a thick enough plate you can easily (with a machine) buff out the join/overlap


once you start plating you end up wandering around looking for things to plate - its kinda addictive lol

Good ideas for the loooong tanks.
And I'm sure it is, addictive that is, every time I find
something good it always seems to end up taking over every
spare minute of my time. Then before you know it, your
plating zinc and nickle.

Thanks for all the tips, should really help some of the guys
that want to dress up their Stovebolts. It was kind of a
surprise hearing it from someone half way round the world.

dg

update: for the gear shifter I just used a bucket and did half at a time overlapping the `join`

with a thick 1hr plate it was easy to buff away the `join` in the plating so you could never tell it was plated in two halfs rather than at once

in future with long items im not sure id bother using fancy tanks, just overlapping seems to work ok


other thing i learnt the hard way is if you plan on doing heavy machine polishing/buffing its often better to plate (copychrome) direct to steel rather than Cu first. the reason is the copychrome blisters off the cu if it gets hot under the buffer.

Denny speaking of Pitts Specials did you ever fly a radial powered Pitts? I flew in one. It has the Russian or Polish round engine or perhaps the Chinese version we have in the Nanchang. That was fast and the roll rate so fast you could 720 in one direction and snap into a 720 in the other and never knew you had! Sorry off topic here>

dilution is NOT the answer to pollution. Its the answer we give ourselves to pacify our conscience. Not creating the pollution in the first place is the correct answer. It reminds me of smokers toothpaste. The guy is all racked up, near death from smoking, but hey his teeth are pretty. Here in Washington state, there is basically no freshwater locations that pregnant women or children, can eat the fish from, and only a small amount for a healthy adult. I really like my old truck, but it is such an environmental pig. I can justify taking it out for a couple of short jaunts once a week or so, but as a daily driver I feel it would be rather irresponsible. This however is MY OPINION, feel free to agree or not. Sorry if I got a little off the topic, but at some point we as a species (human) will have to confront this issue head on.