I use a local plater KM finishing, good results and cheap. Not perfect by any means but keeps it affordable. To prep the larger parts for plating I either wire wheel them or vapour blast them. Nuts and bolts I vibratory tumbler if I have time if not send them as is, he degreases them and acid dips them anyway before plating. The amount of stuff I have plated it would be a full time job doing that with a home plating set up.Looks good. Might have missed it further up are you painting the parts or having them plated ?
The intake manifold+valve cover or the brake booster? The intake manifold+valve cover is a black wrinkle finish from VHT, the brake booster is Jotamastic 87 primer and then Jotun Hardtop HB topcoatWhat's the brand of black paint you are using on the top photos? It's a really nice finish. I always ask questions about the paint lol, but if I see a nice finish on parts on here I note the brand in my phone so I can go back to it when I get to that bit on my car.
Yep, satin aluminium colourNice job, are the alloy parts all sprayed with Cerakote?
Snap!Finished my first full diff rebuild for a customer and got some new tools for the job to ensure everything perfectly to specView attachment 362278
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Very nice work. Not much you can do about pitting. A tumbler/vapour blast will smooth pits to make them less noticable but you'll still see them. For some customers who are willing to spend the money I'll buy new bolts (for instance on the diff I posted, I plated the used bolts but once the customer saw them they decided they wanted new ones, so we did that in the end). I guess pitting is part and parcel of it really, especially on brackets/unique hardware etc which can't be found new. On a TV show they'd say "it tells the story of the part".Snap!
Nice looking job there.
Looking at your various bits, how are you dealing with bad pitting on parts you get plated? Im finding this lets down parts that would otherwise look brand new.
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Very nice work. Not much you can do about pitting. A tumbler/vapour blast will smooth pits to make them less noticable but you'll still see them. For some customers who are willing to spend the money I'll buy new bolts (for instance on the diff I posted, I plated the used bolts but once the customer saw them they decided they wanted new ones, so we did that in the end). I guess pitting is part and parcel of it really, especially on brackets/unique hardware etc which can't be found new. On a TV show they'd say "it tells the story of the part".
Green pyramid media mixed with degreaser. What you could do is wrap the threads with the plastic tape used for powder coating (high temp tape) or maybe duct tape? Electrical heat shrink would work well. Just slip on the threads and run a lighter over it. Then you can use a more aggressive media. Then you have just the head exposed which is the part that is visible. Not something I've tried but could work? I might have to give that a go now...Thanks. What media are you using in the tumbler for that. Ive found if i use anything aggresive enough to smooth out the pitting, it rounds of the threads too much.
Yes, its all the "special" bolts, brackets etc thats the issue.
Green pyramid media mixed with degreaser. What you could do is wrap the threads with the plastic tape used for powder coating (high temp tape) or maybe duct tape? Electrical heat shrink would work well. Just slip on the threads and run a lighter over it. Then you can use a more aggressive media. Then you have just the head exposed which is the part that is visible. Not something I've tried but could work? I might have to give that a go now...
Hmmm, interesting.Where are you buying the media from? What sort of degreaser. Sorry for all the questions. media choice is an area i lack knowledge.
Good suggestion on the heat shrink. Ill give it a go
Yeah is hard to pick media especially as there are other variables like grit, pressure, nozzle size etc. Its quite confusing. Is that using ceramic on like aluminium parts that are to be left bare?Thanks. I will give it a try and see how i get on.
There just so many media options. I see some people using ceramic in the vapour blaster instead of glass bead. Gives a slightly shinier finsh. Obviously not "original" , but often desired. Plus it should slow down any oxidisation.
Yeah is hard to pick media especially as there are other variables like grit, pressure, nozzle size etc. Its quite confusing. Is that using ceramic on like aluminium parts that are to be left bare?