Electroplating

Hi,

I wanted to buy one of those Zinc Electroplating Kits. It said on the Frost website that it prevents corrosion occuring, which i thought would be excellent for all those nuts, bolts and all the other little bits that start rusting in the engine bay. Just wondering if someone here has tried using it or somthing similar?

does it work and how hard isit to use?

Also can you chrome over something that has been zinc coated, or is their no need, because once you chrome something it's rust proof anyway?




vw_tees

I bought a brush plate kit but for gold plating, is it a brush plate or dipping system?

It's pretty simple if it's brush plating, once cleaned just connect one electrode to the item you want to plate and the other to the "magic" wand and brush it on, you should see very light bubbling and sometimes light discoloration and hey-presto, job done….

Excellent, I think I saw one of those kits on eBay a while back. Would you know if it?s possible to chrome over that? Also does this stuff work on all metals?

I have the zinc dipping kit. I think it is OK for small parts that are easy to prepare yourself. There are some problems though. Firstly you can only plate parts that will fit in the bucket in the electrolyte. Secondly, complex parts with nooks and crannies will need acid dipping beforehand as the level of prep is vital. Lastly, parts with a large surface area require a high voltage, say 6-9V, that the controller does not handle to well (trips out) or you will need to use a lower voltage but this takes ages.

The kit is expensive, so if you plan on doing many parts it is worthwhile but otherwise I would get some quotes from companies as it is fairly cheap (for zinc plate).

If you are chroming the parts, then you do not need the kit. The chrome plating process will give you the zinc/nikel/chromium plate.

If you can get a zinc brush kit.. that would be excellent for plating the common rust areas.. like window surrounds.. when doing a resto.

Amit