Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: John Jun 21 2011, 09:41 PM

My rear trunk lid latch has been getting worse for years and I decided to do something about it.

I took out the plunger and it was worn down.

Posted by: John Jun 21 2011, 09:43 PM

I welded it up and ground it down then re-plated and yellow chromated it.

Posted by: John Jun 21 2011, 09:45 PM

Then I re-assembled.





Now it works as if it was new.

Posted by: partwerks Jun 21 2011, 10:19 PM

After several adjustments with the plunger, I finally took the spring and bushing out and now it sits down like it should. I also made a manual release in case the solenoid takes a dump.

Posted by: John Jun 21 2011, 10:32 PM

My problem was it wouldn't stay shut.

I do love the Castwell plating stuff. I bought it years ago and am only now figuring out the secrets to make nice zinc plating (and more importantly the yellow chromate).

Posted by: Tom_T Jun 22 2011, 10:00 AM

John, the OE was Yellow Cadmium plating, but it looks very close to what you have done. Nice job!

BTW - Mark W. at Mikey914/914Rubber.com (member vendor on here) sells white Delron seats (in black too) if your OEM nylon one breaks, which looks about the same color-wise, but will last longer. Ditto for the rear trunk rollers in Delron.

Posted by: John Jun 22 2011, 10:12 PM

Zinc plating with yellow chromate is as close as I'm ever going to get to original. Ever try Cadmium plating? Most of the time it comes out dark and dull. The bright zinc with yellow chromate comes out close as I can get. It gets the nice hues of greens and blues as well. The yellow chromate helps the zinc hold up better as well as makes it look as it once did.

I plate in buckets.