Good or bad idea to clear over old plated parts? Options

[doug_b_928]

One of my winter projects is refurbishing the pedal cluster. I'm going to paint or powder coat the black parts (probably paint because I don't have a glossy powder). I'm not planning to get the plated stuff re-plated. Just clean it very well with a combination of steel wool, sand paper and wire wheels. But I was thinking putting a clear over the plated parts might keep them looking nice a lot longer. Is this a good approach when not re-plating?

[McMark]

Any cleaning will remove even more plating. So basically you're left with bare steel parts. Paint them at least. But I bet if you search your area you can find a plater. Zinc is really cheap.

If it were me, I probably wouldn't paint them with clear. Clear seems to be more temperamental, so I would just use a colored paint (black, silver, 'aluminum', etc).

Also, parts like the pedal cluster shouldn't be glossy if you're looking to refinish them as original. Semigloss is the go-to for almost everything.

[doug_b_928]

Thanks McMark. I didn't realize zinc plating was inexpensive. I'll check locally.

[914forme]

You can also do zinc at home if you want.

Caswell Copy Cad and Zinc plating kit. Pedals parts where zinc and not cadium BTW. But lost of other Cadium parts, like the waskers, and nuts.

Smaller scale Eastwood also has a kit

Ampicar770 did this review:

"I have to admit that this totally exceeded my expectations.

Attached are some before and after pics of my fuel injection rail and ratiners. I gave them a quick clean in the blast cabinet followed by a wipe down with Eastwood Pre Paint. Left them in plating solution for about 10 minutes, then polished with the provided compound and a cloth."

These parts look familiar (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

[McMark]

I could never get my zinc plating setup to work right. I think the power supply and power control were my issues, but I found the learning curve to be too steep.

It would be EXTREMELY handy to be able to do single pieces or small batches effectively though. Small batches at the plating shop are usually something like 'a box full' for $50. For a full box that GREAT, but for a few pieces thats expensive.

[bdstone914]

I could never get my zinc plating setup to work right. I think the power supply and power control were my issues, but I found the learning curve to be too steep.

It would be EXTREMELY handy to be able to do single pieces or small batches effectively though. Small batches at the plating shop are usually something like 'a box full' for $50. For a full box that GREAT, but for a few pieces thats expensive.

Plating is cheap if you can find a shop in your area that will do small batches.
Or if you send me your parts throughly cleaned I can swap them you plated pedal set parts as I have a lot of them for a reasonable charge. I soak them in Evaporust then bead blast them to remove paint.
I agree on the home methods are iffy to work well.
Bruce

[doug_b_928]

Yeah, I did some searching and found a local place. But they have a $75 minimum. I don’t want to save up a bunch of parts for that as I’m chipping away at smaller jobs that I want to start and finish.

[bdstone914]

You can also do zinc at home if you want.

Caswell Copy Cad and Zinc plating kit. Pedals parts where zinc and not cadium BTW. But lost of other Cadium parts, like the waskers, and nuts.

Smaller scale Eastwood also has a kit

Ampicar770 did this review:

"I have to admit that this totally exceeded my expectations.

Attached are some before and after pics of my fuel injection rail and ratiners. I gave them a quick clean in the blast cabinet followed by a wipe down with Eastwood Pre Paint. Left them in plating solution for about 10 minutes, then polished with the provided compound and a cloth."

These parts look familiar (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

Is that the before or after picture ?

[Eric_Shea]

When painting over zinc, lightly scuff the surface with 300. Paint does not like to adhere to zinc.

To the original question, clear will eventually flake.

[doug_b_928]

Thanks, guys. Are all parts of the cluster steel? If so I might just go with a silver paint for the parts that were plated. For the piece that I think is called the clutch tube, would you leave the tube unpainted or paint it? I'm wondering if the buildup of paint would prevent it from sliding through the main piece or hamper its rotation...

Eric, thanks for posting on how to rebuild the pedal cluster. Your advice about the air hammer followed by the punch was crucial to getting the thing apart. My roll pin doesn't appear to be hollow. Should the original pin be re-used or use the new one that is the rolled up type?

Bruce, thanks so much for your offer. I'll weigh my options. Shipping across the border and back can be a bit of a killer $$.