Cleaning up and protecting nuts and bolts

[RicksAlfas]

What's the preferred way for protecting old nuts and bolts? I can wire brush them, but how do I protect them once they are clean?

Has anyone tried one of those plating kits from places like Frost?
e.g. https://www.frost.co.uk/zinc-plating-5-litres/

Open to any ideas! Thanks.

[austin]

Copperslip for the threaded bit.

If it's going to be exposed why not replace with Zinc / Stainless?

[RicksAlfas]

austin said:

Copperslip for the threaded bit.

If it's going to be exposed why not replace with Zinc / Stainless?

Because I can't face measuring up all these nuts, bolts, washers, clips and what have you.
Plus I'm tight.

[steveo3002]

dab of grease on the heads if too tight to buy stainless

[droopsnoot]

RicksAlfas said:

Has anyone tried one of those plating kits from places like Frost?
e.g. https://www.frost.co.uk/zinc-plating-5-litres/

I've got a plating kit, it's pretty good but there are (as you would imagine) some limitations. Properly cleaning the workpiece in the first place can be tricky. I bought it because I like doing stuff myself, but if it were just based on money, it's probably less costly to either buy replacement fasteners already plated, or have them plated at a commercial place. If you don't feel like measuring them up, you won't feel like removing them all, cleaning them, plating them, and then re-fitting them. And, of course, nylocs should be replaced anyway.

Stainless is a good solution in some parts, but there are many grades of stainless, some of them have different stretch / shear properties and aren't suitable in some areas of a car. Lots to check up on before just swapping for stainless versions.

Edited by droopsnoot on Monday 30th November 12:00

[Yertis]

I concur with droopsnoot. I'd only use stainless for non-critical low stress stuff like trim and so forth, certainly nothing to do with suspension or anything like that.

There's an argument that you shouldn't use copperslip on fastenings that you're going to torque up, because it can mean the correct torque is not achieved. I don't know where I stand on that particular argument. I keep all my nice new bolt heads and nuts daubed with Dinitrol, which slows but does not really prevent the dreaded.

[austin]

As you say depends on the application.

If "low risk", ie holding on wings etc then copperslip / stainless / zinc etc. plus paint or whatever.

If they are that critical that torque settings are needed and rusty I'd replace them anyway.

[RicksAlfas]

Thanks for the replies. Certainly wouldn't be using stainless on any suspension/driveline bits that's for sure!

Clear wax was one solution I had thought might work.

I did think the plating kit might be quite good fun. Will do some more research.

[davettf2]

Home zinc plating works, I used a kit from 'Gateros plating' to zinc plate the parts from my Cagiva Elefant to save costs. The key is PREPARATION, and following the instructions. Cannot stress prepartion enough. Hopefully the piccies give an idea of what can be achieved, there is a 'before pic of a couple of items to give an idea.

[davettf2]

the before piccie!

[eldar]

Read drum brake with handbrake? Not british?

Bike, as well?

Edited by eldar on Monday 30th November 17:47

[droopsnoot]

davettf2 said:

Home zinc plating works, I used a kit from 'Gateros plating' to zinc plate the parts from my Cagiva Elefant to save costs. The key is PREPARATION, and following the instructions. Cannot stress prepartion enough. Hopefully the piccies give an idea of what can be achieved, there is a 'before pic of a couple of items to give an idea.

That's the same place I got my kit from, you seem to get better results than I do but I recently bought the proper regulated power supply to replace the rubbish one that comes in the kit, and that helped a lot.

Yertis said:

There's an argument that you shouldn't use copperslip on fastenings that you're going to torque up, because it can mean the correct torque is not achieved. I don't know where I stand on that particular argument.

Some torque settings specify dry or lubricated threads, on more modern stuff. On my seventies cars, there are noticeably fewer torque settings than there are in my TT - the latter seems to have a torque setting for pretty much everything.

[davettf2]

The regulated power supply is a must, what is supplied in the kit is not much use unfortunately. I was fortunate in that I had purchased one several years back to enable me to anodise at home.

Oh and the parts are all from the bike, the before bits are from the seat release.

Cheers
Dave

[LuS1fer]

Motorcyclists use ACF50, very good at resisting corrosion but more sticky fluid and can be used on just about everything.

[RicksAlfas]

davettf2 said:

Home zinc plating works, I used a kit from 'Gateros plating' to zinc plate the parts from my Cagiva Elefant to save costs. The key is PREPARATION, and following the instructions. Cannot stress prepartion enough. Hopefully the piccies give an idea of what can be achieved, there is a 'before pic of a couple of items to give an idea.

Very impressive! Thanks for the pics. Was it like this kit? There is an option to upgrade the power supply:
https://www.gaterosplating.co.uk/index.php?route=p...

What kind of preparation do you need to do?

[davettf2]

You first need to remove any rust, there are various ways and I tend to use vinegar and baking soda. Plenty of recipes available on google. I then wire brush, emery cloth, and polish with wet and dry to get the surface as clean as possible with minimum imperfections. The plating is not thick and scratches etc. will show in the finished article. Once clean the instructions in the kit can be followed. And yes that is the kit i used with the exception that I did not use the kit power supply. I used a Maplin 24V 5Amp power supply which provided much more control of the process. With nuts it is particularly important to get any rust out of the threads as these areas will not plate and also rust will contaminate the solution.

Finally, its important to use gloves, ventilation, etc. and the solution when mixed is corrosive.

Enjoy, its satisfying when you get good results.

Cheers
Dave

[RicksAlfas]

Thanks Dave.

[droopsnoot]

Zulu 10 said:

May I just emphasise one note of caution regarding any part that is safety critical: beware of hydrogen embrittlement, and make sure that after plating you relieve the parts accordingly.

Yes, that's something I've been reading about recently, though fortunately it seems to only apply to high-tensile parts, and I don't think I've done any of those.

Gateros have quite an active group on Facebook where they're quite good at responding to queries. There are also some very knowledgeable third parties on there too.

I have read on there that some of the solutions provided in the kit are not as good as they used to be, for various H&S and legal reasons to do with supply. There were some suggestions for alternative sources for the older-style solutions just recently.