Caswell Zinc Plating Kits - Reviews?

[Nessism]

If you order new hardware for your bike from Suzuki, the style of the bolts will be different from the originals. For example, the original bolts have numbers in the head, 4, 7, 9, but the new versions don't. The color of many of the hardware pieces is different too. No big deal if you are just rebuilding your bike, but it's no good for a restoration.

There are also a lot of random plated parts on a GS, such as chain adjusters, various brackets, wheel spacers, etc, and having a plating kit to clean up these parts is invaluable.

The cost of the Caswell's zinc kit is not cheap, but it's a bargain in the grand scheme if you want your bike to look properly "restored". You can replicate a lot of the kit for cheap too, purchasing commercial parts (pump, heater, thermostat, bucket) instead of getting the kit. Things I strongly recommend though are the zinc brightener, yellow chromate dip, and blackener. The blue chromate is a sealer and recommended as well, although I haven't use it yet. Caswell's electrolyte chemicals would be nice to bypass due to cost. Not sure how well the home brew works though. Might be good, or not. A gamble that might set you back further $$ wise compared to just buying from Caswell's.

At any rate, I love my zinc kit and count of one of the better purchases I've made.

[philosopheriam]

Nessism,

What finish did the OE bolts on the Suzuki's have - was it a bright zinc or a matte gray?

Most of the GS's I've ever worked on are so old that most of the bolts are either a dingy gray or rusty...

Thanks!

[Nessism]

Nessism,

What finish did the OE bolts on the Suzuki's have - was it a bright zinc or a matte gray?

Most of the GS's I've ever worked on are so old that most of the bolts are either a dingy gray or rusty...

Thanks!

Bright zinc. Not dull.

[philosopheriam]

Nessism,

Sorry to revive this thread from the dead, but the restoration of my GS is back on track and I have a few ideas/questions I wanted to run by you:

I considering the DIY plating solution as shown in the triumphrat post.

For electrodes, I am going to use a roll of zinc roof flashing cut into strips.

Considering that most of the DIY kits suggest that you use an agitator and a heater, I was planning on using a small submersible aquarium pump and an aquarium heater. What do you think? Also, what temperature is optimal?

Now, I know that because I do not have a brightener added to the mix I will have to polish the parts, however, would you suggest polishing the parts first and then dipping them in the blue chromate or vice-versa?

Lastly, once the parts are removed from the plating bath, what do you suggest rinsing them with before they are polished or dipped in chromate (depending if the polishing or chromate dipping comes first).

I appreciate your help, sir...

[steveb922]

I'll try to help here, pending a reply from Nessism.

Aquarium pump and heater are fine. You don't need a strong pump - just enough to force air through a fine stone. All you are aiming to do here is initiate a mild current in the electrolyte. A combined heater/thermostat is ideal, but measure the size against that of your plating tank. I find around 75/80 F to work well.

You may find you can buy brightener seperately. Without it, you risk contaminating the part by cleaning/polishing before the chromate dip. But if you dip a dull grey part, the chromate will probably not have the desired effect.

Lastly, clean water.

[philosopheriam]

I was under the impression that you can't dump any brightener into any plating mix - I.e the brightener is specific to the chemical composition of the plating solution.

Also, I was just going to put a small submersible pump in the bottom of my plating bucket to move the solution around- I was under the impression that cavitation due to air bubbles can be a bad thing...

[Nessism]

Agree with the aquarium pump and heater. I believe Caswell's calls for 105F. The parts will give off an effervescent fizzing during the plating process and circulation in the electrolyte keeps bubbles from clinging to the parts.

The parts need to be spotlessly clean before plating, and the smoother the metal the better the result will be. After plating you need to rinse in clean water. Buffing the parts after plating can be done if you want a shinier finish. A fine wire wheel can be used, or regular polishing compounds and a buffing wheel (or by hand) will work too.

As far as the chromate is concern, you need to play around with that for yourself and see what's best with your setup. The chromate will remove some of the dark surface layer alleviating the buffing, but I think your parts won't be bright and shinny, rather dull silver looking. You need to buff them first before the chromate if you choose that path. Sometimes the chromate will dull out the finish too so there are a lot of different variables. Again, you just need to play around and see what works for that setup. Lastly, rinse off the chromate with water after dipping.

Good luck and post some feedback and photos of how it turns out.

[philosopheriam]

Nessism,

You have me concerned about the brightener issue - during the buffing process, if any contaminants (buffing compound, etc) get onto the part and aren't removed before it is dipped in chromate, I'd imagine that this would negatively affect the final appearance. Plus, using a brightener would just be less friggin work! (I'm the kind of person that would rater do it right the first time instead of doing the job twice... I'm a professional heavy equipment mechanic by trade).

At this point, you have me thinking about buying the Caswell solution and supplying the remainder of the supplies myself - simply so I can use their brightener.

As for power supplies, I purchased a cheap lead-acid charger that can switch from 6v to 12v with a max current of 500ma. I figured that this, combined with a potentiometer, might be a good place to start.

Your thoughts, plating wise one...

[philosopheriam]

Nessism,

After many hours of mulling, I've decided on buying the Caswell chemicals and supplying my own buckets, heater, pump, anodes, and plating rectifier.

Here is what I plan to use for anodes:

http://www.amazon.com/Zinc-Armor-1-roll-Prevent-Fungus/dp/B001QV3GI0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401738618&sr=8-1&keywords=zinc+armor

And after surfing some other forums here is what a bunch of guys are using for a power supply:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/310938380724

This power supply can do either constant current or constant voltage

Am I on the right track?

[hampshirehog]

That power supply is similar to the one I have. Mine only runs out to 16 volts and 3 amps but that's plenty for what I've used it for.

[philosopheriam]

After everything I've read, one of the best ways to ensure a good finish is to use a decent power supply. That's why I bought one...

[Nessism]

That power supply should work fine. Caswell's recommends low voltage (3 volts or something like that) with current adjusted to suit the load. I use either a motorcycle battery or more recently a computer power supply. As for the zinc anode goes, there are lots of choices. I use these...http://www.amazon.com/Zinc-Anode-Ove...rds=zinc+anode

[SVSooke]

So exactly how much power would you need? searching eBay I found this this.Would 2A and 15V be enough?IIRC the Caswell kit has a 2A supply.

[philosopheriam]

That power supply should work fine. Caswell's recommends low voltage (3 volts or something like that) with current adjusted to suit the load. I use either a motorcycle battery or more recently a computer power supply. As for the zinc anode goes, there are lots of choices. I use these...http://www.amazon.com/Zinc-Anode-Ove...rds=zinc+anode

Nessism,

How many of these anodes are you using - i.e. do you have to hang multiple anodes from the side of your bucket to have enough surface area so the ions can reach the part properly?

[Nessism]

Nessism,

How many of these anodes are you using - i.e. do you have to hang multiple anodes from the side of your bucket to have enough surface area so the ions can reach the part properly?

I'm using three.