I see that as I enter the "plating stages" of my resto, I am a little confused with all the different types of metal plating. Even chrome threw me for a loop because I found a reference to "flash chrome" and I'm not quite sure what that is. I also read in the archives that zinc can be made to look like cad and vise versa so does it really matter which one I choose. All these different types of plating are quite overwelming, zinc, clear zinc, gray phosphate, black phosphate, etc. I guess what I would really like to know is what were all the different types of plating used in 1969 and how can one tell which is which?
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Re: Need a crash course on plating
That's a TALL order; give a consise primer/introduction course to plating in a few words here on the DB! Basically, there are a number of forms of metal surface protection. Here are a few:
(1) Electroplating: Cadminum, Zinc and Tin (the most common) are forced to migrate from an electrical anode (metal donor supply) through an acid bath and deposit on the target part's surface which is made the electrical cathode in a circuit to force the metal transfer.
(2) Anodizing: controlled oxide surface coating formed by electrolysis.
(3) Deposition: protective coating is forced onto the target surface by making it 'fall' out of a surrounding bath (gaseous or liquid) via electromotive or thermal force control.
(4) Reactive: protective coating is formed by the natural chemical reaction between the target part with it's native or artificially applied surface and the chemical contents of a bath.
To really understand the nuiassances of these different surface protection methods and the specific industry buzz words associated with a given method (cad, triple chrome, flash/smack chrome, dichromate, Etc.), I'd suggest visiting your local library and checking out a primer book on plating. The bottom line is you'll typically find the form of material surface protection called out in your copy of the applicable Judging Guide and that's pretty much sufficient for you to find a plating house to provide service(s) for you.
A number of us who restore Corvettes have invested in our own home plating systems from off-the-shelf suppliers (Caswell, Eastwood, Etc.) to do it ourselves vs. send everything out. But, there's an expense and learning curve here and what you can do at home is often limited by available equipment, local law/ordinance, and the availability of supplies.
Some protective finishes (e.g. cad, zinc, tin) can be VERY similar in appearance with even senior judges unable to specifically distinguish between the various forms of finished product created by a specific process. Other process distinctions are pretty easy to spot, like the difference between triple chrome (the overlapped build-up of copper, nickle, then chromium) and 'smack' or 'flash' chrome (a 'big hammer' method to electrically 'force' a thin/impermanent chrome layer onto the target part without the time/labor of intermediate coating steps) are pretty easy to detect because the first appears thick/rich and second looks thin/shoddy.... -
Re: Need a crash course on plating
Greg from what I understand "flash chrome" is the finish that is put on the ignition shielding, not the 4 pieces mounted to the block though, but that which covers the plug wires.Comment
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Re: Need a crash course on plating
Thanks for taking the time to explain this and I think I'll drop by the local library tomorrow.Comment
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