We got a kit (pawmetto ent)to do the zink phosphate at home. You heat up the water to around 200 deg and mix in the zink phosphate and then dip the prepped part to darken it. How do you heat the water and keep it heated for larger parts ?? I think a hot plate and a stainless pot will work for the smaller stuff but what about larger parts that are way to big for a pot. Were thing a plastic drum but how would you keep the water heated to 200 deg while the part soaks ??

I built a tank & welded a bung for a 220v water heater element into it....

We have a plastic 55 gal drum to use but need a way to heat the water and keep it heated for like 15 min for each dipped part. We would probally use about 5 to 6 gal of water for the bigger parts and the heater need to be 110v...

There are plenty of 110 heater elements.. The trick will be finding a glue that will bond to the barrel & steel effectively... Might be able to fab a couple steel plates to weld a bung in & sandwich the barrel then you'd just need to find a sealant & that shouldn't be to hard.... Oh yeah you need to make a guard to protect the heating element..

I use machinist tool black, heres a crummy pic of the horn bolt, works fine

Not sure how it will hold up in rain and salt, mines a weekend summer cruiser and looks fine for the last 5 years. link:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#tool-blackening-kits/=dx21cu

I send it here.
http://dynamicrenovation.net/refinishing.php

I have one of the Eastwood black zinc kits.
And IMO - for the costs compared to the result, I'll send them to Neil at Dynamic

Thanks Bill, that a great tip as I did not know they did replating .

I'm using a black oxide solution from Caswell Plating. You can play with dip times to get the color you want. Once the fastener is blackened, you can buff it with a shop rad and it will turn gray. I think it looks close to phosphate. I originally used Caswells sealer but it has to be applied thick in order to do its job. If you buff the fastener after applying the sealer, it will start rusting again. I've started applying RPM to all the fastners now.

I only mixed up half of the consentrate and it's still going strong. Half the consentrate will probably do an entire car. It was only $25.00

Zinc phosphating is the same thing as Parkerizing on guns. Go to Brownell's and order up a Parkerizing kit.

'bout this place? http://www.parkerizingkits.com/

Use PPG DX 520. It is a phosphoric acid based coating chemical (easy to work with using regular latex gloves, if any) that will produce a zinc phosphate coating on galvanized or steel surfaces. Bead blast the parts first, soak them in the DX 520 solution for about 10 minutes or until they have reached the level of color you want and then remove from the solution, dip in water to neutralize the process, blow off with an air gun to dry, and coat with a thin coat of WD-40 type oil (unless your painting them and then just prime or paint right over the phosphate). DX 520 can be purchased at your PPG paint store. I've been using this method for years on my nuts, bolts, suspension parts, on my resotrations. Even if I'm going to paint a small part, I will phosphate coat it first because it protectects it from corrosion while I'm waiting to paint.

I'd say after coating, you could rub with some RPM from ECS and it would be sealed forever.

Atleast thats what I'm going to try with the PPG520.

Ok, that is how you do the Phosphate, what about Yellow zinc? Is that a plating process or a conversion coating? Tim

The part is plated in silver zinc first. Then it is placed in another solution to get the yellow color. Any electro plating company can do it. I had a large batch of fasteners barrel plated for only $40.