Who here has had parts CAD plated? What did it cost to have them done? Any recommendations on where to send parts for restoring? I've checked a few places locally, and they only do new parts, and high volume. I have a bunch of parts for my 69 bead blasted, and ready for coating.

Thanks.

Used to be a member here - Eric, think he was in Ohio - who I used for the gold & silver & black phosphate some years ago.
Id I can recall his username, I'll add it.
At the time, each color batch was about $50, and his work was excellent.
Also, nothing got lost !

Look up electroplating in your area. There is probably someone local to you so you don't have to ship anything. They use an acid bath to clean the parts before plating. Those trunk latches need to be taken apart first. There is an aluminum/pot metal piece that the lock rod goes into. That won't survive the acid bath. Also, electroplating is "line of sight" It won't coat the inside of a tube or part. When I had my stuff done, it was $50 a batch but it's been awhile since I had that done.

Just saw that you have some wiper mechanisms in there also. I'd take those apart too since the housing is aluminum. You can sand off the top of the shaft where it is crimped over. Then you can remove the top knured piece and the shaft can slide out.

If you get desperate there are quite a few YouTube videos to do some of the plating at home believe it or not, just saying.

There are also kits sold for doing plating at home with all of the materials.

Eric Manuel, Member 3404 on here, does this type of work. Hasn't posted in awhile, but worth tracking down to see if he still does it.

I see the OP is in Minnesota.
I use a plater in the Oshkosh area (of Wisconsin) who will do small batches.
Typically charges a 'lot' charge. So the more you plate the more worthwhile it is.
He has bright (silver) Zinc, Black Zinc, and Yellow Dichromate.

PM me if you want the information.

Neil - thanks, that's the guy.

Get your wiper pivots out of that pile - the chemicals will completely destroy the cast aluminum. Add your door latch mechanisms to the pile - but not the clips.

I wouldn't waste money on the wiper parts - they're all up under the dash. A "stainless steel" color paint provides a nice finish and protective coating.

Having "been there and done that" over the years I'll tell you that that kind of plating can be very disappointing. Uneven coverage, dull finishes versus shiny, etc, etc..

The last batches of stuff I had done were "electroless nickel" and that finish is amazing and one notch below chrome. The is NOT correct for a "restoration" but is an amazing process.

Unlike "electroplating" which has problems getting in gaps and tight corners resulting in uneven finishes, "electroless" relys on a chemical process and provides 100% and even coverage. For example, on door mechanisms it will seep under every gear, lever, etc.. The other advantage to nickel is it stands up better tthan cad, zinq and phospate.

Since you have to search for a place to do it anyway, maybe look for one that offers "electroless" plating. I'm not sure if cadmium can be done with that method but if so it would be a far superior finish.

All that stuff on the table ... $180.

Member 3404

Eric Manuel I believe

They don’t do cad plating any more, is what I understand. It’s a cyanide based process and has been outlawed. What they do now is zinc plating and then dip the part into a solution that colors it. There are several differ colors. If you just plate it with zinc, it’s called clear zinc.

CAD plating is generally reserved for aviation applications these days, where even this industry is moving away from the coating in favor of green alternatives. Due to the move away from this coating it is getting harder to find low cost shops applying this material. CAD is largely being phased out due to environmental and health concerns. That said it’s got advantages to other coatings for specific applications, none of which is really necessary on an auto restoration.

Nickel offers great corrosion protection and is often used for repair to oversized features due to its machinability (plate oversized and machine back to spec dimension). Considering this is the Restoration & A12 forum I’ll state (as did Stanton), this is not a correct finish for your car. Should you choose to use it sulfamate nickel is generally preferred over electroless but usually due to cost, or post process use of the coating. If being used only decoratively and/or for corrosion protection, and you’re good with the slightly higher fee, electroless or Sulfamate becomes a choice.

Electrodeposited (ED) Zinc is a good alternative to CAD on several levels. While not as good as CAD for corrosion protection or lubricity/ability to smear it is nearly impossible to visually tell the difference between the materials by all but the most familiar with them within the industry. ED Zinc will accept all the various chromates required of an auto restoration (clear, yellow, OD, black) and still offers good corrosion protection, particularly for pampered restoration vehicles.

What’s far easier to tell is proper surface prep of the base material and if the plater uses brighteners within the bath. Not all restoration hardware should be finished in a bright and shiny (hardware store) finish. Without brighteners CAD and Zinc with a clear or yellow chromate will take an appearance resembling dull silver and dull gold paint. The amount of brighteners within the bath, and starting base material surface finish (blasted, wire wheeled, bead blasted, or polished) will determine the final brightness of your item. Brighteners also add to issues with high strength steels and stress corrosion cracking. Thankfully most automotive hardware doesn’t meet this threshold but springs can be affected. To avoid this an ‘embrittlement relief bake’ may be required to avoid failure of the piece.

Commercial shops tend to do barrel plating of hardware as it is most cost effective. Hardware that is barrel plated is typically uniform (meaning all hardware may look identical on your restoration when all is performed by the same shop). Due to mass production needs factory hardware would have been barrel plated, but likely by many different plating shops, resulting in various shades and brightness of the hardware. Barrel plating will also appear slightly different than hardware that is carefully hung by wire during the plating process.

Doing your own hardware can be a learning experience, fun and rewarding, allowing one to make desired alterations to the final look/finish of the part, just be aware this can lead to a separate hobby with friends wanting endless help.

I'm in agreement with your current assessment of Cad plating today.
One other detail that applies, many of these processes utilize water in the process, and often leads to hydrogen embrittlement in the harder alloys (grade 8 bolts?), which can be partly overcome with prompt post plating baking (like 400F+ for hours?).
So know and understand the process and the makeup of your item Before sending it to the plater without specific instructions and you ruin your item and other stuff when it fails.

Grade 8 bolts are typically 150ksi, and under the threshold accepted of requiring an embrittlement relief bake. That said it certainly doesn’t hurt if you have a concern and are uncertain.

For items affected by hydrogen embrittlement, generally you would bake the item within a time after plating, sooner is always better but within an hour is accepted. 375 deg F for 4 hours min but can be longer, again no harm.

The biggest thing is if your plater isn’t aware of such issues I’d suggest using someone who can help guide you to be successful.