Topic: Refinishing Original Bolts (Vinegar, Wire Wheel, and ????)

[SKOL]

Everywhere I try and get a quote for plating, it seems outrageously high to zinc plate 40 bolts. I've been thinking about just soaking them in vinegar, having at whatever rust is left with a wire wheel on my bench grinder, and then..... i dunno. clear coating them? Any thoughts or suggestions or warnings? They don't have to look amazing, a little luster would be nice but more importantly I need rust free and structurally sound.

[flybox1]

plate them yourself.
a few here have done it with great success.
a quick google search brought up these
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?14392-DIY-Zinc-Plating-for-Donor-Nuts-and-Bolts

[BomberMann650]

I had good results derusting my tank with Metal Rescue from home depot.  Didn't take long.

The endorsement by Frank Fritz from American Pickers may or may not have influenced my purchase decision.

[flybox1]

You need to replace the protective (zinc) coating or the bare metal will rust again.
Metal rescue works well on a tank as it is(should be) in constant contact with gasoline. 
Air/moisture will start the rusting process.

[SKOL]

Thanks Flybox, I knew I had to replace the protective coating, was just looking to see if there were alternatives to sending it somewhere to be plated, or trying my hand at plating them myself. I think my buddy has a car battery charger I can use if I choose to try it myself, I understand the jist of it, just wasn't sure if I wanted to go down that road.

[edwardmorris]

My write up from when I did this a while back

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,126735.msg1565802.html#msg1565802

While most of the large pieces plate really well in one try, bolts are a very different story. About 95% of them will turn out great, the remaining 5% will take 3-4 attempts to get the best results.

The link to Tom's article has one minor update, substitute the karo corn syrup with clear vanillin instead to get a much more shiny finish. There are pix of pieces I did recently for my K3 in the build thread in my sig below.

[CycleRanger]

If using a wire wheel, perfectly legit if you're on a budget, make sure it's brass not steel and don't be too aggressive.
A coating of light machine oil will keep the rust from re-occuring for a while but it will return eventually.

Depending on which bolts you're talking about there are stainless bolt kits available for the engine and front end for ~$45 a set.

[jamesw]

Step by step method with household items....well except for the zinc, but Ichiban does mention where he got his from.

He also made a tumbler out of a bundt cake pan, palm sander and cat litter. Pretty cool videos.

Dino (member on here) from Hackaweek tv on YouTube can vouch for him.

[greenjeans]

Call around.  I use a plater that charges me between $50-75 per batch.   Ask to see if they do barrel plating (zinc)    Basically, they put them in a barrel with the chemicals etc, tumble them and they come out looking brand new.  I've sent down 3 bikes worth of bolts last time along with carb clamps and various springs and clips.  I clean mine in ZEP industrial degreaser first and if they are rusted I hit them with a fine wire wheel. 

In the past, I've polished bolt heads and they look good for a while, but they always rust.  Painting would stave off the rust for a bit, but tools would really mess up the paint.

[przjohn]

You can Zinc plate them yourself and it is fairly easy to do once you are set up. I use the Caswell kit but the methods mentioned will work just as well. The most important part to plating is prep work. You can wire wheel the parts but they really should be media blasted. Oil and grease are your enemies. The blasted part needs to be oil and grease free.

[SKOL]

Thanks for responses guys, I'm going to media blast them. Probably with baking soda, maybe sand. I was wondering if anyone knows of any negatives to soaking my bolts in vinegar before I media blast them just for additional help. Plan on soaking them, media blasting or wire wheel, and ziNC plating. Does vinegars acidity affect the bolts integrity at all?

[przjohn]

You don't even need the Vinegar, just media blast them. Don't use Baking Soda, you are blasting Steel so it can take a strong media for ease and quickness. I use a medium glass bead and it works good.

[CBDee]

Lots of those bolts are still available new. Check out Bikebandit or some of the other vendors. Could be you won't have to plate as many as you thought.

[SKOL]

Unfortunately I'm doing my case fastener bolts, not cover bokts. I've already bought a bolt kit online for all the covers. No one sells a kit for the 40 some odd bolts that hold the cases and are peppered around the bottom case half. And I don't feel like parting out bolt by bolt from a place like bolt depot

[CycleRanger]

Unfortunately I'm doing my case fastener bolts, And I don't feel like parting out bolt by bolt from a place like bolt depot

Yeah, no you don't.

Glass beads are the way to go over soda.
You can use (carefully) Muriatic acid to strip the original zinc.

[SKOL]

If I glass bead blast, or even sand blast the bolts would I need to strip the original zinc coating with muratic acid? Wouldn't the blast media rip the original coat off?

[CycleRanger]

If I glass bead blast, or even sand blast the bolts would I need to strip the original zinc coating with muratic acid? Wouldn't the blast media rip the original coat off?

In my experience bead blasting will not remove the zinc thoroughly enough to re-plate.
(But that's using my setup, glass beads 90psi@15cfm.)
It's also hard to tell sometimes even if all the zinc is removed by beads alone.

Strip zinc, bead blast, degrease, re-plate.

[SKOL]

Thanks, I'm gonna give this a try next weekend. This weekend I have to convince the girlfriend to let me put freshly paint engine case halves in the kitchen oven to cure them. That outta be fun. I'll post pictures of all my results.  I'm thinking about starting a build thread in the projects forum just to keep all the suggestions and tips I get in one place.
 

[calj737]

You would be better off soda blasting the bolts, then clean them, and re-install them (re-plated or not depending upon the level of corrosion on them currently). Vinegar will eat the bolts, so avoid it. Blasting with glass or sand, will also attack the metal somewhat, especially sand.

If using the oven is out of the question, fire up the backyard grill. After all, heat is heat...

[SKOL]

I would do the grill in a heartbeat, but it doesn't have a temp gauge and I have no way of knowing if I am way hotter than need be.

[flybox1]

Unfortunately I'm doing my case fastener bolts, And I don't feel like parting out bolt by bolt from a place like bolt depot

Yeah, no you don't.

Why not?  CMSNL lists all bolts AND their sizes on the fiche.  Made it easy to put together a list.  I did.

[edwardmorris]

Unfortunately I'm doing my case fastener bolts, And I don't feel like parting out bolt by bolt from a place like bolt depot

Yeah, no you don't.

Why not?  CMSNL lists all bolts AND their sizes on the fiche.  Made it easy to put together a list.  I did.

+1, fiche is provided by many sites, I'm replacing all my K3 ones with stainless ARPs, found them all at allensfasteners.com

[SKOL]

I noticed a lot of the bolts weren't matching lengths, especially the flange bolts, and I don't feel like cutting and trimming bolts to size. Plus I think learning a new skill like zinc plating would be fun.

[SKOL]

Unfortunately I'm doing my case fastener bolts, And I don't feel like parting out bolt by bolt from a place like bolt depot

Yeah, no you don't.

Why not?  CMSNL lists all bolts AND their sizes on the fiche.  Made it easy to put together a list.  I did.

+1, fiche is provided by many sites, I'm replacing all my K3 ones with stainless ARPs, found them all at allensfasteners.com

Out of curiosity though, what type of anti-seize or lubricant are you using when installing the SS bolts into your aluminum cases? I've heard positives and negatives for many. Some say to use copper anti-seize, others swear by Permatex anti-sieze lube no. 2, other say silver grade anti-seize... what say you?

[CycleRanger]

I use Permatex.
I wouldn't use copper with zinc...