restoring old bolts

[big-b]

How can i make my old bolts look almost new again? Is there a type of media blasting that will work for this?

Brian

[Spargett]

You can take them to a plater to have them plated in either chrome, zinc, or cadmium. There are also home kits for zinc plating if you're feeling adventurous. In the mean time, you can always wirewheel them or sandblast (I used aluminum oxide media to blast some particularly rusty parts), just make sure to coat them in some sort of oil to temporarily slow any rusting which will occur without plating.

If you do choose to plate, shop around for the best quote and ask what the smallest basket they have is. If it's much larger than sum of what you need plated, you'll end up paying more for no reason. Another option is to find other people who need plating and all go in on it together to save money. It's all done in one "dunk".

I had a number of things cadmium plated with great results. To give you a ballpark, mine was about $130 for the hole bunch I did. Zinc is generally cheaper. The cost is also dependent on environmental taxes for each state.

[big-b]

How different is the look between cadmium and zinc? What would look more original?

Brian

[Spargett]

I think cadmium lands somewhere between zinc and chrome as far as brightness goes. I think the most original look would be zinc, though I'm not a real expert on OEM plating. I know the chrome honda did was a cheap single layer "industrial flash chrome", unlike today's show quality triple plating.

[G-Man]

In England Cadmium plating is now illegal due to the toxicity of Cadmium, classed as a heavy metal. The choice here is limited to zinc but you can have different passivation to give different colors.

Typically you will see silver (clear passivate) and yellow which mimics what many people call cadmium.

The two carbs pictured are both NOS Honda but with different styles of plating. I have found both colors on Hondas from the 1960s. I don't know what the rules are. I prefer the plain silver look but others will differ...

My plater has a minimum £35 charge for zinc. A large bucket of complicated parts from several different bikes came to £120.

G

[Wilf]

For 10 bucks worth of vinegar, epsom salts and zinc you can plate a lot of parts at home--easy, pretty safe and very satisfying.

Wilf

[nc_rider]

spargett - Who did the cadmium plating for you?

Wilf - Got a link to a tutorial on how to do the zinc coating, and a source for the zinc? I'm looking at the results this guy got from zinc coating on his own and they're pretty impressive.