engine build - slowly but surely

Dick Eastman · Post by **Dick Eastman** » Tue Nov 29, 2016 7:17 pm

I plated the carb parts and a few other pcs today, with the Caswell zinc kit - pleased with the results. The rectifier in the kit is made by Caswell, and the process requires constant current to be applied at .14A/sq in. The most difficult part of the process is computing the square inches per part, however Caswell is working on a water displacement formula that would require fewer calculations. The max amps out of this model rectifier is 5A, which translates to a max of 36 sq in of surface to be plated at one time. It took 4 batches at about 20 mins each to do what is shown here. Just a few examples of surface area: choke slides - 5 sq in; the two wheel hub plates were 36 sq in, so the rectifier was set at 5A.; float bowl bales - 4.3 sq in; exhaust collars - 21.46 sq in. Caswell recommends accuracy to be within 15%. Also, Caswells tech guy, Jason, has motorcycles and atv's, and was very helpful with a few q's I had. The zinc anodes in the kit should very easily do several bikes.

Seadog · Post by **Seadog** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:41 am

Nice job. Thank you for all of those surface area numbers; very handy. Calculating those is the hardest part of plating. Your parts came out very shiny; did you use brightener, wire brush the finished parts or both?

Dick Eastman wrote:I plated the carb parts and a few other pcs today, with the Caswell zinc kit - pleased with the results. The rectifier in the kit is made by Caswell, and the process requires constant current to be applied at .14A/sq in. The most difficult part of the process is computing the square inches per part, however Caswell is working on a water displacement formula that would require fewer calculations. The max amps out of this model rectifier is 5A, which translates to a max of 36 sq in of surface to be plated at one time. It took 4 batches at about 20 mins each to do what is shown here. Just a few examples of surface area: choke slides - 5 sq in; the two wheel hub plates were 36 sq in, so the rectifier was set at 5A.; float bowl bales - 4.3 sq in; exhaust collars - 21.46 sq in. Caswell recommends accuracy to be within 15%. Also, Caswells tech guy, Jason, has motorcycles and atv's, and was very helpful with a few q's I had. The zinc anodes in the kit should very easily do several bikes.

Dick Eastman · Post by **Dick Eastman** » Wed Nov 30, 2016 6:00 pm

Thanks. I used a brightener; mostly came out shiny, but a few had some "streaks", so I used an SOS pad and water [pads are 0000 steel wool].
It's all in the prep - after parts were cleaned in solvent, they were dipped in Works toilet bowl cleaner, then rinsed w/ a baking soda solution to neutralize, and dried - much cheaper and safer than muriatic acid, about a $1.70/qt at box stores.

Dick Eastman · Post by **Dick Eastman** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 6:37 am

A few more things done - Starter wired up, still need a boot; had to make a bracket, could not find a sealing grommet, so used a distributor boot
Carbs done/mounted, except for K&N pods.
Since I'm not using stock speedo, I made a replacement for wheel-mounted speedo drive; center is S/S, utilizes both rubber seals. Also made new swing arm dust caps from S/S, rubber seals from original; made a new rear axle spacer while I was at it, aluminum.

Dick Eastman · Post by **Dick Eastman** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 6:42 am

A few more pics

Tim Allman · Post by **Tim Allman** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 9:57 am

This is beautiful work.

I see that the carb bodies and bowls look like they are new. I looked back in the thread but could find no reference to how they were cleaned. So, how were they cleaned?

Thanks in advance.

Seadog · Post by **Seadog** » Wed Dec 07, 2016 1:57 pm

I'd like to know too, if you don't mind. Also, how'd you clean that engine so nicely?

Tim Allman wrote:This is beautiful work.

I see that the carb bodies and bowls look like they are new. I looked back in the thread but could find no reference to how they were cleaned. So, how were they cleaned?

Thanks in advance.