The Long Road

[mickusmickus]

Eddie/Craig,

Just a general question regarding your Zinc plating.  I saw that you were doing a lot of that sort of thing yourselves and was wondering if you had any tips on making your own plating bath.  I have been looking at a few different types of rectifyers/power supplies.  Do you have any tips?

Regards

MICK

[craiga]

All the zinc is outsourced now, the basic plating kit Edward purchased early one did the job - but gave erractic results and a pain in the arse.

Artarmon Electroplaters (i think??) do it all now, reasonably cheap but preparation in the key. Ed spends LOTS of time sandblasting and wire wheeling bits and pieces to get the highest quality result.

If you are planning to restore a car, buy yourself a sandblasting cabinet and a parts washer. Cannot recommend this highly enough.

Cheers,

Craig.

[Fast_Eddie]

Some steady progress over the last six months...

Front suspension assembled and installed



Front brakes detailed and installed



The brake drums have been jet coated



The steering column and master cylinders have been installed



Doors are being refitted and mechanisms installed







Seats and scuff plates are in.

[Ed]

looks like you've been busy Ed,

jaw dropping attention to detail.

Cheers

Ed

[FC0058]

H Eddy
Looking good to make it to Mount Gambier for the 50th. ike they say 3rd time lucky.

Cheers Jim

[customFC]

Hey Ed
Great to see the wagon is making progress.
She's going to be a beauty when finished.
Thanks for the update.
Regards
Alex

[graham_fuller]

Looking good Ed. Are you bringing it to Mount Gambier?
Cheers,
Graham

[Fast_Eddie]

Thanks guys.

I haven't entered the nationals.

[FC0058]

Hi Eddy
Its a great pitty. All the time and effort put into your car, 2 missed nationals and now a 3rd.

Cheers Jim

[Hewart]

Looking great Eddie!!

Keep those fantastic and detailed pics coming!! It's great to see the progress is still rolling along!

You guys must be getting close to the end?

Keep up the great work ;)

Cheers
Les...

[4hammers]

Damn,
I came back to visit to see how this was going. If you were gonna take it to the Nats, I was planning on heading over for a look in one of my buses. Got friends over there & looking for an excuse to visit.

Looking good Guys......damn envious :)

Craig, get your act together & hassle Ed into bringing something down here for a drive...great roads & I am always up for a race ;)

Rob J

[Fast_Eddie]

Major milestone this week. Dropped in the appropriately named, "Grey Motor"

[Fast_Eddie]

Some close ups. The ancillaries are currently being rebuilt and detailed to add a little more visual interest. It's all very grey in there at the moment.

[Fast_Eddie]

Following a couple of queries, I have put together a few photos on how I go about preparing the parts for zinc plating.

Firstly, grease etc is removed in the parts washer. Kerosene is used as the degreasing agent.



After the parts are dry, they are blasted in the blast cabinet. The media used is glass beads which provides a reasonably smooth surface.



The big vaccuum is probably overkill, a small unit would do the job. HOWEVER, the cabinet uses a considerable amount of air. When I bought the cabinet I had to upgrade to a bigger compressor - a 15cfm with a 110lt tank which runs continuously when blasting. I also have an air dryer as a considerable of moisture is generated and the water seperator at the compressor does not cope.

I have a 2lt tin can with 2-4mm holes punched in the bottom that is used for small parts - nuts, bolts, washers and screws are loaded in and shaken around as the gun is pointed into the tin. For larger parts I have a set of vice grips that I use to hold the piece which preserves the rubber gloves built into the unit.

The result out of the cabinet.



I then arrange the parts and photograph them so that I can check everything upon return from the platers - it's also a reference for reassembly.



The parts are then seperated into the finish type required, generally bright zinc, yellow zinc or nickel and delivered to the electro platers.

Upon return - better than new!



The plating cost itself is quite cheap - maybe $50 or so for the picture above.

[TTV6FC]

Unbelievable.This post is like stepping back in time at a car being built from scratch (without the assembly line).Great work. :o

[FC_fer_me]

Great attention to detail! Looking real good. By the look of the three power meters in the background of one photo the equipment must be chewing up the power!! ;D ;D ;D Could be the cause of all the power dips down south.LOL. Great photos Eddie, keep em coming.

[Fast_Eddie]

The rebuild of engine ancillaries has commenced, and the various nuts, bolts and brackets have been plated.



The engine bay of an early Holden is quite compact, so I enlisted the help of a compact installer...



...replacing the sideplate screws with plated ones.

[EffCee]

Wow, what a job.  :o I can't wait to seet the finished article. I am relatively new to the site and was astounded at the attention to detail and perserverance that you have shown towards this car. I bet they were never this good when they rolled off the production line. ;D

[Fast_Eddie]

The generator, starter motor and distributor were stripped, and all parts prepared, then plated, painted or powdercoated.

[customFC]

Hey Ed
Very neat work.
Nice to see it's still moving along.

"The Long Road to (Jindabyne) Phillip Island"
You may need to update the title of the thread......Orange?

Regards
Alex