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a.wilson
Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2007
Posts: 2033
Location: Georgia
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 Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2014 9:51 pm Post subject: Refinishing old clamps |
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Regarding original equipment Gemi German fresh air hose clamps, has anyone ever attempt to have some replated before..
...Or simply painted yours?
On some brighter plated clamps, thought about using Caswell's or Eastwood's Electroplating kits -- but wasn't sure well how they'd turn out.
Still with others, instead of plating ..their appearance has sort of a medium-to-dark Gray color. Would something such as a type of Detail Gray spray paint be sufficient?
In Samba's history, haven't seen restoration of those tackled before.
One of the only few references about Gemi clamps on here was an old 2005 thread http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=108240 |
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a.wilson
Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2007
Posts: 2033
Location: Georgia
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2014 9:57 pm Post subject: |
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And for the record I know new screw style clamps are available from Wolfsburgwest. It's just I have a few of old one's that I was wanting to redo.
New kind found in misterblue's photo gallery;
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Kabman
Samba Member
Joined: June 29, 2013
Posts: 5
Location: Warwick UK
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| Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 6:17 am Post subject: |
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| I have soaked these (and plenty of other small parts) in vinegar and they come out like new. I works well for very light rust but will leave pits if the rust is deep. Soak for a day or two then rub off the black oxide and rinse well with soapy water. Make sure the whole part is submersed or the exposed areas will rust even worse than before. |
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panicman
Samba Member
Joined: December 18, 2011
Posts: 2290
Location: Canby, OR
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| Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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I have been amazed with results using lemon juice, and a brass brush if needed. No kidding.
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a.wilson
Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2007
Posts: 2033
Location: Georgia
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| Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2015 11:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Kabman wrote: |
| I have soaked these (and plenty of other small parts) in vinegar and they come out like new. I works well for very light rust but will leave pits if the rust is deep. Soak for a day or two then rub off the black oxide and rinse well with soapy water. Make sure the whole part is submersed or the exposed areas will rust even worse than before. |
| panicman wrote: |
| I have been amazed with results using lemon juice, and a brass brush if needed. No kidding. |
Whoops.. thanks for the tips and sorry for the late reply. Got side tracked shortly after posting when a family issue came up with my elderly grandmother around this time last year, forgot about it.
Perhaps one day I'll get back around testing with this on several sets of clamps I have collected up. One with plating - other with paint.
Probably also try one with Wurth brand grey paint, just to see how will look like.
Mean time in another topic -- sputnick60 had his nickel plated, and thought his turned out good looking..
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raygreenwood
Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2008
Posts: 21518
Location: Oklahoma City
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| Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 9:36 am Post subject: |
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The original plating was a type of Cad plating I believe. Home Cad plating is possible but the starter kits are not dirt cheap and you need to be really careful as the chemicals are very toxic.
There are lots of different types of plating.
One of the easiest to do at home and elsewhere is black oxide....and there are various types of that....hot and cold....oil pickled etc.
Various gun blueing work well also. I like the nickle for what it is...but its a little "chromey" for me.
I have a good collection of OEM clamps and will eventually refinish mine as well. Probably a light acid etch to remove all traces of the original plating, then maybe a tumble polish...lightly to get them uniform...and then probably a metal stain or maybe even cad plating if I have the $. Ray |
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60ragtop
Bonneville Belt Bitch
Joined: March 13, 2006
Posts: 7800
Location: Big Wonderful WYO 82401
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| Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 9:57 am Post subject: |
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a dip in muriatic acid and clear spray paint is a cheap alternative
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Rick
Certified Mechanic by the State of Michigan in 1977
ASA certified in 1987
Certified Hunter Wheel Alignment Master Technician 1986
| tasb wrote: |
I've restored a large number too, but I don't toot my horn quite as loud.
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| sb001 wrote: |
maybe he just snapped cause his car sucked  |
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Mike Fisher
Samba Member
Joined: January 30, 2006
Posts: 17970
Location: Eugene, OR
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| Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 11:14 am Post subject: |
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| panicman wrote: |
| I have been amazed with results using lemon juice, and a brass brush if needed. No kidding. |
Simple & cheap! Lemon juice works wonders on rusty chrome too. 
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a.wilson
Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2007
Posts: 2033
Location: Georgia
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| Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 3:52 pm Post subject: |
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| raygreenwood wrote: |
The original plating was a type of Cad plating I believe. Home Cad plating is possible but the starter kits are not dirt cheap and you need to be really careful as the chemicals are very toxic.
There are lots of different types of plating.
One of the easiest to do at home and elsewhere is black oxide....and there are various types of that....hot and cold....oil pickled etc.
Various gun blueing work well also. I like the nickle for what it is...but its a little "chromey" for me.
I have a good collection of OEM clamps and will eventually refinish mine as well. Probably a light acid etch to remove all traces of the original plating, then maybe a tumble polish...lightly to get them uniform...and then probably a metal stain or maybe even cad plating if I have the $. Ray |
Thanks for the suggestions! After reading sputnick60's reply in his thread and reading over other various topics elsewhere.. think I will just pay a business to do the work. They'd most likely do a better job in the end. My luck everything would turn into a messy disaster. Plus I was needing some small parts also re-plated anyway. If not then I'll just shoot paint (or clear as 60ragtop mentioned).
Thanks all.. |
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panicman
Samba Member
Joined: December 18, 2011
Posts: 2290
Location: Canby, OR
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| Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2015 8:11 am Post subject: |
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I've taken a "shine" to zinc electroplating. You can make your own kit from basically grocery store and hardware goods; I think I spent about 15 bucks.
You can get it pretty shiny and it's kind of a fun thing to do.
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c21darrel
Samba Member
Joined: January 22, 2009
Posts: 8211
Location: San Dimas
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panicman
Samba Member
Joined: December 18, 2011
Posts: 2290
Location: Canby, OR
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| Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 12:35 am Post subject: |
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I'll never tell!!
Just joshing. Below is a link that is a great tutorial. I found what I think are cheap alternatives to the items he recommends.
For the zinc anodes, I purchased a solid zinc clothesline pulley, $7. I cut the pulley carrier in half to make two anodes. When they become unusable, I will cut the pulley wheel in half and use the halves as anodes.
For the zinc sulfate, I used Moss Out (roof treatment), available at Home Depot.
http://home.comcast.net/~rt66tbird/website/zincplating.html
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a.wilson
Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2007
Posts: 2033
Location: Georgia
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| Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 8:00 am Post subject: |
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Cool link and tip panicman. Thanks. May play around with it on some bolts.  |
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raygreenwood
Samba Member
Joined: November 24, 2008
Posts: 21518
Location: Oklahoma City
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| Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 9:41 am Post subject: |
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Nice link. Very well done! I have not done plating in a while. I do black oxide in a few versions on a regular basis.
One small detail...most of the gold colored plating's the gentleman in the link referred to...are treated with secondary surface treated with chromates....but are in fact Cadmium (cad) plated.
There are Federal standards for cad plating because it has so many uses in nuts bolts and hardware for aerospace, marine and military. The Automotive follows this lead as well.
QQ-P-416F is the Federal standard for Cadmium Plating.
Type I: As plated.
Type II: Supplementary chromate treatment. Type II plating shall not show white corrosion products of cadmium, pitting, or basis metal corrosion products at the end of 96 hours (20%) salt spray exposure per following table:
Type III: Supplementary phosphate treatment. Type III shall conform to Type I of TT-C-490. Type III is used as a paint base.
Class 1: 0.0005" minimum thickness
Class 2: 0.0003" minimum thickness
Class 3: 0.0002" minimum thickness
Typically automotive brake parts are Type II cad plating. There was a huge issue back in the late 80's/early 90's with GM suspension hardware parts (go figure  )....because they had either improper or weak Cad plating or the wrong type. It caused a lot of premature caliper hardware failure issues.
You can also zinc plate and then polish in a cheap tumbler from Harbor Freight then clean and repeat. Ray |
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panicman
Samba Member
Joined: December 18, 2011
Posts: 2290
Location: Canby, OR
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| Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 9:56 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for that Ray! That is interesting, and the tumbler is a great idea!
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c21darrel
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Joined: January 22, 2009
Posts: 8211
Location: San Dimas
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