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For those of you who do both parkerizing and electroplating, do you have an opinion on which of these restoration processes for bolts, washers, and nuts is better, lasts longer, and is more cost effective?
I have been doing zinc phosphate parkerizing for a couple of years and it produces a nice medium gray color. I just recently tried copper and zinc electroplating and honestly can not really tell much of a difference between the two processes in terms of zinc color and finish. So, I am wondering if there are some other benefits to one over the other like durability or cost?
I recently copper electroplated the nut on the bottom of the front differential support per my NCRS Technical Informatiion and Judging Guide book which is why I got started electroplating. Pretty easy to do. Worked great for the copper electroplating. I can't tell much of a difference in the zinc color.
Kevin Zinc phosphate parkerized nut (R) and copper electroplated nut on left. These look just like zinc phosphate parkerized bolts when they were done. I dissolved zinc in 5:1 distilled water to muriatic acid for 15-minutes. Electroplated in dissolved zinc for 10-minutes using a 6V battery and copper leads. Bolts were zinc electroplated and the castellated nuts were zinc phosphate parkerized Large washer was left natural along with the split-ring lock washer - natural front differential support was sprayed semi-gloss black.
Zinc parkerizing vs. zinc electroplating
