Has anybody had their headlamp or wiper door actuators replated? Can it be done without damaging the diaphragm seals? One place I contacted said he couldn't guarantee the job wouldn't damage the seal. Is it worth replating or should I just buy replacements?

I have tried spray-on treatments, including one that cost me $70 for a spray can, but they don't look like Zinc Dichromate Plating. :confused:

 

Caledonia Classics in Michigan, and a fellow named ?Dave Reschke? (unsure of the spelling) "out west" specialize in rebuilding these items, and replating them. I've seen their work. OUTSTANDING. Caledonia right now has one of my vacuum relays for replating. Sent it out 2 months ago.....they told me 2 month turnaround. I should be calling them soon. The rebuild/replate of my relay is going to cost about $125.00 as I recall, + postage. Chuck


[Modified by Chuck Gongloff, 4:21 PM 4/17/2002]

 

It should be the diaphragms that you are worried about and not the seals. The seals are not inexpensive ($7-$10 apiece), but are easy to replace. The diaphragms are another story. You shouldn't have any any problem if the seals are in good condition, and you plug all the tubing openings with rubber plugs.

You want the seals in good condition to keep the solutions out of the cans and away from the diaphragms. Do the actuators hold vacuum now? If the actuators are holding vacuum now, then they are airtight, and therefore water (or solution) tight. The rubber seals probably should be replaced after replating anyway, but rubber is not attacked by anything in the plating process. In fact, rubber or plastic has to be used as lining material for some of the tanks.

I don't think the guy is real keen on doing your actuators since maybe he hasn't seen anything like them before, and is trying to cover his backside. I have a friend with a plating business that replated mine. They came out looking great, and they still hold vacuum. I still plan to replace the seals anyway.

 

Dave Resheske from down in Houston does this type of plating and rebuilds the actuators. He did my wiper door actuator after I tried some of those sprays. I will try to see if I have his phone number handy. He also goes to Bloomington Gold and used to teach a clinic on rebuilding them. Dave's work is first class. :yesnod:

 

Dave Resheske is the name and his shop is Dave's Corvette Restoration, 1610 Richvale Lane, Clear Lake City TX 77062. Phone is (218)488-7813 or (713) 527-3089. He also plated the top of my master cylinder as it was looking pretty tired.

 

Thanks, I'll give him a call. The other place I talked to does a lot of plating. He's at http://www.detailplating.com/

I assume that this is a cold process with no harsh chemicals. I see replacement headlamp actuators for $100 and the wiper actuators for $150
and $250 from C Central. Got any idea what just replating goes for?

 

He rebuilt and related the wiper actuator for $125. All new seals etc.

 

I expect Resheske may clean and strip the actuators, then have someone else replate them in zinc, and apply a dichromate wash for the original yellow look. He then replaces the seals. In my opinion, the plating is too big an operation for him to do himself; he's probably subcontracting it out to someone who does nothing but plating in volume.

As to whether it is a "cold process with no harsh chemicals" all depends on your definition of "cold" and "harsh". In the typical zinc plating operation, you have an acid cleaning step, a very hot caustic (200+ degrees) wash, and the electroplating solutions are acid based, so it wouldn't be a good way to give your dog a bath. On the other hand, the materials in the actuators will stand up to the conditions well, as long as the acidic solutions don't come in contact with the diaphragms...that might cause you some problems.

I don't know that these guys that restore actuators actually replace the diaphragms. I remain unconvinced...I can't believe anyone can uncrimp the cans without leaving tell-tale tool marks. I would have to see it to believe it.

If you are into NCRS judging and originality, and you buy replacement actuators, be sure that you are getting the correct tubing connection configurations for your year. Some years have "curved" tube connections, some years have "straight", long ones, shorts ones, blah, blah. When you buy replacements, some vendors think that if it makes the doors go up and down, then its "correct".

 

All things are relative. The 200 F hot caustic will strip any grease or paint left from the acid cleansing but the chances of the temperature damaging the metal is nil (melting point of iron is 2795 F and steel is usually higher, depending on formulation). The process is designed to put material onto the piece, not remove material so the chemicals are harsh to grease and paint but shouldn't damage the metal. That being said, if your plater leave the piece sitting in the acid strip for an extended period, there's going to be erosion.

How would they avoid contamination and/or deterioration of the diaphrams, Chuck?

 

That's why, in the next sentence, I said the following without getting into the melting point of steel or the heat fatigue of rubber: "On the other hand, the materials in the actuators will stand up to the conditions well..." :D

See my previous post above. If the actuator is fully functional, and holds vacuum before the plating process begins, then it is a watertight container which will NOT allow the plating solution into the interior of the actuator where it can wet the diaphragm. This assumes that care has been taken to insure that the tubing connections have been effectively plugged with rubber plugs.

Actually, the diaphragms are probably made of rubberized cloth material or rubber (I have not had one open), and would not be affected by the acid solution anyway, but for mine, I decided I didn't want to take that risk or have acid solutions attacking the inside of the actuators. This, of course, implies that all the tubing connections have been effectively plugged, and that the seals remain watertight.

My friend's plant does industrial plating for Ford and other manufacturers. In fact, I think his plant supplies variations of zinc plating, including so-called "black zinc", on all Ford's air conditioning system tubings in North American cars and trucks. Ford has always used steel tubing in their AC systems instead of aluminum like GM, and I believe it was because Ford could never perfect the aluminum fabrication techniques.

Since the tubing is bare steel, they must have the exterior of the tubes plated for corrosion protection. The tubing components have their ends plugged with small rubber plugs to keep the plating solutions out of the internal portion of tubing which could lead to acid corrosion particles contaminating the air conditioning systems.

As for the plater leaving the parts in the acid bath too long, the only way I can see that happening is if the rack with the parts on it fell off in the acid bath tank, and wasn't missed until the next day, or if some vaccum head forgot about the rack and shut down the system overnight with the parts in the acid tank, and I don't think that's possible with the automated systems I have seen. The computer shut down mode has all the "bars" in the raised position.

I don't think a small batch plater can be competitive in today's market. The platers that survive are big operations that can plate large volume in order to be competitive. Plating involves an incredible amount of environmental hassle...you have to get the environmental permits and waste processing has to be done. Some of the big platers will sometimes squeeze a few small batch jobs in the cracks between big jobs or when things are slow. If there are guys doing this in their back yard in 55 gallon drums, I wonder what they are doing with all the effluent that they generate? Putting it down the toilet? :D

All of the big operations are computerized. There is an overhead conveyor system that progresses about 30 "bars" of racks through about 30 tanks that are maybe 35' long X 4'wide X 7' tall. About 8-10 racks loaded with small parts are manually hung onto each "bar" before it sets off on its journey down the plating line beginning with the hot caustic wash. These racks are then manually removed at the other end of the plating conveyor, and are hung on another conveyor which takes them through drying, inspection, and packing steps.


[Modified by Chuck Sangerhausen, 1:41 PM 4/19/2002]