Committing Alchemy!

On any rebuild or tidying up of the car there is always a point where the bits you clean up or make new look fabulous and shiny.  You know though the soon they will be tarnished rusty and tatty again.  With this in mind when I had finished the rod from the brake pedal to the main cross chassis brake bar I decided to do something about it. High school chemistry is 60 years away for me, so all I could remember was that it is dangerous and not to add water to acid! A quick look on the ubiquitous You Tube and I decided to "Commit Alchemy"!  Well all you need is a battery a bucket with electrolyte and some (in this case) zinc plates..... how hard could it be??  The truth is very easy BUT great care and cleanliness is needed with some dangerous and powerful chemicals...... goggles and rubber gloves are essential!  The results are stunning..... I might look for a plastic box big enough to hold the radiator shroud.... or may be not, but for all those hard to get nuts and bolts and fittings carefully cleaning and polishing the old ones can result in a "good as new look" for your bits. Posted by FLYJCW 14/01/2017 14:51:58

Congratulations John.  Now tell me how durable do you think the plating will be?   Richard Melbourne Posted by RichardWallach 16/01/2017 01:52:44

Hi Richard......good question.....  well it will last longer than bare metal and paint!  However I am onto the next stage which is to use Passivate (chromate)  This chemical process hardens the plating and can colour it too if required, I only have yellow and black at the moment, but I believe clear is available, Yellow is frequently seen on diy fixings such as metal wall plugs and on modern car parts, particulalrly carburettor parts like your strimmer or mower engine. Alvis didn't use coloured passivate I don't think so it will look different, am I bothered?? I don't know really. but adjusting the brakes will be easier if this rod and nuts aren't rusty.  My friend who is rebuilding an MG TF has painted the parts he plates on top of the zinc in the interest of originality and concours..... my car is going to be used and thrashed... so?  Cheers John Posted by FLYJCW 16/01/2017 09:58:06

Thanks John,  Do keep us posted with more images. Perhaps you should live in Australia. A lot hotter and drier. The chassis on my TA21 still has the original paint and there is absolutely no rust.   Regards,  Richard, Melbourne Posted by RichardWallach 16/01/2017 11:08:53