I know paint is coming just around the corner. So, I'm thinking about assembly coming just after. In the last few years, I have acquired some more parts/hardware that will be part of the build, but need nickel plated to match everything else. The issue is, the place I used has gone out of business and there aren't any options around anymore. I found an electroless nickel kit made by
Caswell that actually looked like I could use in my kitchen. It seemed easy enough to work with and the kit comes with almost everything I would need. So, I ordered a kit to try it out. In hindsight, I should have done a better job estimating the size of the kit I needed to order....
To start, I rounded up all of the parts I could find. Mostly it was just random hardware. Specifically, I recently purchased several sets of 12 point hood latch bolts in order to find a matched set. I also threw in some radio mounting brackets and an early takeoff ball bearing ashtray.
Preparing to plate, you have to get two solutions ready. One is a detergent bath for degreasing and the other is the plating bath. The plating kit came with two - two gallon glass lined tanks. For the detergent bath, I mixed a 1/2 pound of detergent with one gallon of distilled water and warmed it to 190°. For the plating bath, I mixed one quart of solution with 1.35 gallons of distilled water and warmed it to 185°. The kit came with a thermometer so keeping track of temps was easy.
Once the temps became stable, it was time to prepare the parts for plating. The first thing to do was strip the first batch of parts in muriatic acid. Since this is toxic and smells really bad, I did this in the garage sink, with the doors open. I let the parts soak for three minutes, then rinsed with water. I immediately transferred the parts to the degreaser bath so there was no flash rust.
Next was plating. Caswell, has a very specific formula for you to understand how much solution you need for your project. They refer to it as credits. The numbers of credits you use is calculated as time in bath x surface area (inē). They would also have you measure each part to be plated. I refused to spend that kind of time on this so I just grouped everything into 5"x5" batches. Caswell says once your credits reach 80% of your starting credits, you have to replenish with 4oz of solution to bring your credits back to the original number or the bath will crash. Using 5x5 batches in the formula, I would need to replenish 4oz every 14 minutes. One batch would be finished after 28 minutes. Based on this, I would only have enough solution to complete two batches. I organized the batches by priority, in case I didn't have enough to do everything. Well, I followed Caswell's instructions and replenished when I was suppose to. I had enough to start the third batch as planned. I decided to let this batch sit the entire 28 minutes to see how it would turn out. It actually turned out fine. So good, that I decided to take a chance on the last batch, which was the ash tray. I'm glad I took the chance because it turned out nice too. I'm not sure how much further I could have gone or how many more parts I could have put in each batch, but I'm glad I didn't have to push it any more than I did. This stuff actually turned out better than any of the stuff I paid for in the past. This is a little expensive for what I actually got, but it was way worth it seeing how it turned out. Not afraid to do this again if I have to!!!
