Black passivate plating

[fizzbangwhallop]

Quick question for those that might know (certainly more than me at the moment )….

Just going through the process of re-commissioning the bike after at least 15years of being laid up…

Carbs done, front calipers done, disc carriers powder coated to match, brake and clutch masters, thermostat housing, wheels and a couple of chrome bits been bead blasted and, hopefully, about to come back from the powder coaters, players this week….serviced rear shock expected back this week too. And a package of re-seal, service kit bits due tomorrow, Wednesday.

But, my question is about the various bolts, brackets etc etc with the shiny black finish…which I guess is black passivate over zinc. Got a bucket load of bits that I’ve just degreased in the ultrasonic that need tidying…so am I right in thinking (hoping) that these can be simply be cleaned (pickled?) and put into the black passivate bath til they match the original finish?

Or, do they need to go back through the whole clean, pickle, plate n passivate process again? If that’s the case, I’m hoping they don’t need to be wired to suspend them in the process as there’s more than one or two…..

Cheers

Fizz

[hairyyoda]

Fizz.
I doubt if this helps you with your black passivate question but I found this cleaning method for tarnished/rusted screw and small bolts very effective, "Lemon Juice"
I had stripped the front of a Jeep Cherokee and was not happy that most of the 6mm bolts and course thread screws were caked with rust, 1 250ml bottle of Aldi's lemon Juice @ £0.39p and 24 to 36 hours later the screws/bolts were very clean in a as good as new condition, then boiling water with a added slurp of straight TFR (no wax) and when bolts/screws were dry I tumbled them in a jam jar with a egg cup full of smooth black Hammerite. Cheap and effective but not to the standard of a classic motorbike restoration
Have a look at https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2003054249A1/en
"wired with a + charge must be a better/longer lifespan finish than a chemical only method" it's the zinc base plating that will be doing the protection.
Thanks
Phil

[fizzbangwhallop]

Thanks for the link Phil…. an interesting read, I’ve only got a few screws with the usual ‘brown’ rust with everything else showing just a white’ish change in the black finish, there’s no physical change or corrosion in the metal that you get with normal rust.

But, having read the detail, they talk about resistance to ‘white’ rust so I guess the white on my bits is probably an early effect of corrosion.

Doing a Google on it yesterday I did find this U.K. company doing kits for home plating of various finishes https://www.gaterosplating.co.uk/index. ... ommon/home

Then I found this black passivate kit on there but couldn’t find anything to say that was all I needed to tart up my bolts n brackets aside from a cleaning/etching/pickling to solution to prepare the surface
https://www.gaterosplating.co.uk/index. ... arch=Black

I did find this YT of a bloke using the zinc plate kit out out of the box….and was quite tempted but I ain’t got enough room to store the containers etc.

https://youtu.be/0vgZ31klMVo

If I get time today, I’ll go over and see the platers that the guy doing the bead blasting recommended.

Cheers

Fizz

[hairyyoda]

Good Fizz.
See if you can find the "The Motorbike Show" episode where Henry Cole is having all the small bolts/brackets plated for a motorbike restoration, "I think it was a BSA Gold Star motorbike"
Thanks
Phil

[fizzbangwhallop]

Good Fizz.
See if you can find the "The Motorbike Show" episode where Henry Cole is having all the small bolts/brackets plated for a motorbike restoration, "I think it was a BSA Gold Star motorbike"
Thanks
Phil

I’ve been watching that but must have missed that bit…. I did see the one where either the Goldie or the Moto Martin’s fork legs were re-conditioned by Philpots in Luton… straightened, ground back, chromed, ground back to original spec and then another finishing plate of chrome. Damned clever stuff.

They’re only 8 or 9 miles away in Luton and I never knew they existed (despite being there since 190something )

Sitting on the tractor this morning…..it occurred that I could probably de-rust my front discs with your lemon juice recipe


Off to find the platers this afternoon……

[hairyyoda]

Fizz.
Until I first tried neat lemon juice I would never have thought that it would be so effective on rust build up it will even remove the black/bluing of old vintage tools "so you have to be a bit thoughtful when using it etc. testing on a sample item is always the best approach"
P.S. Sam Lovegrove and Allen Millyard are the hands on tradesmen with the spanners and the know how, without them Henry would be reduced to a oily rag spit and polish YTS/junior apprentice
Thanks
Phil

[fizzbangwhallop]

……and tea boy, although he is quite keen on someone, anyone-else making it!

Difficult to tell what his true feelings were when his Moto Martin was valued at about half of what he’d spent on it!

As for the others….. definitely some serious engineering coming out of those two. Hmmm….think I’ll just add a couple of extra cylinders…should sound nice..

Found the platers earlier… the very nice lady reckoned Friday or Monday and about £40, and was looking forward (not) to wiring up the 70+ nuts, bolts and washers plus brackets.

Result… more spares arriving tomorrow too.

Cheers

Fizz

[hairyyoda]

Fizz.
If you get a chance have a look online at some of the projects Allen Millyard has designed, undertaken and completed, his abilities are seriously on another level above a NASA engineer he does not say a lot but his own projects speak and show volumes of his expertise
Thanks
Phil

[hairyyoda]

Fizz.
ITV @ 11.15pm tonight "Derek Rickman of Metisse fame and the Moto Martin finale"
Phil

[fizzbangwhallop]

Thanks Phil, I watched that when it was first shown last week

Not sure I liked the old Suzuki blue colour scheme on the Martin….a bit wishy washy for my liking, never was a fan of it

Cheers
Fizz