Chrome plating small parts?

Jim K

Jim K

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Lycoming wants $150ea. for angle valve valve covers. I think those are painted and the chrome ones are $250. Insanity. For $110ish I can get billet aluminum. I opted to spend $10ea and get some slightly rusty ones with the chrome flaking off on ebay. My original thought was to sand them down & paint them. Now I find myself wondering what it would cost to get them replated. Anyone had small parts chromed lately?

Maybe powdercoating would make more sense...of course getting a color match with the case would be easier with paint. I suppose paint makes the most sense as I'm the only person who will likely ever see them.

And, no, @Racerx ....I don't even have cylinders yet :p
 
Hey, just trying to keep things on task!

One of my customers in town is DuroChrome. I have zero idea on the process or cost. But maybe give them a call. Literally right across the street from my house.

There's another process out there called PVD. Popular with aftermarket rims to give the chrome look. Without all the nastiness of chrome process. I suspect chrome is stupid expensive.
 
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Ignorant question: is nickel plating an option?
 
GeorgeC said:
Ignorant question: is nickel plating an option?
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I think that requires about the same level of prep and effort as chrome. Might actually look nicer and be more durable though. The company Ernie mentioned lists that as one of their services.
 
Nickel plating can be done with much safer chemicals than what you might need for chrome plating, and you can even attempt to do it at home:

www.instructables.com

High Quality (and Safe) Nickel Plating

High Quality (and Safe) Nickel Plating: Just like my popular copper plating instructable, the aim of this is to do high quality, low cost, and safe electroplating. We will also be making our own electrolyte from scratch instead of buying chemicals online. If you've looked at my copper p…
www.instructables.com www.instructables.com
 
In he old days of quality, chrome bumpers (And flashlights) were first copper plated, then Nickle plated, and chrome for the final coat.

Chrome did not adhere well on steel, the three metal sandwich was very durable. The 5 cell, very heavy flashlight my Dad bought in the 1920's went into the scrap 2 years ago, too large and bulky for the light it provided. Small LED and lithium rule now.
 
Jim K said:
Lycoming wants $150ea. for angle valve valve covers. I think those are painted and the chrome ones are $250. Insanity. For $110ish I can get billet aluminum. I opted to spend $10ea and get some slightly rusty ones with the chrome flaking off on ebay. My original thought was to sand them down & paint them. Now I find myself wondering what it would cost to get them replated. Anyone had small parts chromed lately?

Maybe powdercoating would make more sense...of course getting a color match with the case would be easier with paint. I suppose paint makes the most sense as I'm the only person who will likely ever see them.

And, no, @Racerx ....I don't even have cylinders yet :p
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There are some powdercoats that are a decent chrome. I am having a bumper done, but haven't seen it yet in person to confirm.
 
AV8R_87 said:
Nickel plating can be done with much safer chemicals than what you might need for chrome plating, and you can even attempt to do it at home:

www.instructables.com

High Quality (and Safe) Nickel Plating

High Quality (and Safe) Nickel Plating: Just like my popular copper plating instructable, the aim of this is to do high quality, low cost, and safe electroplating. We will also be making our own electrolyte from scratch instead of buying chemicals online. If you've looked at my copper p…
www.instructables.com www.instructables.com
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Many parts that are chromed are first nickel plated and then chromed for adhesion but also for a thicker overall plating thickness. Leaving the just as nickel might be cheaper and would still look nice.
 
MIFlyer said:
There are some powdercoats that are a decent chrome. I am having a bumper done, but haven't seen it yet in person to confirm.
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I powder coated my Lycomisaurus rocker box covers with a chrome look powder. It's nice, but it's not chrome.
 
kmacht said:
Many parts that are chromed are first nickel plated and then chromed for adhesion but also for a thicker overall plating thickness. Leaving the just as nickel might be cheaper and would still look nice.
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Chrome over nickel also better corrosion resistance. At least in some cases.
 
Could be way wrong, but willing to bet that having plain ones chromed would cost more than buying new chrome covers. I'd paint them black.
 
For what it’s worth, I read somewhere that powder coating could conceal cracks under the coating so it was not recommended for aircraft parts. It might have been in 43.13B. I’ve been reading that A LOT lately, but I’m not sure.
 
Nickel is usually better than chrome for durability and corrosion protection, if you don't need the super shiny finish that chrome provides. There are also a lot of new coating available nowadays; at work we're starting to use DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) coating a lot, which is a beautiful hard shiny black, very durable, and very reasonably priced.
 
Albany Tom said:
Could be way wrong, but willing to bet that having plain ones chromed would cost more than buying new chrome covers. I'd paint them black.
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That was kind of my suspicion, but I've never had anything plated, ever. Grok seemed to think I could get it done for $50 ea, but that seems low to me.

Looks like nickel might be way cheaper and look nicer in my mind. Thinking I'll clean them up and try to find a shop to quote it.
 
Jim K said:
That was kind of my suspicion, but I've never had anything plated, ever. Grok seemed to think I could get it done for $50 ea, but that seems low to me.
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Some places charge by the piece, some charge by the pound (weight of the part being plated). Most have a minimum lot charge, $250 is typical.
 
I'm loosing track - what engine is this for? RV 14?

Hopefully you won't have the cowling off all the time. Media blast it, prime, and I'd go with @455 Bravo Uniform - matte black.
 
WDD said:
I'm loosing track - what engine is this for? RV 14?

Hopefully you won't have the cowling off all the time. Media blast it, prime, and I'd go with @455 Bravo Uniform - matte black.
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Yeah, the -14. The Lance already picked up a decent set of chrome valve covers at some point in its life.
 
nauga said:
Valve covers and underwear. Nobody but me cares what color mine are. :cool:

Nauga,
fashionable
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Yeah, but sometimes don't you just want to feel sexy? :biggrin:
 
Polished aluminum looks really good. Just polish & clear coat to prevent corrosion. Problem solved.
 
Maybe some Harley Davidson chrome headers….. and some flame graphics……
 
Well, I'm learning. The hard way. As usual.

The internet told me that muriatic acid would remove chrome plating. It definitely made it bubble, and removed some, but it was clear that the time frame would be months, not hours, if ever. Also, I learned that any unprotected steel in the same building with HCl will rust from the vapors, including my bucking bars, dimple dies, handles on the mill, drill bits....etc, etc. Sigh. I don't think I permanently ruined anything, just a flash of surface rust. I was terrified to look at my engine parts, but they seem to have been well wrapped enough.

So I moved the process outside, and decided to try to juice it up a bit with some electrons. Started with a 5v, 200ma wall wart, but it didn't seem to do much. Next up was a 12v, 500ma. Still not much progress, but it failed anyway. Then a 12v, 1.2A, which seemed to be making some progress, but still going to take multiple days. The next smallest jump I had was a 12v, 3A old school transformer power supply. I hooked that up, and could actually see progress in real time.

I went in the house for about 30min, and when I came back, there was some weirdness. It seems to have stripped the chrome off that was furthest from the anode and re-deposited it on the other side of the cover. Also, the power supply was smoking, and the steel of the valve cover was significantly pitted. Apparently that was too much.

AI tells me that phosphoric acid is more gentle on steel, and I have a bunch of that around anyway, so I'll probably try that, but at this point it's not looking great for a DIY approach. Kinda fun to screw around with though.
 
What about media/sand blasting?
 
Fly em up to me. I'll buy lunch and we'll drop em off at durochrome.

Muriatic or hydrochloric acid is what they use for pickled and oiled steel. Dip in acid bath to remove mill scale and immediately oiled to prevent rust. I hear you want a tungsten bucking bar anyway.
 
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Racerx said:
I hear you want a tungsten bucking bar anyway.
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This is the way. There are two nice things about tungsten bucking bars. First, they are a joy to use. Second, if you decide you no longer need them, you can sell 'em for close to what you paid if you do it right. I think of it as cheap, long term tool rental.
 
GeorgeC said:
Dammit, Jim...

http://www.southsandia.com/forum/website/zincplating.html
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Evaporative-Cooler-Zinc-Anode-5157/100575324
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Yeah, my pure nickel bars arrived in the mail a couple days ago :biggrin:

The phosphoric acid bath is still running. Haven't checked it this morning after last night's storm, though. The copper still doesn't seem to be budging, but the bare steel areas are getting bigger, so it might be attacking the nickel underneath at the edges. At this rate I think it'll take a solid week to deplate one valve cover.
 
christalor302 said:
For what it’s worth, I read somewhere that powder coating could conceal cracks under the coating so it was not recommended for aircraft parts. It might have been in 43.13B. I’ve been reading that A LOT lately, but I’m not sure.
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I'm not sure that concealed cracks in a valve cover is particularly dangerous. At worst you end up with oil seeping out (or not if the powder-coat layer contains it). Cylinder heads themselves is a different story.
 
You need a stronger acid

 
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