Plated Parts Prep

crashtech

crashtech

Combo Man & Mod
Had a question from a buddy today regarding how to prep steel parts that are plated with a gold looking substance. He claims it is cadmium and chrome, but I think most things like this are zinc with chromate conversion. At any rate, what is an acceptable way to prep these parts aside from blasting the plating off? One of the parts is a brake booster and there's some concern about blast media entering the workings of the thing.

My thought would be just to Scotchbrite it and wipe good with waterborne.
 
I think you are right crash, just a gold colored zinc plating. The only time I tried painting over zinc was an outside door latch for the shop with house paint using a brush and it held up several years even without sanding.
 
Normally I would have told him to 180 it by hand, because that's how Barry recommends doing chrome, but this part has contours that will make it hard to sand.
 
I'm interested in the outcome of this as well. The wife has some gold colored cabinet knobs, pulls, and fixtures that she wants to change the color on.
 
I think the glossy gold look of home interior knobs would probably be done with a different process than the automotive mechanical parts I'm talking about.
 
crashtech;24177 said:
I think the glossy gold look of home interior knobs would probably be done with a different process than the automotive mechanical parts I'm talking about.
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That is true. But, wouldn't it be possible to rough them up and paint them as well, in a similar fashion?
 
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