Tumbling bolts, how to keep from rusting afterwards?

B

bmxpegan411

Hi Guys,

I painted my engine bay and am in the process of putting my car back together. I plan on tumbling all the rusty/old hardware to make it look good, but I don't know how to keep it from rusting afterwards. Does anybody have experience with this? I'm looking for a long term solution and not somethng that'll wash off in a few months.

Thanks in advance!
 
Most engine compartment hardware was zinc phosphated then dipped in an oil that dries to the touch.
That process is easily done at home. You can also do bright zinc plating at home too and without special chemicals but you will need an adjustable power supply.

Mike
 
I sent mine to be cleaned and then plated. They came out nice, but I felt like I overpaid after I read what some other people were paying. There are different methods and some are more expensive and detailed than others, the method in which mine were done is one of the more expensive ones. So maybe I didnt come out so bad, but I get a feeling that isnt the case though.

Anyhow here is a before and after of some of mine.

20161204_155919.jpg20170206_191431 (1).jpg20170206_203556 (1).jpg
 
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I have the caswell setups for cad/black/gold and they work really good. Very time consuming. Whatever you paid Sprint is probably not enough if you had to do them yourself. Very time consuming process.

Some jobs I do them myself and other jobs it gets sent out. If I glass bead blasted that much hardware it would be around 100.00 bucks for a plater I use. They don't do the prep though. Probably 3 hours sitting at the blast cabinet.

The true black phosphate with oil isn't a very good process. You'll need to keep the car in heated storage or the next spring or two when you get the car out they will be starting to rust. Most shops use the cad plate with the black dip that converts it from shiny bright to black. This is the most durable.

I bought a nice tumbler thinking it would do the work for me. Haven't used it in at least 8 years. Tumble all day, turn off for the night, next morning a ball of rust and repeat. Not sure why I haven't thrown it away yet. Glass beads at 40 psi in the cabinet and your prepped. No wet fasteners to dry.

This is a batch that I prepped and sent out. I think it was around 150.00 to do both colors. The softer silver cad color is more correct for old applications. Some jobs I do myself when the fasteners aren't replacable. I'd be in trouble if I loose all these correct style fasteners and brackets.
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I have the caswell setups for cad/black/gold and they work really good. Very time consuming. Whatever you paid Sprint is probably not enough if you had to do them yourself. Very time consuming process.

That is very true, sometimes its easy to forget the value in sending something away and getting it returned all nice, all while not having anything to do with what it takes to make it nice.
 
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