fixings, zinc plating and other dilemmas

[Ian65]

Guys
As many members of this forum know, I’m presently restoring a 1986 series 3 RX7.
The shell is stripped and the engine bay ready to be painted next week, following which I will start putting it back together. All the rusty bolts and fixings have been removed and will be replaced with new.
 
Mazda used 6mm hex head taptite bolts with a yellow / gold passivated finish to secure many items to the shell. Taptites cut their own threads into the captives previously welded into the shell and save the expense of tapping threads 1^st at the factory.
 
I can’t find these fixings anywhere. I have got the equivalent taptite but in a bright zinc finish.

This photo shows:
Right = original taptite removed from the engine bay
Centre = new zinc finish taptite
Left = yellow passivated finish
 

Mazda gold passivate many parts on the 1^st gen, as can be seen on this picture of that nice Aussie resto
 

 
I’m thinking about buying a zinc plating kit from Gateros plating http://www.gaterosplating.co.uk/Zinc-Plating-kit.php
Gateros have a more comprehensive kit listed on Ebay which looks pretty good. I’m thinking that I could gold passivate my new bright zinc taptites as well as the other parts on the car that should be done.
 
This is the Ebay kit..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Zinc-Electroplating-Kit-Car-Bike-Motorcycle-Plating_W0QQitemZ250562630179QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_3?hash=item3a56b25223
I wonder if anyone has any experience of using one of these kits or does anyone know where to get the original gold taptite fixings.

Any feedback, positive or negative, would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Ian
http://www.tech-leisure.com/

[TRIND-FD]

I was watching this process on Sky yesterday. Looking at the kit on egay, I would say it would more than do the job.  Think it was called  how is it made, On discovery. Looks real simple just like the egay kit.  Also think you could get the bolts from mazda. Keith

[shaunwil]

Possibly some help :

http://www.applegate.co.uk/all-industry/products/fasteners-zinc-plated-yellow-chromated-0025837.htm

Shaun

[captainbizzaro]

Somebody like this might be worth a call //www.zinc-platers.com/products.htm
If you weigh up how much the plating kit is and your time doing it compared to giving a bag of brand new fasteners to these guys and hey presto!!:Thumbs-up

[Ian65]

Thanks for the above comments.
I thought about going to Mazda but I managed to get 100 taptites for £3.
I thought about the plating kit because there are a surprising number of small brackets within the engine bay, including the headlight raising mechs which are also gold passivated but in need of redoing so I thought maybe a kit would be a good idea.
I\'m still undecided at the moment though!

[myatt1972]

Thanks for the above comments.
I thought about going to Mazda but I managed to get 100 taptites for £3.
I thought about the plating kit because there are a surprising number of small brackets within the engine bay, including the headlight raising mechs which are also gold passivated but in need of redoing so I thought maybe a kit would be a good idea.
I\'m still undecided at the moment though!

Oh go on you know you want one.
Obviously i\'m not just saying that so I can get you to plate parts for me !

[Ian65]

Oh go on you know you want one.
Obviously i\'m not just saying that so I can get you to plate parts for me !

I\'ll practice on your car first then Keith, just in case they go all black and manky!

[A7RXY]

Now black and manky sounds good .......they will then match mine.........

[David Nock (RIP)]

Yes, black and manky.....the way forward.:2eek (Ian)...:Viking (Me)

[Ian65]

I really fancied one of these kits as I wanted to give my engine bay an authentic, \'new\' look but they seemed a bit pricey at nearly 80 quid.
I then realised that I already had half the stuff...
Bucket, mask, goggles,gloves,wire, croc clips, battery charger, battery, acid pickle ( use brick acid instead).

So I just bought the chemicals I needed for about £30 and voila, instant zinc plating and yellow passivating kit.

I\'ve tried to take a few pics but they\'re a bit dark without the flash and too bright and reflective with the flash...

The engine bay...




my refurbed headlight raising assembly...




This spanner is out of the RX7 tool kit. It was covered in rust and now looks like it\'s made of solid gold...



I\'m going plating crazy now!

[A7RXY]

Soixant neuf I hope.................but must say looks good....................

[captainbizzaro]

How long did it take per item mate? Looking good.

Tim

[Ian65]

Step 1. I soaked each item in a solution of water and brick acid for about 15 - 20 minutes to clean them first.
This got rid of the old zinc plating and any rust. The front bumper bolts that were caked in rust came out like new after 20 mins. On contact with the air they start to rust again almost straight away so I then rinsed them well in clean water and put them into the zinc plating tank.

Step 2. It took about 20 minutes to zinc plate them. They came out nice and shiney silver but I wanted the yellow / gold passivated look.

Step 3. rinse the item again and then dip in a solution of yellow passivating for 2 minutes and they come out yellow / gold.

Really easy and you can plate as many items as you can fit in your tank, obviously the bigger the tank, the  more items you can do at once.
I left each process to do whilst I worked on the car in the garage.
One thing I hate on old cars is frozen, rusty fixings and hopefully this will help prevent the fixings rusting up for a good while yet.
Some bolts and parts are easy to buy new but some are specific to the 1st gens so it\'s great to be able to restore them to new condition.
£30 well spent I reckon.

[TRIND-FD]

Excellent job done there Ian.:Thumbsup!

[frank20bcosmo]

Hi Ian,
 
As you are doing a full restoration on your car I was wondering if you have come accross any products that will restore your silver castings back to that authentic from the factory look
 
When I mean castings I am refering to the alternator case, air feed hard pipes and plenum,, to give it that silver grey finnish.
 
I have read allsorts on different forums but mainly products in the states but nothing over here that I can see
 
Thanks