The 5 Year Restoration - E30 M3 Reborn

[CurrusDei]

2.5 Years In... M3 Build Thread...PAINT COMPLETE!

Hah, yep, but its hard to overstate. The latest runs definitely look better than the first attempts. We'll see.

Also, made a basket for plating small nuts and bolts




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[AWDBOB]

Thanks. He have any ideas on making yellow chromate stick?

I asked him and he said: "A very thorough cleaning."

Not very helpful, as I'm sure that's step 1 on your list haha.

[CurrusDei]

Tried again covering all steps very carefully, no guesswork on timing or temps. We'll see tomorrow if the chromate stays on








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[jhaurimn]

By the time Im ready to get into plating, youll be a master :)

[CurrusDei]

Thanks. He have any ideas on making yellow chromate stick?


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[AWDBOB]

Man, such an incredible build. My brother is all about the zinc plating. I'm going to be outsourcing (to him) when I start restoring my M3.

[CurrusDei]

Thanks. It's definitely more time and cost effective to buy new if that's an option. If parts are NLA this is a good option.

I'm still having trouble with the yellow chromate wiping off, will call Caswell on Tuesday to troubleshoot


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[D.Martijn]

That looks so cool!
I'm also thinking of getting a zinc plating kit my self for my BMW 2002 Touring restoration. Great job!

[CurrusDei]

2.5 Years In... M3 Build Thread...PAINT COMPLETE!

Two big wins on the project front today. I've finally (I think) figured out the plating, and I've also found an amazing plastic refinisher.

First, the playing. There are a lot of temperatures, etc involved here. There's a reason the handbook is thick. First I was getting a really milky zinc plate - that was because I was going straight from the degreasing solution to the plating tank. They don't explicitly list rinsing between the two as a step, so I wasn't doing it. As a result my parts were flat and cloudy, and the gold oxidized layer tended to flake off.

For example, I turned these....



...into these...



But there wasn't any shine or iridescence to them.

I can go into more detail if people want, but now my steps are (after getting all obvious gunk off- oil, dirt, etc)...

Part in Muriatic Acid (MA) bath until old zinc is eaten off

Part in water/baking soda to stop the MA reaction

Rinse in Distilled Water (DW)

5 mins (at least) in Degreasing solution (purchased from Caswell) between 140-200 degrees F. I'm using a crock pot for this.



Water break test. DW in spray bottle. Spray part. If it beads, go back to Dereaser, if it spreads over the part, on to next step

Rinse in DW (second DW tank)

Plating - here's my setup....



I'm plating for ~30 mins, depending on the part and how well the plating takes. I have to calculate the surface area of each part, then multiply by 0.14 to get the right amperage. I'm doing this manually now but a spreadsheet will be necessary for the smaller fasteners.

Once I'm satisfied with the plate, I dry it off using clean shop towels (I may remove this step later, we'll see), then rinse in DW (third DW tank)

Then immerse in Yellow Chromate solution for 30-45 seconds at 80 degrees. When it comes out it has changed from silver to gold in color.



Then rinse in DW again (DW tank 4) and hang to air dry in front of a fan.

The bracket above is for the starter. After a few mins it started to shine and show the iridescent spectrum like new OEM parts do, only now it has a thicker zinc plate.



Excited to do more! I just need more shop towels and distilled water.


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[bobaflesh]

Man, I have just read through your entire thread, it is amazing. Great attention to detail, very inspiring!

[CurrusDei]

More goodies today. Copper stuff is for negative charge electroplating and the bmw part is the fuel door stop


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[Alaska Ted]

I've used muriatic acid to clean the rust out of fuel tanks with great success. This build is incredible. Your attention to detail and your documentation is by far the best I've ever seen. Keep the posts and pics coming please!

[CurrusDei]

2.5 Years In... M3 Build Thread...PAINT COMPLETE!

Funny you should ask. I just tried out Muriatic Acid...it's my new favorite thing. Basically I've been polishing the old zinc plating instead of the metal underneath. That's fine for the ones I've posted above, I'll just re color them, but going forward I'm doing acid.

If the part is degreased, you can just drop it in the acid, it hisses like an Alka-Seltzer, and rust, zinc plating (yellow and the silver base), and basically everything else, comes off in a few seconds. I've been waiting until it stops hissing, then dunking it in water/baking soda to neutralize the acid.

Then you can polish the underlying steel a bit if you want, then re-plate in new zinc, and re-yellow.

I tried the acid out on some parts I plan to replace and thus hadn't cleaned.







This bolt went in zinc plated with the yellow dingy and fading.




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[jhaurimn]

So after refreshing hardware for awhile, whats the best method or combo of methods you have found?

[bradnic]

Great work
I am SO doing this.