The 5 Year Restoration - E30 M3 Reborn

[bradnic]

i know what you mean re fasteners. Jordan's recent resto-mod had a link to an outfit in Texas that still does this work. Would be great if it could be done safely and inexpensively at home..

Link to that DIY zinc chromate page?

[CurrusDei]

i know what you mean re fasteners. Jordan's recent resto-mod had a link to an outfit in Texas that still does this work. Would be great if it could be done safely and inexpensively at home..

Link to that DIY zinc chromate page?

Yeh the problem with sending them off is they're all bagged and tagged. A plater will want to do them all in one go, and I would bet they wont come back as organized as they went out.

Links:

http://www.caswellplating.com/copy-cad-reg-and-zinc-plating-kit-1-5-gal.html

http://kawi2strokes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=8241

[CurrusDei]

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

Some fresh paint





Tape off of the bumper mounts





Gas lid lock painted and back in







Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CurrusDei]

Back she goes






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jhaurimn]

Curious how the diy plating thing works out.

[Sirdaft1]

This build is bonkers. Love it!

[BMG]

Nice work. Home plating can be done with good results. Have a look here.

http://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=topicview&id=your-mk1-golfs_2%2Fengine-detailing

[CurrusDei]

Nice work. Home plating can be done with good results. Have a look here.



http://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index....gine-detailing

Geeez! A build after my own heart. Will use this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CurrusDei]

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

Caswell kit inbound. 1.5 gal with yellow chromate









Also purchased this power supply. 30v 10amp (vs the vw 20v 5amp) because I'm doing some larger parts, and because more power.







I also re-sorted my hardware tonight. Fun fact. Everything on this car is yellow zinc. These things must have looked insane when new. Box is yellow/gold, bags are silver, mixed (mostly gold), and black. Most of my other hardware boxes are empty now.




Also added

Zinc Blackener



Benchtop Buffer



Various pads and compounds




And picked up some more abrasives and muriatic acid. The lab is coming together

[jhaurimn]

Ive been looking at part tumblers recently too....seems like that would go well with a plating kit.

[CurrusDei]

Yes it would. I almost bought one, but I'm going to see what the acid and degreaser does first. Harbor Freight has some inexpensive ones


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CurrusDei]

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

Sanding and priming. Not everything is being primed, only parts like the sunroof runner that had some rust bubbles and were taken down to bare shiny metal







Everything in the bottom right is ready for paint. Fun fact, the tiny pieces between the primed sunroof runners and the B pillar covers...cost $80 new, a piece.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jhaurimn]

hi

[CurrusDei]

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

Hey, sorry been busy lately. Car's still at the body shop and I haven't been pushing them on it because I'm doing some work in the garage that is not awesome for new paintwork to be around. Lots of chemicals and spray painting. Even with proper precautions there's only so much you can prevent. That said, here are some pics from recent work...

Harbor Freight 5lb vibratory bowl




Rust removing media




Shredded walnuts. After reading a lot this was a well reviewed media and it's actually pretty cheap - because it is sold as iguana bedding. True story.



Some before/after







Tumble/Sand/Paint



The bowl is a great tool, but it's not magic, and not as good as a media blaster. It won't take off anything greasy with the media I'm using, so I'm using a combination of chemical soaks, brushes, sanding, an ultrasonic cleaner, and the tumbler.

This was an interesting piece



These wire mesh gaskets didn't seem good to tumble, so just brush and ultrasonic here. They were caked in oil at first.



The lower part here really responded to tumbling. The top one not so much, probably because it has spent its life ON the exhaust manifold, so it's been reeealy hot and is thus pitted a lot from debris baking in.



It did respond to an overnight soak in a rust removal solution I got at HF




Front sway bar mount. One tumbled about 2 hours, the other not.



Misc hardware. You can see the 6 brake line brackets in the upper right that 4 were scrubbed before being tumbled, 2 were not and are going back through the process now









Also had to use my punches and mallet to beat this trim piece corner straight. Came out well.





My DIY paint booth





So far (actually there's more drying in the garage now)...



For the parts cleaning, my method is going to be

Degrease if needed
Tumble
...continue until ready for
Benchtop Polisher
Acid bath or electro de-plating to remove old yellow zinc coating
New Zinc Electroplate
Yellow or Black Zinc Coloring to match oem

Off to put on another coat of paint...More to come


Edit: here's where I ended the night



And with flash on




Plus other flat door trim and both door handles in primer and drying


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jhaurimn]

Looking good man :)