E-brake mechanism finish, before and after electroless nickel plating

[bull]

What did you guys use for a finish on your e-brake mechanism. I will NOT be taking mine apart so I'm thinking of using some sort of plating other than powder coating. I've had some zinc plating done on a bunch of bolts and I was thinking about trying electroless nickel on some more bolts and my park brake mechanism this time. Of course it's rusty so I would be media blasting all of it that I can get to and then it will be acid dipped at the plater so I'm thinking it will work pretty good.

My main question is about the durability around the parts that are touching. From what I understand zinc is a "sacrificial" coating in that any corrosion must go through it before attacking the steel whereas electroless nickel does not corrode at all but if there's a break somewhere in the coating the steel will be attacked. Do you think the ratcheting teeth or pivot points would create such a condition? I'll try asking the plater again when he calls back but the guy I talked was hard to understand, and at the moment I'm thinking this stuff would be much better than paint.

Any thoughts? (See after pics below)

[Ghoste]

I am of the opinion that it would definitely wear in those areas.  Keeping them well lubed will go a long way to keeping the coating on and corrosion off.

[bull]

I am of the opinion that it would definitely wear in those areas.  Keeping them well lubed will go a long way to keeping the coating on and corrosion off.

I agree but maybe it wouldn't wear real quickly, especially given the amount of use it's going to (not) get. That said, I really can't think of a better way to do this other than maybe dipping it in a bucket full of paint or powder coating it, and that would just glue all the pivot points together.

[Ghoste]

Paint would come off looking like it did when you took it apart I would think.  I didn't want to speak to the amount of use it will get since I knew you were in one of the slightly hilly regions but I didn't know how much you actually planned to use it.
Plate it, lube it, and never worry about it again.

[gasoline_24]

I blasted mine and painted the part that was to be bare metal with eastwoods paint and the pedal portion in black.  Mine is holding up nicely, but it is not used often and has only been finisher for about 18mos.

[bull]

I'm going to blast mine tomorrow and then take it to the platers and discuss it. We'll see how it turnes out.

[bull]

Not too shabby.

[doctor4766]

Wow that came up great

[CDN72SE]

Very Nice!

I used the vinegar mix on mine for my '72.



just needs a light scrub.

[lexxman]

Funny,Ive wondering the same thing. I was looking at mine and wondering what to do. I didnt want to take it apart,I think Ill blast it and maybe paint .
I cant wait to see how yours comes out.

[The70RT]

Very Nice!

Did you get it plated? Mine looked similar to yours. I also used eastwoods paint for mine. I figured the original black held out fairly well for 40 years. The upper part was bare metal so naturally it rusted.

[bull]

Yes, sorry, I thought I had written down what I ended up doing but looking back there's nothing there other than the thread title. So yes, I did end up having it plated with electroless nickel. I had it done along with my throttle mechanism and a bunch of fasteners for $100.

[bull]

Did you get it plated? Mine looked similar to yours. I also used eastwoods paint for mine. I figured the original black held out fairly well for 40 years. The upper part was bare metal so naturally it rusted.

So how did you get in all the nooks and crannies with paint? I was going to do the same thing but I figured I'd never be able to get paint on everything without literally dipping in a bucketful of silver.

[The70RT]

Did you get it plated? Mine looked similar to yours. I also used eastwoods paint for mine. I figured the original black held out fairly well for 40 years. The upper part was bare metal so naturally it rusted.

So how did you get in all the nooks and crannies with paint? I was going to do the same thing but I figured I'd never be able to get paint on everything without literally dipping in a bucketful of silver.

I just moved the lever in different positions. It took a little while since I had to let it dry before moving it in a diff pos. though.

[bull]

Looks good.

I finished putting mine all back together last night after bending the release handle back into shape. Got everything back on and was installing the rubber pad when I scratched the black paint.

[six-tee-nine]

I did take mine apart since it was completetly seized and rusted together.
I drilled all the large rivets from the back side. so I could tear it apart. After getting rid of the rust and when primered I put it back together for finat color painting.
I reused the rivets by drilling holes in them and tapping thread in them so I could turn screws in them. because I grinded away only the back side, the front is untouched and therefor you cant notice the fact that I got it apart.



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[bull]

Nice work.