Hi, any metallurgists on here? I was thinking about zinc plating my subframe before painting, to protect the threads from corrosion. I know that I can have the parts Hydrogeon de embrittled afterwards, however I think this is done to suit the grade of the material that was plated, rather than a general process. Anyone have any ideas?
i know nothing about meteors im afraid but when i got my frame powder coated i had the option of getting it zinc plated first so if the coating was chipped no rust would form.. i took this option as it was something like 80 quid extra... i guess if the chip or scratch was deep enough it would go through the zinc also but in my mind its worth it. the guy that did the job aint a salesman and was busy enough (i know him) so did not suggest it just for making very little money.
Can I suggest you use something like this ? https://www.dorsetware.com/a-guide-to-alocrom-plating/. Andy
Go for it as a pre-treatment per Chizel's frame. Zinc plating has the lovely property of 'healing' itself if scratched. The zinc crystal structure regrows and joins, which is one of the many reasons it's such an effective corrosion prevention coating. Cool, eh? Oh, and I'll pop this little rant in too.... I'm a real pedant and a design engineer. Aluminium only really exists in the (mechanical) engineering world as an alloy - an Aluminium alloy - i.e. a mixture of Aluminium and alloying elements such as Copper, Silicon, Magnesium, etc which give it way, way better mechanical properties than plain or pure Aluminium. Steel is an alloy of mainly Iron, a little Carbon and a plethora of other elements that contribute to its well-known strength, ductility and so on. Please, please could everyone stop saying 'alloy' when you mean Aluminium alloy - just say 'Ali' or something. /endrant Fuck I've had a bad few days - had to vent on a rant thread, including the Alloy thing - haha
