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MG TD TF 1500 - Silver plating thanks to Bruce Cunha

Encouraged by the results Bruce Cunhna achieved on my oil filler cap I decided to try my hand at silver plating. Following Bruce's guide and references I found it not too difficult, just fiddly to get the right combination of solution, voltage and time. The most difficult part of the process is filling in the lettering. Here's my results. I still need to touch up the lettering somewhat.

Tim



Timothy Burchfield

Look great Bruce! PJ
PJ Jennings

PJ, actually I did it but Bruce was the inspiration.

Tim
Timothy Burchfield

Uh, when I say silver plating I mean nickel plating. I should be a politician.


Tim
Timothy Burchfield

Tim - You sliver tongued devil you (sorry, couldn't pass that one up).
Cheers
DW DuBois

Dave, you got me there. Very glad to see you posting.

Regards

Tim
Timothy Burchfield

Looks good Dave. Dave did send me the ID tag. I cleaned the plate with 0000 steel wool and plated it. Paint is applied with a squeegee. After I took the finished picture, I noted there was a little spot where the paint did not stick. I retouched that spot.

Bruce Cunha

Well I'm confused Bruce. I thought I sent you you the chassis plate and that I plated the body number plate. I guess I need to reduce my medication. smh

Tim
Timothy Burchfield

No, I get confused with the names of the tags.

The patent plate is the only one I get correct.
Bruce Cunha

As well as being a MG enthusiast I also restore and collect old telephones and many of these are nickel plated. I have plated lots of parts at home. I clean and polish the parts first and the wash them with Cilit Bang. This etches the surface ready for an initial copper plate. I made up the solution for this using a piece of copper pipe as a cathode and a stainless anode. The electrolyte was white vinegar with a little hydrogen peroxide to aid conduction. I left this overnight connected to a single AA battery and in the morning I had a bright blue solution of copper acetate. I purchased nickel acetate crystals and nickel electrodes on line but may try to make up more solution using vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. I found a AA battery ideal as anything larger gives a rough surface and it is best to move the part being plated around in the electrolyte to get an even coat. One thing I found out was how hard nickel is. I was unable to drill for a hole for the connecting wire.

Cheers

Jan


J Targosz

Bruce, I'm still confused. But I hope you send the chassis number plate back to me and not Dave.

Tim
Timothy Burchfield

Tim. It was in a box from Dave,but its on its way to you.
Bruce Cunha

For those with small parts, the Caswell Plug N' PlateŽ Electroplating - kits are great.

It comes with the electrolytic solution, a power supply, and a small wand tipped with nickle. You wrap a small cloth part around the nickle on the end of the wand, plug it in, attach your part to the alligator clip on the power supply, dip the end of the wand into the solution and just brush it across the part to be plated.

(you still need to clean the part to be painted prior to plating)

This is really good for things like gauge bezel's. While not chrome, it looks very good.
Bruce Cunha

Thanks Bruce.

Tim
Timothy Burchfield

Bruce, got the chassis plate back today and it looks great. Thank you for the excellent job.

Regards

Tim
Timothy Burchfield

This thread was discussed between 01/10/2018 and 07/10/2018

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