Protect your cadmium plating? | FerrariChat

Protect your cadmium plating?

Discussion in '308/328' started by oceanview328, Jan 25, 2021.

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  1. oceanview328

    oceanview328 Karting

    Dec 7, 2012
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    Charleston, SC
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    Ed
    My understanding is that cadmium is a sacrificial plating that is temporary and is designed to degrade over time and protect the metal underneath. Have you ever used any type of protectant on exposed cadmium surfaces and if so, how effective was it? I was thinking about using Sharkhide protectant on it which is primarily used on bare aluminum surfaces but, can also be used on other metals as well. I'm guessing this would not be recommended but, I thought I would ask.
     
  2. Peter

    Peter F1 Veteran
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Dec 21, 2000
    6,430
    B.C., Canada
    I clearcoated all of the parts after I did my plating job many years ago, including the brake calipers and they've held up very well. Nothing fancy, just rattle-can spray. For the brake calipers, I used high-temp clear.

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  3. mike32

    mike32 F1 Veteran

    May 13, 2016
    5,828
    Isle of man- uk
    We used to cadmium plate the parts for military ejection seats, after the cadmium plating they used to put a sealing coat over it in a process called passivation. Left it with a yellow/ bronze colour finish. The cadmium is toxic so the passivation sealed the surface. The process is so good that the parts had to be corrosion free after 2 years on a ships deck.
     
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  4. Saabguy

    Saabguy Formula 3
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    Mar 28, 2012
    1,753
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    There is a marvelous product, ACF-50, that goes on everything. It has even made the tubes on the fuel distributor look good. Primarily an aircraft product but ti works well IMNSHO.
     
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  5. kcabpilot

    kcabpilot Formula 3

    Apr 17, 2014
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    Yes, the yellow color is the chromate and that's the "protective coating" Any clear coat or other spray on substance is really just paint that will only cover the visible surfaces so it's not really doing anything functional and will eventually begin to flake off and look worse than if you had just left it alone. I've tried this before including a product called Nylac that was supposed to be for this sort of thing on engines and was sold by Eastwood. It lasted a few years but then just started to look like hell and getting it all cleaned off was a real chore.

    You can get the stuff re-plated. It will be zinc rather than cadmium but it's just as good and looks identical.
     
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  6. ferrariowner

    ferrariowner Formula 3

    Feb 21, 2014
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    I use this stuff on my airplane. Many mechanics coat interior of their wings and fuselage.
     
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  7. oceanview328

    oceanview328 Karting

    Dec 7, 2012
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    Ed
    Thanks for your responses! Are their any places in the Southeast US you would recommend to go for Cad plating?
     
  8. kcabpilot

    kcabpilot Formula 3

    Apr 17, 2014
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    You’re not going to find cadmium plating anywhere because it’s banned due to toxicity but you can find places to do the yellow zinc just about anywhere. I set up my own home DIY plating for small items it’s just a DC power supply, some zinc sheet, vinegar and Epsom salts. You also need the chromate and some brightener solution. It’s a bit labor intensive, you wouldn’t want to do a big batch of stuff that way but for a handful of smaller things it works.
     
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  9. mike32

    mike32 F1 Veteran

    May 13, 2016
    5,828
    Isle of man- uk
    When i used to work for a company making parts for Martin Bakers, who make the ejector seats, a man i worked with was in the plating dept, he pricked his hand on one of the pointed hangers for the parts in the plating baths- this was a hanger for the Cadmium. Over the next few days he developed a spot at the injury point, turned out he Cadmium poisoning in his hand. From what i recall they fed him charcoal pellets to absorb the Cadmium and cut out the injury site. Not nice stuff.
     
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  10. oceanview328

    oceanview328 Karting

    Dec 7, 2012
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    Ed
    Wow. Sounds like nasty stuff.
     
  11. oceanview328

    oceanview328 Karting

    Dec 7, 2012
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    Ed
    That's interesting. I see that there are a lot of places that advertise what they call cad plating but, it must actually be yellow zinc plating that they are calling cad for advertising purposes. I'll contact a local place and ask the question directly (I'm curious now). But if it looks like the original plating then zinc is fine with me.
     
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  12. rosemeyer

    rosemeyer Karting

    Aug 13, 2010
    155
    Ed,

    Just a heads up. The term "cad plating" is always being used interchangeably with "zinc plating" by folks who are not familiar with the differences between the two processes. As others here have pointed out here, they are not the same thing. Cadmium, although it has its advantages, has fallen into disfavor with the passage of time because of it's toxicity and the dangers of the cad plating process itself (cyanide is involved, to give you an idea)

    For your purposes, please note that your car has zinc not cad plating. The last cadmium plated parts on Ferraris appeared in the Dino/Daytona era. By the time of the 308/328 everything was zinc. Your car has either yellow zinc (gold coloured parts) or clear zinc (silver coloured parts), no cadmium. FYI zinc and cad look very much alike and it takes a real anorak to notice the differences.

    Best Regards,
    Paul
     
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  13. mike32

    mike32 F1 Veteran

    May 13, 2016
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    From what i recall Cadmium finish is a grey colour, but they have to seal the surface as it is toxic, they use a process called passivation using chromates which gives the metallic yellow sheen. When they zinc plate it, they use a similar chromate treatment, hence you get similar look. Remember zinc plating is galvanising and has a silver finish and not grey like Cadmium. The finish you see is from the Chromates as fas as i know
     
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  14. kcabpilot

    kcabpilot Formula 3

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    Yes look up DIY plating on YouTube, that's how I figured out how to make my own little home setup. The zinc plates the part as a dull flat gray coating which you then hand polish with steel wool. There is a brightener agent that you add to the electrolyte mixture that causes it to polish up to a bright silver. Then you dip it in the yellow chromate for about 30 seconds, rinse it off in distilled water and let it dry for 24 hours. Like I said, sort of labor intensive but I did quite a few small parts that I had forgotten to send off with the batch that went to the plater and they came out looking just like the rest. I have used it a few other times like to do some turnbuckle forks for my airplane when I just didn't have enough stuff to warrant a trip to the plater.
     
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  15. Rosey

    Rosey F1 Rookie

    Nov 5, 2015
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    I always thought a Cad coating was a weird combination of yellow/gold and purple.
     
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  16. mike32

    mike32 F1 Veteran

    May 13, 2016
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    The yellow finish is the passivation process to seal the cadmium from what i know- looking it up they say it is silvery whitish blueish
     
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  17. Iain

    Iain F1 Rookie

    Jan 21, 2005
    3,257
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    My understanding was as above, its not Cadmium, its yellow Zinc

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  18. mike32

    mike32 F1 Veteran

    May 13, 2016
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    The point is the cadmium and zinc plate have an extra chromate process that gives this colour. When have you seen zinc or cadmium that is yellow
     
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  19. Iain

    Iain F1 Rookie

    Jan 21, 2005
    3,257
    UK
    No argument on that.

    The other point of note though is that none of it is or was Cadmium plating.

    There seem to be people with the misconception that it is & so when they go out looking to restore calipers etc & thinking they need to find a Cad plater, they don't, its just yellow Zinc. Also to note is that the exact colour achieved is an inexact science , it depends on how long its left in the passivate.

    See also "hydrogen de-embrittling". ;)
     
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  20. kcabpilot

    kcabpilot Formula 3

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    #21 kcabpilot, Jan 30, 2021
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2021
    For reference here is an example of what the flat gray zinc electroplate looks like after the initial process. You will then polish this with steel wool and dip it in the chromate to get the yellow color. Depending on how you do this polishing and dipping procedure you can get different results from dark gold to a shimmering yellow/gold/silver/blue kind of fish scale effect. If you don't do the passivate chromate dip the zinc will quickly form a chalky white coating and eventually all flake off. Even with the chromate it will eventually deteriorate but much more slowly. It's a far more stronger and thinner bond than you can achieve with paint or even powder coating but it's the same concept.

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  21. oceanview328

    oceanview328 Karting

    Dec 7, 2012
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    Ed

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