Plating of brake calipers....how to do?

Peter, I do not see need to plug anything up, maybe the bores?
The plater should know, and I have zero experience.
I had to send them out as no other solution in my particular case.
Are you plating yourself?

Most likely Jon can opine as he does them by the dozen...

Regards, Alberto

 

The caliper parts do not need to have any surfaces covered for the plating process. The best cleaning method is to first use a wire wheel to remove any scale and then glass bead at medium to low pressure to even out the surface prior to plating. It is advisable to cover holes when blasting and of course give the parts the best cleaning you can prior to plating.

Lots of people rely on the acid wash that the plater does to take off scale but this is the easy way and there are big differences in the results when you take the time to properly clean parts using mechanical abrasion. One results in shiny parts while the other results in parts that look factory fresh. The extra time is well worth the effort.

 

was the original was painted silver?

 

PMB Performance (Brake Calipers) can properly replated with the correct finish as the Dino ATE brakes are shared with the Porsche 911.

 

What he said.

 

Early cars used different calipers to the later M and E series cars that used the ATE calipers found on the Porsche. Later calipers were gold and early ones were silver. Electroplated finish and NOT painted

 

any idea at what # the cars started being 'later" 05788 (73 gts) being in which group?

 

Simple if you have wheel bolts then you have gold calipers. If you have center knock off wheels then you have silver calipers. I don't think I can be any more clear on this subject

 

also, if you have ATE brakes, you have gold calipers?

 

thank you, I think I got it without straining too much

 

thank you

 

Early cars (i.e 206 and 246L) would have had calipers made by Girling. These were silver coloured. To be precise they were silver cadmium plated not silver zinc (known as clear zinc in the plating industry). There is a considerable difference between these 2 different processes.

ATE Calipers began on the M series. They may have been on very late L series but I believe not. All ATE Calipers are Gold Zinc (Known as yellow zinc). So if you have ATE calipers they are gold/yellow.

Don't mean to be pedantic about plating types/names but I learned that you need to be clear with plating shops, understandably, in order to get the right result.

Hope this helps.

Kind Regards,
Paul

 

Once the calipers are plated, you may need to lightly hone the bores to ensure the pistons move freely. Excess plating thickness can cause the pistons to hang up.

 

The original ATE calipers were a light yellow cadmium plating as that was in use at the time but definitely not yellow Zinc.
Yellow Zinc is the pragmatic way to use modern processes to attain a color near what the original was. This is because the Cadmium plating processes are now difficult to find because of the environmental aspects of Cadmium.

One person that is extremely well versed and has completed numerous trials to attain the original colors of ATE (without the "purple rainbow" that modern yellow zinc creates) is Bernd Buschen.
See this post:
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/206-246/203092-ate-brake-calopers.html#post142787681
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Synchro,

This is the first I've ever heard anyone mention that the process is cad, not zinc. Every car where I ever looked at this detail was zinc (308's as well).

Does PMB use cad also? Obviously these folks and your rebuilder have lots of ATE specific experience and so would know best. Wonder if they've been able to confirm this with ATE?

BTW I agree that the original colour is lighter, almost yellow straw-like without the iridescence associated with a full strength yellow chromate finish over zinc plating. We achieved this by lessening the immersion time in the yellow chromate bath to around 30-35 sec.

Thanks for posting. We have Cad readily available locally but if I ask Rob to rebuild the calipers now that they're done and installed he'll drop his tools and leave me to fend for myself

Best Regards,
Paul

 

Ate always used zinc not cad. Yellow zinc is the proper finish.

 

Girling is zinc as well. We restore calipers for T.Rutlands, Pelican Parts and Stoddard. We've restored tens of thousands of ATE and Girling. Both are zinc as it is a better rust protectant. ATE is yellow and Girling is clear. We've had them tested.

It's a fairly common misconception as many of the latches and fasteners on these cars are cad. A lot of people assume the calipers are too. The calipers are not made by Ferrari.

Also, the rainbow effect is very common in ATE calipers. You just need to split them and see first hand what they look like on the mating surfaces. They are very yellow with lots of rainbow on some. With age, the dichromate begins to wear as it protects the metal (zinc is a sacrificial coating). Some calipers begin to appear silver, especially with the factory finish because the dichromate is a quick, automated process. We've actually found this to be 20-25 seconds. This depends on the solution as well. Keep in mind, when they were plating that many units, economies of scale prevailed. The factory finish is traditional clear with a very short/light dip in the dichromate.

If you have cad plated ATE calipers you have an inferior coating that is not accurate. Will that kill anyone? No but you'll probably have to have them finished again sooner rather than later.

 

^ excellent post. thank you.
ed

 

Thanks Eric! My 911 Ate calipers I sent you last year turned out fantastic...I look forward to doing my Dino calipers one day.

Just read your rear Dino/308 caliper rebuild thread as well. Great stuff!

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/308-328/304911-dino-308-rear-caliper-rebuild-thread.html

 

Is there a Ferrari shop in Southern Ca where one
Can just pay and get this done?