Hood hinge replating (not rebuilding)
 

I'm trying to find a source to replate hood hinges with the gold zinc dichromate without taking them apart or blasting them. They need degreasing and a chemical stripping, then replating. The springs also need to be removed, stretched, blasted, repainted with semi-gloss black and reinstalled.
I tried SMS but they won't do it. Any suggestions?

Verne

Verne - went thru this process recently. Mikey M22Mike was a big help. He showed me how to make a simple jig to keep the springs spread for a good plating process. I am still determining my local restoration capabilities (i.e. I don't have media blasting cabinet at present) being new to Dayton. So with that said I paid up more than I wanted to, but I wanted to keep it local. I am VERY pleased with the results. I had my hinges glass bead blasted and then used a local plater to do a dark grey (phosphate in my case) finish. I left my hinges in one piece (except removing springs) and they took the plating very well. Check with your local chroming shops as they may have insight to good platers to give you a gold zinc dichromate finish - this is what I did. They took my hinges (and other hood hardware and fasteners) to a local industrial/military platers. This plating company would not take my project on but would take work from the chroming company.

Thanks to you and Mike Sam. I heard back from a plater who can do the hinges, but I have to do the springs. I'll make up a plate like yours to keep them spread open for blasting and painting.

Verne

That's a good idea to keep the springs spread, how do you install the spring without damaging the new plating?

Dustin

I've done the same thing with a 2x4 and a couple of lag bolts to get the springs spread. same concept just a little more redneck....LOL

Not my spring in this photo but I did the same thing.
Stretch spring on your Hydraulic jack then add a bunch of shims in between.
Should pop right in with hood all the way up, then close hood 3/4 down and some shims will just fall out or you can pull them out by hand as the tension is gone.

That's a good idea.... I wouldn't stretch it that far. I would use paint stick instead of shims those could chip the paint.

I saw the floor jack trick on a U-tube video. Also, someone used a Port-a-power to spread the springs to get them off the hinges. Hinges were off the car like mine are, so I can't use the hood to stretch them.

I don't think I'll do that near the car though, just in case I create a missile.

Verne

I agree, Popsicle sticks will work too.

If you can boil water you can re-parkerize your own components and save $$$$.
Degrease, blast (but you really need something more aggressive than bead blast) and put it in the solution until it stops bubbling (off gassing).
Rinse and oil.

When I needed to phosphate some small parts, I waited for my wife to be out, and then treated them in an old SS mixing bowl on the kitchen stove. My wife came home early, and caught me! Without slowing down, while walking through the kitchen, she exclaimed, "You know you're a redneck, when you cook bolts on the kitchen stove." And went up to bed.

Oops - gutsiest move I heard of all day. That's pretty funny!!!!

Back in the mid-1980's, my wife came home from work one day to find black wrinkle finish paint curing on my Hemi valve covers in our kitchen oven!

Any opinions if OE Hood springs are painted BLACK
or possibly Black Oxide coated which is pretty glossy
and then Oil Coated or I would use Fluid Film, BoeShield
or LPS3................

In first pics of this thread with springs slighly spread on twisted/notched
flat bar....was spring pulled by hand ???? onto notched bar ???

I made up a spring stretcher in the tool shop at work.
Basically a threaded tube with a long bolt and end adapters that touch as little of the spring as possible.
Thread the bolts all the way together, insert and unscrew and that stretches the spring out. Blast,clean and phosphate (or plate). When finished, thread back together and remove.
Were the springs manganese or zinc phosphated? Mines a '70.

Nice :biggthumpup: