Cad Plating Item List

[Kayvan]

Found this list, thanks to bpossel and pics, thanks to 66andblue and Garry

Of this list, which items are "viewable under hood"  and/or are "accessible" to be cad-plated (eg, not major disassembly; just cover, bracket, etc)

Cad List

-Injector lines (6)
-CSV lines (#?)
-Coolant lines (#?)
-Throttle Linkages, rods, ball sockets and brackets (#?)
-Throttle Damper housing (cad or no-cad?)
-Intake manifold connections  (#?)
-Misc brackets, bolts and nuts adjacent to Valve cover
-wire clamps on firewall/inner fenders

Estimate # pieces: <20, <25, <35? 

Also, would it be cheaper to strip/prep/repaint Air Filter canister and PS Reservoir or just order new, sell used?

[Tyler S]

Kayvan, The Accelerator shaft and the air line between the cold start valve and WRD is a P.I.TA. to remove.
The metal coolant pipes under the intake manifold on our 250's were originally painted black.
You are better off replacing your ball sockets. The plating makes the circlip not sit down in the grove correctly and they don't go back on right.
The rest is pretty straight forward. Don't forget your alternator adjuster and the hidden fan shroud support clip.
Tyler

[66andBlue]

....
You are better off replacing your ball sockets. The plating makes the circlip not sit down in the grove correctly and they don't go back on right....

Tyler,
have you seen any new yellow ball sockets lately? It appears they are all grey steel now.

[Tyler S]

Alfred, You can get them in the "kit" from Auth. Classics.
http://www.authenticclassics.com/84pc-Injection-Linkage-Repair-parts-Kit-p/auth-002729.htm

Kayvan, I dont think you will find a new air filter canister anywhere. Strip it and paint it. The power steering res. May be available. The original had the part number stamped in yellow paint on the side.

[wwheeler]

When you say CAD, you are talking about Cadmium plating. It is available, but not everywhere. Most people use yellow zinc in its place and is what was used on the later cars. CAD was phased out about the time of the W113 because it is a very toxic process. Cad is now mostly used in aerospace. Zinc is not as durable as the CAD and I use CAD when I can for that reason but is $$$$.

[66andBlue]

Hi Wallace,
I don't think Cadmium plating is that expensive, not $$$$ perhaps $$. 
What you see in the 3 trays in the photo plus the longer injection lines costs about $250 -$300 plus shipping.
Much less than a grill star!

[wwheeler]

OK. I exaggerated.

I believe a small batch of zinc plated part is $60 whereas the CAD is $120 or so. About twice as much. A good investment though if it is for a long time. The other advantage is that CAD has a much smaller plating thickness than does zinc. Important for closer toleranced parts.

So if the zinc is $, then you are correct the CAD should be $$. 

[Clayton]

Cad is the way to go! Just take plenty of effort in the prep and then do a little more. Wire wheel will get most of the job done. After that, Scotch brite and steel wool. You truly get what you prep.

[wwheeler]

Clayton is absolutely right. The better prep job you do, the better the results. Most people assume the platers do an exhaustive job of cleaning the parts. Well they don't. Not their fault because most of their jobs are new clean metal and for commercial uses. I do my own zinc plating on smaller items and I can tell you first hand that the part must be close to perfect for good results.

You only want to do this once.

[mdsalemi]

For small parts your best bet for cleaning is a tumbler--vibratory or otherwise.
Filled with the proper grit they'll do an amazing job. It takes days some time, but worth it.

[Benz Dr.]

I use a blast cabinet and then we polish everything on a wire wheel which gives very nice results.

[mdsalemi]

I use a blast cabinet and then we polish everything on a wire wheel which gives very nice results.

That's traditional, and an extremely labor intensive way of dealing with parts cleanup. In a tumbler (which can be as small as a rock polisher, vibratory tumblers or even small cement mixers) you throw the parts in, add the grit of your choice, turn the thing on and walk away until they're done. You do get extremely uniform results...which does take days. But it's all unattended. You can be doing something more useful!

Of course all tumblers don't work for all parts. I can only imagine what the fuel lines would look like after a week in a rotary tumbler! Some things need that loving touch of your hands!

By the way, there is a relatively new CAD plating replacement called Tin-Zinc...might be worth a try. http://www.reliableplating.com/tinzinc.html

[Benz Dr.]

I have a way that doesn't take very long to blast small parts. Polishing takes a bit of time but the results are worth it. Besides, nothing happens quickly when working on old cars.

[wwheeler]

By the way, there is a relatively new CAD plating replacement called Tin-Zinc...might be worth a try. http://www.reliableplating.com/tinzinc.html

I used a Tin/zinc kit from Eastwood a few years back before buying the zinc plating Caswell system. Far worse than the zinc. Parts rusted in a matter of a couple of years. Not sure if it was the Eastwood system. I do know that tin plated cans rust on the shelf. I would do some experiments with that to be sure.

[mdsalemi]

I used a Tin/zinc kit from Eastwood  I would do some experiments with that to be sure.

Well, Wallace--I know you are big on DIY but this might be one of those things best left to the pros. From the specs I read it has better results in corrosion testing than cadmium...

http://www.burbankplating.com/tin-zinc.php

BTW Burbank is one of the cadmium platers, too...

[wwheeler]

Sounds like the tin/zinc kit I had was an inferior kit from Eastwood. Not the first time that has happened and why I mentioned it. I am sure the process is quite different from Eastwood and again why I mentioned it. Just interesting that the DIY tin/zinc kit was so bad in comparison to the DIY zinc plating kit that works so well.

I wonder what the cost is for tin/zinc? Sounds like they are promoting it as an alternative where CAD is not available or undesirable from an environmental stand point. I have easy access to CAD, so I am happy for now. 

As far as clean up, I use a two step process. 1) Degreaser and you can make an effective parts cleaner using ZEP industrial cleaner and aluminum strips. I'll explain that one on a new thread later. 2) Then the parts hit the sandblaster until clean. The acid dip prep that the platers use should get any remaining plating off as long as their is no grease or paint on the parts. Never had a problem with this in 10 years or better. To each his own and the important thing is the end result.

[Harry]

Alfred - where did you send your parts for cadmium plating?  Thanks - Harry