[DeTomaso] Nickle plating on suspension arms

[Julian Kift]

Nickel plating was popular in the UK in the 60's and 70's, I recall my first real motorcycle (I don't count the stripped down BSA Bantam) a Greeves scrambler had a nickel plated frame and it held up very well to the abuse. Nickel is certainly more durable than chrome plating. That said all my a-arms are powder coated and have held up extremely well, just some minor dulling of the finish.
 
The alternative is to send parts to one of your out of state friends to have them painted with paint that still contains real solvents.  I think whatever you choose a lot comes down to the preparation, with good media blasting followed by solvent cleaning prior to coating, that last part maybe the failing in CA.
 
Julian
 
> From: tborcich at msn.com
> To: thomasthornblom at hax.se; detomaso at realbig.com
> Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2010 21:26:09 -0700
> Subject: [DeTomaso] Nickle plating on suspension arms
> 
> 
> Thomas, I'm with you on the less bling look to an extent. I'm personally not a fan of lots of chrome. I also don't like
> to polish aluminum or magnesium all the time (been there, hate that). But I do like some plating.
> Part of my problem is the paint available where I live in California is crap because the government has forced the 
> manufacturers to remove certain "dangerous" chemicals from the paint that in my opinion gave the paint durability 
> and long life. I just painted a pair of steel gates with industrial rustoleum oil base paint and it peels off with pressure 
> from my fingernail even after 120 days when it was supposed to be totally cured...total garbage.
> 
> That leaves a few other choices, powder coating, two part paints, or plating. As Charles mentioned his power coating only lasted
> a 5000 miles (very short time). I have a brand new gate/fence section that was powder coated less than a year ago and it is 
> already showing surface rust! Cad plating tends to be less bling but I think will rusts or tarnishes depending on moisture I 
> guess. I've not had personal experience with cad plating. Not sure if you have ever seen nickle plating, it comes in 
> polished, satin and is more industrial look, kind of like a brand new piece of aluminum. You can polish nickle, but as my plater does it, 
> if you bead blast the part first, then plate over it and don't do a finish polish, it has great surface protection, looks 
> nice and should last for decades. Personally I have never seen a rusty or tarnished nickle coin, unless it was sitting in moisture 
> constantly. I had a McLaren Can Am car that had nickle plated suspension pieces and after 15 - 20 years they did have a slightly dull or 
> tarnished look, but for the most part looked pretty darn good and most importantly did not chip or peel, evern if you hit it with a wrench. Its a very rugged finish.
> 
> Best Regards,
> 
> Tom
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 
> Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA
> 
> Archive Search Engine Now Available at http://www.realbig.com/detomaso/
> 
> DeTomaso mailing list
> DeTomaso at list.realbig.com
> http://list.realbig.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso