how to clean the engine and cadmium plated parts?

dear All,
I have few parts (fittings and more) which are cadmium plated and are loosing its silver colour, if not even rusting..
how would you suggest to clean them?
also, how would you clean the finish of the engine?
Thank you..

If your "cad plated" parts are the originals then I think you will find that they are not cad plated but zinc plated, in
which case the only option is to rezincplate them , any attempts to make them shiny will only remove more zinc hastening the corroding or rust process. Most restorers or rebuilders do this as part of their rebuild.

.. I thought that at that time those fasteners were cadmium plated rather than zinc plated..
once Cad plating was forbidden, this was replaced by zinc plating

madass140 said:

If your "cad plated" parts are the originals then I think you will find that they are not cad plated but zinc plated, in
which case the only option is to rezincplate them , any attempts to make them shiny will only remove more zinc hastening the corroding or rust process. Most restorers or rebuilders do this as part of their rebuild.

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Cadmium plating has a yellow tint. I don't think there is any on a Norton.
Jaydee

Self serving as it may be replace your fasteners with stainless steel, and be done with it.

Bill.

You can get nuts and bolts re-plated, but for a few parts you might as well buy the SS parts. If you don't want them chrome shiny, dull them up with some 300 grit. Like others said, polishing them will just remove more plating and will rust that much faster. Re: cleaning the engine, a brass or stainless steel brush will bring a nice shine on it without getting polished looking. WD40 or some solvent to get the grime off.

cadmium plating can be both Clear and Yellow Chromate

jaydee75 said:

Cadmium plating has a yellow tint. I don't think there is any on a Norton.
Jaydee

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If you get new fasteners from Andover they will be zinc plated. The originals were cad but regulations
forbid in UK it seems. Here in the states you can get cad plating in the original "silver" . You can
get every bit done here for about 175. I used http://cadplating.com/ very happy with their
service call them up and talk to them. Smaller lots arent really worth it though.
SS is fine on unstressed areas, fine media blast and they look pretty genuine.

"The originals were cad"
is that documented somewhere?

The cadmium or zn don't last that long rustless or stain-less so might consider longer term view like the next guy after you. SS in many areas would be most long term cost effective. When I've had decent intervals w/o any oil leaks the studs for the barrels would show rust on top the SS nuts. Ms Peel's SS head hardware turned the dark brownish color you see on the bends of SS headers so they failed cosmetically but sure got severely tested and passed in flying colors strength wise. Rockey Point supplied me.

Regarding engine cleaning, the overwhelming choice of the Harley community, including myself, is S100. Say what you will, these folks know a thing or two about clean rides and oily engines. Spray it on, rinse it off, dry it with compressed air. Impressive results for such an easy application.

For my Mk3 rebuild, I zinc plated all proprietary fasteners and replaced all common fasteners with stainless parts, most of them from RoadScholar's shop. Although Cad plating is available here, the shops seem to really hate to do it, and price it accordingly. The zinc plating-stainless combination is easy on the eyes.

Thank you Rick
you mean the S100 Total Cycle Cleaner? are you sure it is not too aggressive in any way (like on the painted parts or on rubber)?

rick in seattle said:

Regarding engine cleaning, the overwhelming choice of the Harley community, including myself, is S100. Say what you will, these folks know a thing or two about clean rides and oily engines. Spray it on, rinse it off, dry it with compressed air. Impressive results for such an easy application.

For my Mk3 rebuild, I zinc plated all proprietary fasteners and replaced all common fasteners with stainless parts, most of them from RoadScholar's shop. Although Cad plating is available here, the shops seem to really hate to do it, and price it accordingly. The zinc plating-stainless combination is easy on the eyes.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't use stainless steel on a classic bike other than for spokes, and even then it looks false. I'd rather see an old bike covered in grimy patina, than a tarted up money grabber. One thing that I really hate is when guys fit Japanese levers to classic British bikes, especially manx nortons. Sorry fellas, I know I'm getting old but the nostalgia trip requires authenticity.

Hey, I'm old too, so I resemble that remark. I don't mind the SS on my bike, but it's not like it's the chrome queen. I've always wanted to have it look good since I've had it, and finally a few years ago I was able to make it happen. I consider it better than new.



Dave

Reply to Madass. NO I have not documentary proof on the cad on original factory fasteners. They do look that way
though and zinc surely does not. In fact Id like to know if the spokes were originally zinc or cad.
To Acotrel, agree about the look of SS. In time Ive come to look for originality but honestly it is just a fashion.
Unpolished SS fasteners look close enough to weathered cad and certainly remain rust free. The only
original bikes are original bikes. Why we all cannot control our urge to blast and powder is sort of funny.

Onder said:

If you get new fasteners from Andover they will be zinc plated. The originals were cad but regulations
forbid in UK it seems. Here in the states you can get cad plating in the original "silver" . You can
get every bit done here for about 175. I used http://cadplating.com/ very happy with their
service call them up and talk to them. Smaller lots arent really worth it though.
SS is fine on unstressed areas, fine media blast and they look pretty genuine.

Click to expand...

I had a bunch of hardware done by them in clear cad. Very happy with the price, quality and speed.

Lorenzo,

I use it on all my bikes, including my HD, with no ill effects on paint, rubber, or chrome. Only the Victor demands more than one application per season. It's important to rinse it right after the spray and to dry the bike with air to avoid spotting.

Dave, I'm with you on the stainless issue. Whenever the opportunity arose during my Mk3 rebuild to enhance the handling, safety, and reliability of the Commando, I took it. And a few comfort enhancements as well. When I'm itching for an uncomfortable ride on the edge, I reach for my Victor (there's stainless on it as well).

Lorenzo said:

dear All,
I have few parts (fittings and more) which are cadmium plated and are loosing its silver colour, if not even rusting..
how would you suggest to clean them?
also, how would you clean the finish of the engine?
Thank you..

Click to expand...

You don't say in what context.
Is it a existing Norton that has a few tatty parts or a stripped bike being painted,rebuilt etc etc ?

If it is cadmium it can be redone but the choices of doing so are limited (aviation ?)
My 1971 Norton I do not want silly stainless fasteners,Corbin seats or other trinkets,that leaves fewer options.
You can clean what you have with a Brass wire brush - 0000 wire wool and WD40 carefully or you can hunt for original parts that have survived in better condition.
Cleaning the engines cases depends on their condition.
If they are dirty only,they can be cleaned (in the bike) with little more than a paintbrush and kerosene.
They to can be done with a brass wire brush being careful (not so easy with the engine in the bike)
They can be done with 0000 wire wool and WD40 (including as a paste with some Autosol added))
If there is some magical cleaner that sprays on and takes 40 years of neglect off get that

Pantina
Definition today.
A word for a item that has been neglected until it corroded normally used in For sale blurbs.
Pantina,an oxidization on brass (as the spoke nipples on my Eldorado have)

There are reports of happy users of Eastwood or Caswell or such DIY electro plating kits plus there's a more ancient method of dipping in molten solder type metals.

https://www.google.com/#gs_rn=23&gs_ri= ... 07&bih=375

http://www.hitechplatingtinning.com/hot-tin-dip/
I did this to steel collars I made when I converted my Commando to a one-piece rear axle. That was many years ago, and they still look enough like old cad plating that no one would ever think they weren't original (except someone who knew that no such thing ever came out of Wolverhampton).

But you're not just "dipping" into a solder pot. The parts have to be properly fluxed (and perhaps tinned, which you can do at leisure). Then you have to dip them, get them hot, and snap each part rapidly with your wrist to remove the excess solder, recognizing that the place where the excess leaves from may be a little thicker so you don't make that the place that everyone sees.

For a bolt, I suppose this would mean making a holder that would grab it by the shaft and let you fling the head sideways to remove the excess, allowing perhaps one flat to be a little thick, but the face will look fine.

I'd also use 60/40 solder (or even better 63/37, the eutectic mixture) to avoid a pasty range when it's cooling. The traditional solder for auto body work is 50/50 which stays pasty for a long time, but this would tend to increase gloppiness. With 63/37 it would stay liquid as long as possible while cooling then harden instantly.

Mike Taglieri

Onder said:

In fact Id like to know if the spokes were originally zinc or cad..

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The spokes were zinc plated.
The grey look to them gives them away.

The test for zinc or cad is to polish them.
(Natural) cad can be polished up to look like chrome (if it is thick enough - often not).
Zinc always polishes up to look like zinc - that more grey look.

Lot of Commando bolts and nuts were cad.
Some do seem to have been zinc though - some of the footrest bolts in particular.
Maybe it varied, depending on what they could get ?
Zinc plating will generally last longer, if it wasn't applied too thinly ?
They do get a white looking powdery look to them if wet for too long though - keep lightly oiled ?

As for liking stainless spokes - until fairly recently, stainless spokes had a reputation for breaking.
Ones with bends in them anyway.
Wonder what they have done to them that this not longer seems to happen ?