| Author | Message | ||
     Rodney Peach Experienced User Username: rodney Post Number: 41 Registered: 12-2003 |
Hello All , I was wondering if you could give me some advice ,I have dismantled the reservoir and cleaned it well but after all these years the paint has gone and it a little rusty outside. Even on the inside a little paint has gone ,What should I do have it blasted and painted ? is there any paint that RR363 will not get at or perhaps chromed in and out? Thankyou Rodney | ||
| Kelly Opfar New User Username: kelly_opfar Post Number: 8 Registered: 7-2004 |
Rodney, the reservoir did not come painted from the factory. I believe the green coating is cadmium plating. I don't believe there is a paint that will withstand a brake fluid environment. You can strip the plating off at home with a muriatic acid solution in a 5 gallon bucket. Please read and follow all cautions when working with Muriatic acid - it is serious stuff. New plating is only as good the underlying prep work. If you sandblast it, the newly plated surface will be rough and dull. Glass bead blasting leaves a pleasant satin finish that shows off the new plating well. Alternatively, a good plating shop can do all the stripping and prep work for you. Many people prefer electroless nickel plating for items such as this. It is more costly than zinc plating but looks better, is more durable and has better corrosion resistance. Cadmium plating is generally discouraged because of its toxicity. | ||
| Rodney Peach Experienced User Username: rodney Post Number: 42 Registered: 12-2003 |
Hi Kelly , Thanks for your advice , I thought the reservoir was painted with some sort of grey paint ! I could have the hole thing chrome plated there is a shop here that doe's this but would it be eaten away by brake fluid such as RR363 ? Thanks and Regards Rodney | ||
| Jan Forrest Experienced User Username: got_one Post Number: 25 Registered: 1-2008 |
Although it is unlikely that any brake/hydraulic fluid will affect chrome plating it must be remembered that chrome is not impervious to water ingress. Nothing less than pre-plating with some other metal will prevent water getting at the underlying metal and eating it away. Best to go to your local electro-plater's and tell them what's what and take their advice! Ps. I used to work in an electro-plater's but it was so long ago that I have forgotten most of what I learned  | ||
| Paul Yorke Prolific User Username: paul_yorke Post Number: 131 Registered: 6-2006 |
I would say that the inside is painted with some sort of coating. I have no idea what it is but can say don't use brake or carb cleaner to clean the inside. WD40 is Ok though. To be honest lost of soft cloth is usually sufficient. Cadmium plating was always the choice for brake components. But as Kelly pointed out it is extremely toxic. ( environmental laws make it expensive, although Chrome plating is going to need a licence which costs a fortune as well soon - or so I'm told. My local Chromers have stopped now because of the cost ) Many people paint the outside / top - you just have to be very careful when topping up  (Message edited by Paul_Yorke on 13 March 2008) | ||
| John Kilkenny Frequent User Username: john_kilkenny Post Number: 61 Registered: 6-2005 |
After seeing RR363 make a meal of any type of paint including baked enamel I took the top cover of the reservoir, including the filler caps (after cleaning off every trace of paint) to a powder coating shop and got the owner to include it with his next run of mid grey. Powder coating is a powder which is blown on to the metallic part to be coated, kept on electrostatically and then baked at a high temperature which fuses it to the metal, resulting in an enamel type surface impervious to just about any liquid. Since having it done about three years ago it has resisted all efforts by the RR363 to affect it. I merely cleaned the outside of the reservoir as it is not so obvious, and also carefully cleaned the inside. | ||
| Kelly Opfar New User Username: kelly_opfar Post Number: 9 Registered: 7-2004 |
John, I am surprised to hear that your powder-coat has stayed intact this long. I work in an industrial fabrication/machine shop with on-site powder-coating facilities and have personally powder-coated car parts only to subsequently ruin them with brake fluid. Of course there are several types of powder formulations available for powder-coating; TGIC (triglycidyl isocyanurate), polyurethanes, epoxies and hybrids. Information is available online about these different powder types, so I won't bore anyone with details, but some are definitely more chemically resistant than others. Polyurethane is probably the most resistant, but I haven't seen any brand's literature overtly stating that their powders can withstand a brake fluid environment. Brake fluid is truly a fantastic paint stripper and powders are just a slightly different type of paint. For a few extra dollars, I would go for electroless nickel plating or at the very least zinc. The thought of dissolved powder-coating contaminating my hydraulic system would give me nightmares. | ||
| John Kilkenny Frequent User Username: john_kilkenny Post Number: 62 Registered: 6-2005 |
Kelly, I'm certainly not an expert on powder coating, and only the top cover and filler caps have been coated, but the coating has lasted well for three years, whereas before RR363 would leak out from under the caps and the cover fastening screws and attack the previous coatings. Attached is a current photo, there is some discolouration around the screws, maybe I should have used stainless. I would not use any coating whether paint or plating inside the reservoir. Careful cleaning and regular replacement of the RR363 should be enough. Incidentally a local company, Coating Services Australia (www.coatingservices.com.au) provide a powder coating service for brake calipers which they guarantee resists brake fluid, though I don't know if this is the coating I have.  | ||
| Rodney Peach Experienced User Username: rodney Post Number: 43 Registered: 12-2003 |
Hi All, I have took mine to be chromed today , they told me that it would be O.K. I hope so ?? Thankyou all for your help Regards Rodney | ||
| Kelly Opfar New User Username: kelly_opfar Post Number: 10 Registered: 7-2004 |
Sorry John, I misunderstood your previous post. For some reason, I was under the impression that you had ONLY the inside of your reservoir powder-coated. Upon re-reading it, your post clearly does not say that. The outside of the reservoir can be coated or painted with almost anything, as long as errant brake fluid is cleaned off immediately. | ||
| John Kilkenny Frequent User Username: john_kilkenny Post Number: 63 Registered: 6-2005 |
Thanks Kelly, Over the past many years I have tried different types of paint on the reservoir cover, including baked enamel, and none was successful until having it powder coated. The problem is not due to spilling the RR363 when topping up but appears to be the creeping of RR363 between the paint and the metal surface, which then lifts the paint. I suspect that the high temperature application of the powder coat gives a superior bonding to the metal and prevents the RR363 getting under it. Anyway, so far so good. | ||
| Trevor P Hodgkinson Experienced User Username: wm20 Post Number: 13 Registered: 11-2006 |
There are several different types of powder coating. The best type fuses with the oxide coating on the metal part & forms a semi metallic glass. This is the stuff that they originally used to resurface cast iron bath tubs. The problem with this type is that you have to heavily oxadize the metal to be coated. Latter they worked out that you could do a similar thing with urathanes & furanes ( which are types of plastic resins). These fuse together to form a complete envelope around the item but they don't actually bond to the metal surface particularly strongly and if penetrated rust will form between the powder coating & the steel surface. We have all seen this on things like tow bars. | ||
| Trevor P Hodgkinson Experienced User Username: wm20 Post Number: 14 Registered: 11-2006 |
Just as an aside, I bought a copy of those repair videos that the Canadian RROC had made, on evilbay a few years ago. In the one detailing how to restore the hydraulic system ( brakes & height adjustment) the mechanic ( whose name I forget & the video player is kaput ) definately said to send the reservoir ( and spheres) out to have the cad plating stripped & replated inside and out. I have always been going to check weather it is real cadmium or the zinc/aluminium ( which was used to replace cadmium ) or just plain zinc. From what I have read on various motorcycle lists it appears that there are several platers in Canada that still do cadmium plating and there should be some one in Australia that still dose cadmium as it is still used by the areospace industry ( so I have been told) | ||
| Gus Brogden New User Username: gus Post Number: 2 Registered: 2-2008 |
Hi all, I'm working on the hydraulics on SRF31065. The baffles in the resevoir have been eaten away (some sort of electrolisis??) I want to fabricate new ones, do you think it's ok to use 16 or 18 ga aluminum, or should it be zinc or cad plated? | ||
| Bill Coburn Moderator Username: bill_coburn Post Number: 964 Registered: 4-2003 |
Gus, Don't attempt to repair it they are readily available from wreckers and in Oz reconditioned ones are available for exchange. Plating by the way with zinc is perfectly satisfactory inside and out! | ||
| Mark Herbstreit Frequent User Username: mark_herbstreit Post Number: 96 Registered: 5-2005 |
I had always assumed the tank to be Cad plated. During the week I took some surface scrapings down to the Lab and discovered only trace Cd. The main component of the coating is Aluminium. The tank is not Aluminium so how is it coated? Was it some sort of Al plating or a two pack/epoxy paint finish? What was available in the early sixties? Someone must know the secret formula. | ||
| Daniel Diewerge Experienced User Username: didi13109 Post Number: 45 Registered: 11-2009 |
Sorry for digging up an old thread but I am in the process of restoring a RR363 reservoir of a 1977 Camargue. The coating of the later reservoirs is definitly a paint and not a plating. Mark, could you please provide some more details about your lab analysis? Did it the scrapings also contain a high percentage of zink? I suspect that the coating could be some kind of zink flake coating. This would make some sense as this coatings provide excellent resistance against brake fluid. Thank you! Daniel |
