Breather pipe on June '62 e-type S1

[stephen.mather]

Hi everyone,
The breather pipe to the plenum base on this e-type is the cadmium plated variety. The JNCA Judging Manual does not give information if this was ever painted - presumably not as it says cadmium plated as below:

Flexible pipe to left splash shield changed to cadmium
-plated pipe with hose connectors to air filter base from

875386
850092
885021
860005


I remember noting David has a black painted example on one of his cars.
Can anyone confirm whether the cadmium plated pipes were painted originally? Clearly many have been painted at restoration.

Many thanks
Steve

[Heuer]

If in doubt check out the first page of the 'Factory Fit' thread which shows this:



Cadmium plated.

[stephen.mather]

Thanks again David.
Some of the cadmium plating has come off my breather pipe, and it is showing rust in places. Of course, I could just paint it with "Hammerite Smooth" silver paint, but tht would not be quite as good as having it plated.
As far as I know it is now very difficult to get cadmium plating done.
Do you know what others have done, or where it could be plated. I called a couple of chrome platers but without sucess.

Cheers
Steve

[Heuer]

Only people who are allowed to do it are the aerospace industry so you will be paying their rates! http://www.ashton-moore.co.uk/index.php ... troplating

Unless you have gone to the trouble of cad plating every nut, bolt, washer and part on the rest of the car I would suggest going with silver paint.

[steve3.8]

To get a cadmium look finish i used cold zinc galvanising spray in a rattle can , branded as ZG-90 , i found the results acceptable for me , although i am not a concours follower , price ?5 - 10 depending where you buy it from .

[jag68]

If it's any help to you you can get cad plating done here at: Victoria Plating 892 Devonshire Rd, Victoria, BC V9A 4T6
(250) 385-0341

[Heuer]

You can get cad plating done on many street corners in any town in India but EU regulations prevent it being economical to do over here. It can be done in the US as well but shipping all those parts back and forth would be a major logistical and financial investment.

[stephen.mather]

Many thanks to everyone for the advice on cad plating.

In the end I cleaned the pipe up with paint stripper, slightly diluted with water. I then burnished the rusty bits with fine wire wool, polished the whole pipe with very fine rubbing compound and then varnished it with clear acrylic lacquer.
Most of the original cadmium plating was still there, fortunately. The rusty bits, having been brought back to bright steel by the wire wool, hardly show. The worst bit lies under the rubber elbow hose.
I just hope the acrylic lacquer will stand the heat next to the engine block and not discolour. Polyurethane goes yellow but I understand acrylic is better.

Cheers
Steve

[Dave K]

Thanks again David.
Some of the cadmium plating has come off my breather pipe, and it is showing rust in places. Of course, I could just paint it with "Hammerite Smooth" silver paint, but tht would not be quite as good as having it plated.
As far as I know it is now very difficult to get cadmium plating done.
Do you know what others have done, or where it could be plated. I called a couple of chrome platers but without sucess.

Cheers
Steve

I didn't know it was hard to get stuff cad plated, I take any stuff like all the bolts nuts etc on my sons mini to this bloke on the local trading estate and he does it for cash. I have a load of stuff going up there later this week.

Dave

[Heuer]

Are you sure it is proper cadmium plating Dave? If it is can I have his address please!

Try a Google search on Cadmium Plating and all you will come up with is aerospace applications e.g.:

"Can I Specify Cadmium Plating?

Yes, if the use of cadmium plating is for aircraft, defence, offshore, safety, nuclear or electrical contacts. There are many areas in which use of cadmium is or will be restricted, such as food handling, sanitary and household goods."Clause 8 of the Annex of the RoHS directive grants an exemption allowing cadmium plating to be used unless it is banned under Directive 91/338/EEC. Directive 91/338/EEC amends an earlier directive 76/769/EEC. The amended text bans cadmium from certain applications, primarily those involving contact with food and hardware that could have direct contact to human skin or contact with indoor air. The amended text clearly allows cadmium plating in aerospace applications and other safety critical sectors.

[Dave K]

Ah, it could just be passivated zinc finish, looks good though.

Dave

[Heuer]

What pisses me off is you can get this done almost anywhere outside the EU. When we were in India cad plating was available on every street corner and lest anyone thinks this is third world stuff you can also get it done easily in the US, Canada, Mexico and other country in the World you care to mention. I understand the health risks but they can be managed in low volume applications.