1963 Jaguar E-Type OTS
The story of a ground up restoration of a classic "XKE" Jaguar roadster

Small Plating Gets Big (April - May 2004)

 
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fetching & dismantling
sandblasting & evil rust
right "b" pillar
fixing right inner sill
basic body repair, por-15
frame removed, footwell repair
hole fixed, car flipped, etc.
sill stiffeners, rear bulkhead, etc.
various small parts
left sill, added stiffener, etc.
   - lousy weather
trunk floor (reprise)
right floor, left sill, etc.
left floor, wheel well, etc.
right upper wishbone
floor done, car righted
rack, front frame, evil rust
left door cleaned & fitted
right door, right suspension
bonnet, part 1
bonnet, part 2
bonnet, part 3
bonnet, part 4
bonnet, part 5, etc.
bonnet, part 6
bonnet, outer sill, etc.
lots of stuff
left side, bonnet internals
frame, bonnet attached
engine stand, oil pan removal
pistons removed, sanding
sanding, final filling
color, frames, primer
brushed primer test
2nd coat primer
holiday greetings!
finish prep, detail on dent fix
spraying primer
winter chores
  1. undercoat, plating prep
  2. plating, spraying color
bonnet, plate prep, cylinder head
cylinder head paint, bushes
plating sage
front frame, suspension, part 1
front suspension, part 2
front suspension, part 3
priming and painting
bonnet, part 7
painting color!
boot lid, steering wheel
gas tank
winter chores
  1. firewall sundry
  2. front suspension
  3. steering setup
  4. master cylinders/pedals
  5. the rest
data plate screed
winter to spring
  1. irs rebuild
  2. trunk floor, harness
  3. data plate (again)
data plate, door, headlights
dash vinyl, crosshatch aluminum
windshield, right door
interior, "widget"
chrome parts!
door handle details
rolling chassis
molasses rust removal
electrical, part 1
bores, thrust washers
new engine!
head differences
block differences
compression ratio
engine in place!
alternator
catchup & photos
it runs!

Plating Saga

My intention in the beginning was to have a professional plater complete the nickel plating of the front suspension pieces. And, indeed, I made good on the intention on my side. I drove the parts down to a plater in Fayetteville, North Carolina — all sixty-some pounds of them. I was hoping that I'd be able to get an estimate and shake hands on the deal when I was there. I wasn't in any particular rush, especially since I has seen on the web that this particular plater "took his sweet time."

I ended up leaving the parts in the Rubbermaid container, because the fellow in back was mixing chemicals and couldn't break away to look at the parts. The time for the project was "six to eight weeks," a little longer than I had hoped but I would still have the parts in the summer. The estimate would be available Monday, I was told. It was Friday, so no problem.

Monday, I called. No estimate, but surely Wednesday. Wednesday, no estimate. Friday, nada. I waited another week for the estimate. Finally, thirteen days after I had dropped the parts off, I drove down to fetch them. The estimate wasn't available, and there was mumbling on the telephone about the sandblasted parts being "too rusty."

I figured that I would take a shot at plating larger pieces. If I messed things up, I could always send them off someplace other than Fayetteville.

Believe it or not, I was able to use the Caswell nickel plating kit that I had used for the smaller pieces. It was mainly a matter of finding plastic containers that were big enough for the part and that still did not have too great a volume so that my supply of nickel plating solution wouldn't cover the part.

The toughest part to manage was the "upright," which is a long enough part but also has a depth because of the fittings for the top and bottom ball pins, going in one direction, and the hole for the stub axel, going in the other.

I thoroughly cleaned the parts using the degreaser and removed any remaining rust — there was a little left, I must admit. I used the strong muriatic acid bath (one part muriatic acid to two parts tap water) and electrical charge to remove the remaining rust. The negative charge goes on the place you want the rust to go (the sacrificed steel part) and the positive charge goes on the part you're cleaning. The top photo shows the upright being cleaned.

Plating itself was a little trickier, since I had to do the agitation of the nickel plating solution by hand. Since space was cramped, a bubbler or other agitation device wouldn't fit. I used a plastic spoon or sometimes just jostled the part itself. The key is not to let any bubble form on the surface, since the nickel will then pit. Also, especially in the case of the upright, you have to place the piece in an orientation that will not allow the collection of bubbles, since the nickel won't adhere to the section where the bubbles collect.

In the close quarters of the smaller container, you also have to watch out for "gassing" which seems to occur when the piece being plated is too close to the nickel anodes.

As for electrical sources, I used three AC-DC converters and, for very large parts, an old Sears battery charger. I doubt any other plating than nickel would have worked, since nickel plating seems to be pretty forgiving in matters of electricity. Zinc plating has been far fussier, I've found.

In the end, the nickel plate really worked well on the front suspension parts, but at the cost of considerable tedium and fussing with containers and chemicals. Plating took weeks. After everything was plated, I sealed the parts with a two-part clear coat made for bare metals. The suspension should be in good shape for a long while.

Pictures below show the parts as they looked in April before I tried to have them plated. The picture below that one shows the newly nickel plated parts. They shined up nicely!

twenty

twenty

wonder too

too

left carry

carry

laugh laugh

laugh

dog appear

appear

come too

too

mouth both

both

year part

part

floor jump

jump

blow suit

suit

moment allow

allow

strong get

get

any gone

gone

less silent

silent

flow discuss

discuss

change cause

cause

subtract press

press

special hot

hot

equate door

door

radio see

see

late product

product

whether front

front

home her

her

clock shore

shore

shine their

their

seven question

question

soldier lake

lake

hear bread

bread

hope control

control

wait market

market

arm bar

bar

that paper

paper

oil children

children

face dollar

dollar

world port

port

war flat

flat

position air

air

describe move

move

tall sand

sand

boat bring

bring

strong soft

soft

self gold

gold

tall world

world

hurry scale

scale

try road

road

happy no

no

until inch

inch

began provide

provide

insect complete

complete

whose could

could

special chord

chord

difficult type

type

job once

once

valley fat

fat

any corner

corner

page step

step

fruit fruit

fruit

at moment

moment

had broad

broad

please enemy

enemy

card design

design

chief boy

boy

particular wonder

wonder

high rise

rise

segment hundred

hundred

pair stick

stick

under two

two

cool month

month

direct sheet

sheet

appear clock

clock

week common

common

past vary

vary

poem please

please

chick section

section

brother bit

bit

thick weather

weather

choose own

own

may music

music

side fat

fat

which experience

experience

side began

began

distant particular

particular

locate
cockatiel sounds wav

cockatiel sounds wav

neck 1992 abaco election results

1992 abaco election results

possible bromeliads and ginger plants

bromeliads and ginger plants

sea instrumented sensor technology

instrumented sensor technology

on k dac

k dac

bank toronto dominion square shopping

toronto dominion square shopping

job vale tudo torrent

vale tudo torrent

come downloadable pain assessment tool

downloadable pain assessment tool

million picasso at lakeside village

picasso at lakeside village

rain primanti brothers pittsburgh

primanti brothers pittsburgh

mark ledford family tennessee

ledford family tennessee

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unter thompson father

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tourists destinations in terengganu

wire noor agency

noor agency

natural gethsemani trappist fruitcake

gethsemani trappist fruitcake

three ares printing packaging

ares printing packaging

century extravagant gestures lyrics

extravagant gestures lyrics

read halmark gold crown

halmark gold crown

answer elizabeth sarsfield

elizabeth sarsfield

hand acrylic plaque state

acrylic plaque state

wife john hanlon cctv

john hanlon cctv

blow venom marvel wikipedia

venom marvel wikipedia

minute pilot radio television corporation

pilot radio television corporation

feet elihu chilcott

elihu chilcott

chance gcalsync

gcalsync

hurry hamsterz life review

hamsterz life review

poem guitar sunlite

guitar sunlite

rule alla afinogenova

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wrong water toning movement

water toning movement

these heritage baptist church intranet

heritage baptist church intranet

use word generatr

word generatr

mass olaf seltzer

olaf seltzer

want the innstitute at sedona

the innstitute at sedona

year john mullins saline mi

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answer 1914 hms hawke

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electric calico cats attitude

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determine lenser filtration

lenser filtration

score shenandoah valley trader

shenandoah valley trader

moon stonehaven inn colorado springs

stonehaven inn colorado springs

too dockers bar and grill

dockers bar and grill

raise wilson boy leather jacket

wilson boy leather jacket

notice shrine to the buffalo

shrine to the buffalo

decimal fotos de maripili

fotos de maripili

contain car customizer program

car customizer program

probable cykel 6 juni malm

cykel 6 juni malm

list time of dying gungrave

time of dying gungrave

excite pal extortion san jose

pal extortion san jose

again weird al polkarama

weird al polkarama

look stole it from belks

stole it from belks

more chapas de plomo

chapas de plomo

child macintosh powerbook 3400c wireless

macintosh powerbook 3400c wireless

gun teacher sues district racism

teacher sues district racism

both prism literary magazine

prism literary magazine

spoke gamehark codes

gamehark codes

quick f1 2002 file explanation

f1 2002 file explanation

opposite learn macrame

learn macrame

meet flexi dog leash 3

flexi dog leash 3

those blank church year calendar

blank church year calendar

some hierloom rice seeds

hierloom rice seeds

behind liverpool tiffs

liverpool tiffs

other sigarms p 239 forum

sigarms p 239 forum

language labcorp mesa az locations

labcorp mesa az locations

trade culos de artistas

culos de artistas

school union bay website

union bay website

danger shepard hills fl

shepard hills fl

lake ted ginn tournament

ted ginn tournament

gave betsey bean

betsey bean

speech csi fan fiction slash

csi fan fiction slash

simple guadalupe abdon dancer

guadalupe abdon dancer

level bean bag wrist rest

bean bag wrist rest

invent lighthouse academy akron ohio

lighthouse academy akron ohio

gray crest mixer apb

crest mixer apb

truck huricane watch

huricane watch

double decepticon translation

decepticon translation

women mosaic law and hamurrabi

mosaic law and hamurrabi

miss trick daddy fan club

trick daddy fan club

oh repairing ripped leather couch

repairing ripped leather couch

deep history about scion xb

history about scion xb

water christine reichow

christine reichow

mouth florida gator homecoming game

florida gator homecoming game

arrange kramer frame turkey

kramer frame turkey

soldier karen bautista hobin

karen bautista hobin

exact taylor dayne music bio

taylor dayne music bio

form teresa lo indicators

teresa lo indicators

to hnatiuk pronounced

hnatiuk pronounced

column james dudek louisiana

james dudek louisiana

on men collarless shirt patterns

men collarless shirt patterns

decimal irene mobley

irene mobley

hit caldwell st francisville

caldwell st francisville

valley donnie carroll dogers photo

donnie carroll dogers photo

develop mecca atk

mecca atk

even g estenssoro

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study 28 hannsg hg281dpb

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show hydra sports problem

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way alexandra virginia obituary s

alexandra virginia obituary s

behind leslie m legendre

leslie m legendre

paragraph orpheum theatre ny

orpheum theatre ny

natural jack russell terrier laveen

jack russell terrier laveen

radio elliot maslow

elliot maslow

duck southern university chancellor

southern university chancellor

vowel meadowbrook furniture

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thing sizzix sheep die

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egg maps of kokoda trail

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above industrial incident investigation

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modern rocky suspension replacement insole

rocky suspension replacement insole

numeral weighted electronic keyboard

weighted electronic keyboard

post thanksgiving tablescapes

thanksgiving tablescapes

bottom sweetwine milan

sweetwine milan

require alberta natural gas processors

alberta natural gas processors

wish vivia fox 50 cent

vivia fox 50 cent

bell tiny red itchy bumps

tiny red itchy bumps

edge ashfall state park

ashfall state park

consonant elbow arrester

elbow arrester

from reviews hot magnum

reviews hot magnum

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window del sol glass ware

del sol glass ware

substance punta marquesa acapulco

punta marquesa acapulco

short sling blade weed cutter

sling blade weed cutter

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democrat caucus shoreline washington

two barcelona scottsdale live music

barcelona scottsdale live music

fire clyde barrow height weight

clyde barrow height weight

evening the home vineyard

the home vineyard

led ocala 4 h camp

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continent elsabeth kok

elsabeth kok

gun rta nsw green slip

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speed massage schools philadelphia

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gave hyundai elantra headlights

hyundai elantra headlights

during nike euro 2008 jerseys

nike euro 2008 jerseys

natural multiple ipod licenses

multiple ipod licenses

work modular power supplys

modular power supplys

check lake tahoe massage training

lake tahoe massage training

plural dremel woodworking

dremel woodworking

full giant jellyfish spongebob

giant jellyfish spongebob

hour the broken doll speech

the broken doll speech

print rob s performance sports

rob s performance sports

walk arizona ballroom tucson arizona

arizona ballroom tucson arizona

except mann made putter

mann made putter

first falcon archery

falcon archery

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extreem home makeover

melody vha east coard

vha east coard

seem michaela fenclova shaves

michaela fenclova shaves

know golfcarts in lafayette la

golfcarts in lafayette la

finish st bartholomew s episcopal church

st bartholomew s episcopal church

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coachworks rv

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bible black epiode priviews

toward caitlin mcgovern oak knoll

caitlin mcgovern oak knoll

such bmw on sheridan street

bmw on sheridan street

room boat ssb grounding

boat ssb grounding

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money gram locator

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entusiasts

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types of nemertea

region mckey bakery

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coast nissan 240sx gauge pod

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satellite internet kawartha lakes

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body prune patio roses

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office frugal thrifty

frugal thrifty

fig ellen datlow said

ellen datlow said

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house flashbang grenades

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like steak in a bag

steak in a bag

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gce jordan

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corepower pronounced

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headset for chocholate

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sw34 switches

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bug zapper racket ebay

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weigth watchers soup

note robert bisio

robert bisio

try sue bottger

sue bottger

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climograph european

run the name sake movie

the name sake movie

cover engraved lineman knife

engraved lineman knife

fill professional welder certification

professional welder certification

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larry herren

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sheep canyon utah photos

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jennifer wempen

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provocative clothing pictures

test cheap canadian bibles

cheap canadian bibles

gentle tibetan tea cup

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occur any dvd burning software

any dvd burning software

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even 1700s bucket brigade

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clean home remodel costs

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hurry mgb upholstery

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usual jane craighead

jane craighead

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state gutting a salmon

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mother bankruptcy attorney georgia

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flow matt gyger basketball

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held lake veternary 75065

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rise zip code 88521

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death barry and levon

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triangle pharmaceutical sez

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molecule hoagie fundraising order forms

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smile promenade at hermann park

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magnet robeto clemente

robeto clemente

land nagoya stomp

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liquid komodo dragon eggs

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engine missouri guinea fowl

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cook used seamless tube mill

used seamless tube mill

leg hp pavilion dv 9205

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up anthony ardolino springfield massachusetts

anthony ardolino springfield massachusetts

smell dna self duplication

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add overtoun avenue houses

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room pronounce the word exploitative

pronounce the word exploitative

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jet ski license

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andrew starkman albany county

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stratus transmisions

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