Coating tabs options?
 

Chroming does not last it just peels off within a short period of time.. I`d like to keep the same finish and shine, what are my choices?
Anodizing, ceramic coating, powdercoat?



http://33outlaw.zenfolio.com/img/s9/...21332457-4.jpg








One season later:
http://33outlaw.zenfolio.com/img/s5/...60785552-4.jpg

i would leave the mounts chrome and bright anodize the tabs. [RED]

Sherwin Williams epoxy paint and a brush/roller. Seems to be a favorite for everything else around here........:worthless_without_p

First question for ya..how long on those tabs? I thought I had the longest eddie tabs..but yours looks longer..2nd..you boat in fresh water?..I have powdercoated mine 3 summers ago..hasn't flaked off yet..

That looks like a QC issue to me. What did Eddie marine say about that?

Nickel plate.

Eddie marine didn't chrome them. Previous owner had them Coated.

I do think the rams should be mirror polished :)

I think they just look long in the pics, I`ll throw a tape measure on them tomorrow.
Mike, the mounts are shot too gotta redo it all.
MP; Eddie said we don`t chrome ours cause it doesn`t hold up .lol

I`ll have to see if anyone nickel plates locally, thanx

www.dipyourcar.com

:D

super chrome powder coating with a pinch of red pearl and clear or plain clear and ditch the pearl.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG7TIIEDuA0

nickel coating, or anodized

I have never seen a chrome powder coat look any thing close to chrome. Do you have personal exaprence with that stuff?

i had my intake manifolds chrome powder coated,they look like they got painted with silver paint but much more durable than paint.

i have a friend that had his wheels done on his truck..it looks real close,,from what i understand if the powder coater dont keep a eye on the powder coat it will turn dull.its a 2 step process and you have to find the rite powder coater or it will look like paint..

I powder coated mine in black and they look great

This place was recommended to me.. gonna stop there later this week..

http://courtesymetalpolishing.com/

I had my tabs and lowers painted by the same guy who painted my truck, in hard black epoxy. They look great several seasons later.

Any gunsmith will be able to nickel plate

Chroming will hold up if done properly. As long as there are no pits, I would redo them. The previous owner, my have taken the least expensive route. You are boating in fresh water, and it's no different than someone driving their truck or car down the road in the rain with nice aluminum,chromed rims. Same with the sport bikes having the rims chromed. I can find out from a buddy of mine, who has pallets of rims chromed, with out issues. I have had billet parts chromed in the past, it's all in the steps and preparation.
The missing chrome, looks like the surface had contamination. The process can be expensive, due to the fact it will be priced by the piece and size of the tab.

Mark

MER, thats right on the money, seems if done right they should hold up... the above mentioned place has a several step process including a 2 hour dip, nickel and copper plating then the chrome on top, they say it should hold up no problem

I'll say don't go to Badger plating in Milwaukee. All of the aluminum parts were supposed to be triple plated but it appears they were not. We were disappointed with the quality of several parts and it took months to get the work done. And it wasn't exactly cheep - I think plating the upper and lower tab plates were $700.

yes ,,these guys do excellent work,,they did,do all the chrome for me and on my boat..and also do alot mo motorcycle(harley) chroming as well.

I would expect a better finish, being your tabs, are not in the condition of their before and after pictures. Looks like they can bring appearance back from some really abused parts.

Wow, thats pricey! Maybe I should call them and be like wtf!?!? $700 and it didn`t even last a year ?!?! Thats b.s.
How recently did Kirk have it done Kris?

dan,i used to send a lot of motorcycle parts to browns plating in kentucky,they are not cheep but they do a 7 layer plating and no one does it better.

I wouldn't chrome anything that is intended to stay under water any length of time. If you can anodize the aluminum first you are always better off as anodizing is a surface conversion not an applied coating. Contrary to popular belief It will not come off. I rerigged a boat several years ago and hard coat anodized everything, transom assembly, trim tabs, etc and then painted with a single stage polyurethane. The main benefit is if you get a nick or scratch in the finish the ensuing corrosion will be localized to that one spot and go no further. Unlike coated parts that are not anodized when a nick or scratch occurs the corrosion can grow underneath the coating and eventually a large chunk of the coating (paint) will come off revealing a large corroded area.

You seem to have a preference for shiny (chrome), me too, but that doesn't always go hand in hand with marine, usually that option is best left for stainless steel items that can be polished. Bright anodizing is ok but the brightest finish comes from the right base metal that is perfect, uncorroded, polished and followed with a light anodizing, the anodizing will tone down the brilliance and the heavier the anodizing the less brilliant the part will be. Colored anodizing will fade in the sunlight, although the anodizing will still protect the material for a very long time, the colored dye will bleach out to nothing rather quickly. A good compromise might be to hard coat anodize the parts first and then have a nice translucent powder coating applied over, something with a silver chrome looking base followed by whatever color over that. Perhaps just clear top coat will provide a nice semi-chrome appearance that will last. Hope this helps.

I tried complaining about some of the stuff on my boat and the best they would do is give me a 10% discount on my next job.

It has been a few years since the those parts were plated.

I learned as you will, most plating places do not plate aluminum and the ones that do charge heavy for it. Between my brother and me we spent a few grand plating the aluminum on our boats.

What about getting them polished, and putting a protective coating on them? This product looks interesting. Read some good reviews on it. Guys are doing their motorcycle wheels and car wheels with it after polishing, and holding up for years.

http://www.everbritecoatings.com/alu...protection.htm

http://www.ascoweb.com/

James Sejd; owner of above use to race an aluminum boat (Riveted) among others. I'd venture to say he knows a thing or two about metal coatings on boats.

Mike, Are your sure that's not Browns, in Georgia. I have sent them parts for chroming, it took for ever and was high in price too me. My one customer, told me to send it to Browns, out of Georgia. He used them for his car restorations. We sent valve covers, breathers, pulleys, hine joint tie bars, flame arrestors, billet alternator brackets, oil filter mounts, lifting brackets, billet power steering brackets, and billet PS canisters. I think it was $1500- $1700.

Mark

mark,i have not sent them anything lately but they are in kentucky,after reading your post i did a google search and they are still there.what i liked about them is even if the parts to be plated are not perfect they take the time to make them look real good.i also like the idea of hard anodizing that someone else mentioned.

mike,i think a gunsmith would send them out to a plating company.

I will have to admit to being a dumb-ass, on chrome plating these tabs or saying it was a bad chroming job? I just had a phone call from Bob Madara, he just asked me one question; how much are those tabs deflecting? I was like Bob, alot!! Anyone wanting to get in-line missing; why the plating is coming off? Sorry guy's; I have to agree 100% with Bob.
He will be adding to this post, explaining.

il jump in as dumb azz #2 but i do believe the origional chrome job was very poor quality and was prone to failure.

I would powder coat them.....

Why not have them chromed..then have them clear powdercoated??

Would the backing plates bolted to the transom be distorting too? Those are peeling real bad too.

I don't think they would look bad in black myself, but I know how you like shiny ! [ATTACH=CONFIG]513624[/ATTACH]

This may be true. I do know there level of work is held to a high degree. Ya could get some cool ingraving from them too!!!

Polish them.......... Repeat as needed...

Just be sure to mount some magnesium anodes on them.