Impact Guns and Zinc Plating?

[iceguru1114]

I did a quick search and found a 9 year chat about impact gun preferences (they've changed a bit since then), and couldn't find much on zinc plating so I'm starting a new thread to ask around about preferences and/or experience. Google searches are filled with commercial influence biased opinions, so I'll trust your answers more than the general internet.

Question 1:

Does anyone have recommendations for some heavy duty pneumatic impact guns that strike a decent balance between noise (not too loud) and performance (breakaway torque in the 1000 lb-ft range)? Also looking for something that will last. Willing to spend up to $300 for something that strikes a good balance between my targets. At around $650, the SnapOn route is a little too rich for my blood.

A few options I'm considering:

Aircat 1150
IR 2235TIMAX
NITROCAT 1200K
Craftsman CMX...

Other suggestions are more than welcome!

Question 2:

Does anyone have any experience with zinc plating who can recommend a zinc plating kit of some kind? It'd be nice to have a kit that includes yellow chromate for that gold color that I like. I also need to be able to coat things about the size of an engine mount. I'm not really looking to set up a commercial-grade operation. There's a company called "Caswell" that seems to have a few decent options; anyone tried one of their kits? Any and all recommendations on this topic are welcome because I'm a total noob to the zinc plating process.

Here's an example from Caswell of something that looks about right, and is a tolerable price, but again, I'm a noob, I don't know how well something like this might work or not work:

CopyCad kit

One other option I'm thinking about to experiment with on some mounting bolts to start with is a little science experiment kit. Not sure if this would be good enough, though, or if it would just immediately all come off when I first install the bolts:

Zinc plating science kit

If you're able to give some useful info about any of this, thanks in advance!!

 

[Hickory-NC-2Ggsx]

Its best and cheaper just to find a plating company near you. I'm getting half of a 5 gallon bucket of bolts done for 85$. Thats cleaned and zinced.

 

[iceguru1114]

Its best and cheaper just to find a plating company near you. I'm getting half of a 5 gallon bucket of bolts done for 85$. Thats cleaned and zinced.

Good info! Have you ever had them prep and plate larger items like bracket or mounts? If so, was the cost on those pretty minimal as well?

 

[dustyboner]

a few general things that may or may not be useful

• any thing aluminum should be anodized
• don't zinc plate anything that needs to be or may need to be welded
• usually powder coating is best for larger steel and cast parts

i have no idea what exactly you are thinking about zinc-ing but i would only re-plate the parts that were originally zinc plated like the small stamped steel brackets and alot of the bolts/screws

 

[Hickory-NC-2Ggsx]

Good info! Have you ever had them prep and plate larger items like bracket or mounts? If so, was the cost on those pretty minimal as well?

No not yet I'm gonna have another batch of larger items done after the bolts.

 

[iceguru1114]

a few general things that may or may not be useful

• any thing aluminum should be anodized
• don't zinc plate anything that needs to be or may need to be welded
• usually powder coating is best for larger steel and cast parts

i have no idea what exactly you are thinking about zinc-ing but i would only re-plate the parts that were originally zinc plated like the small stamped steel brackets and alot of the bolts/screws

Much appreciate the input. For the zinc plating, right now it's limited to a lot of the OEM nuts and bolts, and a handful of steel brackets throughout the car that I'm currently refurbishing. Many of them have enough oxidation that it's hard to tell whether or not they were originally zinc coated, but I'm guessing based on mounting locations and lack of OE powder coating that many were.

Anodizing anything aluminum which is gonna handle fuel is within scope of my project because of the intention to use ethanol; not even gonna try to DIY that one due to the size of the tank, for example.

I might consider getting the subframes powder coated if I'm feeling especially gung-ho about making everything super nice and if I have confidence about masking some of those critical assembly surfaces off with that pricey tape you have to use for powder coating. Your feedback makes me think finding a shop that can powder coat, anodize, and zinc plate all in one place would be a huge win. New Mexico isn't a huge distance away... bit of a stretch, perhaps, but do you happen to know of any shops in the Denver area?

 

[iceguru1114]

No not yet I'm gonna have another batch of larger items done after the bolts.

Cool cool. Well you got me thing about the whole build/buy/purchase differently now, which is good because I sometimes get stuck in a complete DIY literally everything all the time rut. I'll look into local shops to see if they can quote me costs for larger parts... sounds like the fasteners are a no brainer as long as I can keep them organized with an external vendor.

 

[Mello]

I have to have stuff chromated for corrosion protection frequently. Chromate will not treat steel which is why steel is zinc plated first. Aluminum can be treated without needing the zinc adhesion coating. Zinc plating is a batch process.; Chromate is a batch process. Bring everything of the same material in one trip because pricing is by the batch not the part. Specify the color you want because Chromate coatings can range in color from clear/colorless to iridescent yellow, brown, gray, or blue.

 

[wrencher]

As for the impact for an occasional or non professional use Id suggest this for the price alone.
$113.99
It's in your power requirement range as well;

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-1-2-drive-1000-ft-lb-composite-impact-air-wrench.html

Pretty sure its a close relative of an air cat or the like.

 

[dustyboner]

i don't think there is a place in denver that does all three. or atleast i couldn't find one. you might have to get the powder coating done separately. We have a place in albuquerque that does all three. . Kaehr Coatings
it wouldn't be worth the trip though. i just made the drive a few weeks ago. left here at 5:30am and got back at 7:00pm. I was only in denver long enough to drop off a dog so like 15 mins.
took about $200 in gas (gm truck, 15 mpg, @ 85 mph).
I used to go up there alot back in the day. hauling ass, i could make it to denver in 4.5 hours.
anyways


you might wanna try this place

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Specialty Plating, Inc.
2340 S Delaware St, Denver, CO 80223

(303)733-4470

Hours of Operation: Monday - Thursday 7-4 Friday 7-3:30

price sheet:

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[AWD-Tony]

I bought a used snap on impact for $200 on craigslist. Well worth it. My buddy's impact wouldn't even take off his lug nuts and snap on laughed at it.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

As for the impact for an occasional or non professional use Id suggest this for the price alone.
$113.99
It's in your power requirement range as well;

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-1-2-drive-1000-ft-lb-composite-impact-air-wrench.html

Pretty sure its a close relative of an air cat or the like.

That's a dam good deal if it does what it is rated for. I even put one in my cart,

 

[iceguru1114]

I have to have stuff chromated for corrosion protection frequently. Chromate will not treat steel which is why steel is zinc plated first. Aluminum can be treated without needing the zinc adhesion coating. Zinc plating is a batch process.; Chromate is a batch process. Bring everything of the same material in one trip because pricing is by the batch not the part. Specify the color you want because Chromate coatings can range in color from clear/colorless to iridescent yellow, brown, gray, or blue.

Awesome feedback. Thank you!

 

[iceguru1114]

As for the impact for an occasional or non professional use Id suggest this for the price alone.
$113.99
It's in your power requirement range as well;

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-1-2-drive-1000-ft-lb-composite-impact-air-wrench.html

Pretty sure its a close relative of an air cat or the like.

You're right, that looks pretty much like an unbranded Aircat at nearly half the price. Veeeery interesting

 

[iceguru1114]

i don't think there is a place in denver that does all three. or atleast i couldn't find one. you might have to get the powder coating done separately. We have a place in albuquerque that does all three. . Kaehr Coatings
it wouldn't be worth the trip though. i just made the drive a few weeks ago. left here at 5:30am and got back at 7:00pm. I was only in denver long enough to drop off a dog so like 15 mins.
took about $200 in gas (gm truck, 15 mpg, @ 85 mph).
I used to go up there alot back in the day. hauling ass, i could make it to denver in 4.5 hours.
anyways


you might wanna try this place

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Specialty Plating, Inc.
2340 S Delaware St, Denver, CO 80223

(303)733-4470

Hours of Operation: Monday - Thursday 7-4 Friday 7-3:30

price sheet:

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Holy cow. You, sir, just won this thread! Thanks so so much for putting in so much effort. Gotta love the DSM community; very helpful bunch

 

[iceguru1114]

I bought a used snap on impact for $200 on craigslist. Well worth it. My buddy's impact wouldn't even take off his lug nuts and snap on laughed at it.

Good point. I'll take a quick look on Craiglist for the high quality stuff before I make a new purchase.

 

[EC17PSE]

a few general things that may or may not be useful

• any thing aluminum should be anodized
• don't zinc plate anything that needs to be or may need to be welded
• usually powder coating is best for larger steel and cast parts

i have no idea what exactly you are thinking about zinc-ing but i would only re-plate the parts that were originally zinc plated like the small stamped steel brackets and alot of the bolts/screws

Dont anodize everything alloy. Its its cast it wont take and will likely come out black from the deposits in the casting. Can only anodize pure alloys and puse castings but casting that pure are weak and also expensive. So things like engine mounts wont cover will. If black is your choice then they would likely be ok for that but how black i dont know. I did a test on some alloy once and it came out weird. I dont know if i kept it or threw it away

 

[iceguru1114]

Dont anodize everything alloy. Its its cast it wont take and will likely come out black from the deposits in the casting. Can only anodize pure alloys and puse castings but casting that pure are weak and also expensive. So things like engine mounts wont cover will. If black is your choice then they would likely be ok for that but how black i dont know. I did a test on some alloy once and it came out weird. I dont know if i kept it or threw it away

Good to know that some stuff may come out black. I'm generally ok with whatever color anodized parts come out to be. I'm much more interested in functional protection of the aluminum in the fuel system from ethanol than I am about aesthetics.

Are there alternative aluminum surface prep processes that work for protection against ethanol you know of?

 

[EC17PSE]

Good to know that some stuff may come out black. I'm generally ok with whatever color anodized parts come out to be. I'm much more interested in functional protection of the aluminum in the fuel system from ethanol than I am about aesthetics.

Are there alternative aluminum surface prep processes that work for protection against ethanol you know of?

Not for cast alloys no. For ethanol younhave to use hard anodize and normal wont take the ethanol well and will eventually eat through it.

I dont know how to protect oem cast stuff thats E safe for long periods of time. So you may have to just let it run its course and check corrosion and pitting and check for material missing over time

 

[iceguru1114]

Not for cast alloys no. For ethanol younhave to use hard anodize and normal wont take the ethanol well and will eventually eat through it.

I dont know how to protect oem cast stuff thats E safe for long periods of time. So you may have to just let it run its course and check corrosion and pitting and check for material missing over time

This is another good point you raise regarding stock pieces. Since I'm doing the fuel system almost from scratch, maybe it would be worth the cash to go ahead and splurge on an aftermarket anodized fuel rail... I think with my original plan the fuel rail would have been the only OEM piece left in the system. Doesn't make sense to protect 99% of the fuel system then leave in a stock piece that might cause an eventual failure.

 

[EC17PSE]

This is another good point you raise regarding stock pieces. Since I'm doing the fuel system almost from scratch, maybe it would be worth the cash to go ahead and splurge on an aftermarket anodized fuel rail... I think with my original plan the fuel rail would have been the only OEM piece left in the system. Doesn't make sense to protect 99% of the fuel system then leave in a stock piece that might cause an eventual failure.

If its the last part then spend the extra 200 or less for a nice one thats going to be nicer and last longer. Its more cash sure but safer for you knowing its never going to be a problem and leak fuel if you forget about it later on

 

[Dericsh]

I use(d) the IR you mentioned professionally and would highly recommend it for both your requirements of strength and sound.

 

[1990dsmkid]

Does the impact have to be pneumatic? If not i recommend the milwaukee m18 fuel 1/2 impact. The thing is a beast. I believe the newest version is around 1400 ft-lbs breakaway. If pneumatic is what you want then why not go with the earthquake extreme from harbor freight. Seen lots of good reviews on them and can be had fairly cheap

 

[Ludachris]

I'm a sucker for Milwaukee stuff... it's not pneumatic, but it has the torque:
https://amzn.to/3bOFezR

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If you have an M18 battery already you can buy the bare tool for a good price.