Grey Nickel vs Nickel Plating

[1939wl]

I have an early 4 line Linkert that I need to have re-plated. Palmer in his 3rd Edition revised states the correct finish for the carburetor body is "Grey Nickel". Is this Electroless Nickel?
He lists the ancillary carburetor components as having "Nickel Plate". He makes a distinction throughout the book between "Grey Nickel" and "Nickel" finishes.
Is it possible to do this at home? I have done parkerizing (hot manganese, and some cad plating in the past).
I know we have some Linkert guru's here, I would appreciate any explanations, and recommendations.
Who do you recommend to do this replating? I am looking for a trusted source who knows these carburetors. I have it very clean and totally disassembled.

Thank You.

[T. Cotten]

I did some Scheblers once, 1939wl,

For a plater who assured me he had a Watts bath for a thin, unpolished "flash" of plating; He changed his mind, soothed his ego instead, and the result might as well have been chromed.

I have had various "electroless" examples cross my benches, and although 'stunning', they were anything but authentic.

Please beware you will want to thoroughly refurbish your carb before attempting plating, not just clean it.

....Cotten

[1939wl]

Thank You Cotten,
Understood, I always appreciate your input.
Is there anyone you recommend and trust to replate correctly?
Thank You.

[exeric]

From what I've heard from 2 platers, and hearsay from "experts"; dull, or grey nickel has no additives (or sugar as a one plater called it) to make the nickel shine. That became an industry norm after WW2 because bright nickel makes a better base for chrome and minimizes polishing the nickel before chrome. I've done a lot of Caswell electroless plating at home and (generally) it will give you a bright finish. That can be controlled to some degree by surface prep of the metal you're plating but I don't think you can quite achieve the grey nickel look. You could experiment with the Caswell kit, and bronze sheet stock test strips using surface prep, and plating time to gauge finish quality. Also, post walnut shell blasting of nickel may give good results. Years ago, Jim Lattin in California had a plating company that was offering grey nickel. I'm sure it was correct, but it looked awful

[1939wl]

Hi Eric,
I really appreciate your input!
I had to laugh at that last line..... " I'm sure it was correct, but it looked awful"
This carb was so dirty that I could see the correct number but not what color it was.
I started to clean the exterior and 90 year old dirt off, and saw a "silver" color, so I thought "great, maybe the original nickel finish is still on it".
Alas, it was nickel in a can....a spray can, the carb body was painted silver . The bike was last licensed in 1975, and I knew the fellow who bought it new.
He had a knck with those spray cans....painted everything to "freshen it up". I wish it was that easy.
Thanks again.

[T. Cotten]

Thank You Cotten,
Understood, I always appreciate your input.
Is there anyone you recommend and trust to replate correctly?
Thank You.

Frankly, 1939wl,

No. It is a niche in the industry unfilled as far as I know.

Its only original once, so I always faked it.

(Its easiest when there is some remaining original plating to fudge around and match to patina. Please remember, Folks, I was most often asked to do conservations, not restorations.)

Good enough for judges, but then so was damn near anything. Nonetheless, I used premium coatings, often 'pallet-mixed', and almost never out of a rattlecan.

.....Cotten
PS: Original finishes are hard to document, as this pic of the same carb under two different light shows:

NILIGHT.jpg

Still, here is one of my better daylight attempts, with a coarser-cast DLX on the left:
flashni2.jpg

(Note also that I refer to cast hardware, as machined hardware was "bright", with at least one exception of smaller HX bowls that appear polished before plating.)