Re: ELTO Ruddertwin Flywheel Restoration

[PM T2]

I used to have nickel plating done at Precision Platers on Speers Rd in Oakville, but they aren’t in business anymore. Too bad, because they were the best guys around.

Any chrome plating shop should be able to nickel the flywheel for you. And it is bright nickel that you want, NOT chrome. It won’t be cheap, especially in Ontario. Important thing is to make sure that the plater understands what you want as far as brightness level.

As for the wheel, the main thing is prepping the substrate properly. All the old plating has to be removed, and its best if you don’t have the plater do it; you should do it yourself if you have access to a glass bead or soda blasting cabinet. Do not sand blast it, you will open up gawd-awful pits in that cast iron, which is the same reason you don’t want the plater using any chemical type of stripper to remove old nickel, it will eat holes in the iron for sure.

I have put them in a lathe and polished the rim areas to make them as smooth and perfect as possible. And polishing cast iron is filthy work, so protect the ways of the lathe. I don’t even like polishing stuff in the lathe because of the propensity of the chuck to act as a vacuum pump and suck all kinds of shit into the chuck and spindle, so I always plug the chuck bore and spindle opening and cover the ways if polishing in the lathe is the only option available. I prefer surface grinding on the top & bottom rim area, but on the O.D. polishing is about the only option.

For the cylinders, George Emmanuel used Rustoleum Stainless Steel paint, followed by a clear-coat, on a Lockwood Chief that really does a nice job of mimicking the dull nickel plating that Lockwoods had on them from the factory.

Hope this helps.

Best,
PM T2

He's livin' in his own private Idaho..... I hope to go out quietly in my sleep, like my grand-dad did..... and not screaming, like the passengers in his car...