I've looked around for a long time now trying to find out if electrolysis nickel plating my exhaust manifold was a bad idea or not. I used to work for a company that had mass amounts of parts plated everyday and when I was a kid it seemed like a good idea to sand blast my 7MGTE exhaust manifold and get it platted along with the other parts. It turned out looking very nice and it made the inside of it a lot smoother. Now that I'm a lot older and wiser, I've gotten this thing back out to put on my 7M project and I'm questioning if I can use it or not. I'm afraid that with the high exhaust temperatures, the plating will flake off from the inside and go back into the engine. Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on if I should use it or not? Thanks!
Electrolysis nickel plated exhaust manifold
- Thread starter AIRICK
- Start date
This is a better section. How thick of a plate are you talking about? Couldn't you ask the company that did the coating what the heat and wear tolerances are? There are some folks on here that do powder coating and other types of coatings, maybe they can put in two cents.
Edit: Lets have some pics of said mani...
Edit: Lets have some pics of said mani...
Nickel doesn't melt until 2600+ degrees F, well above what you should see in exhaust temps, so you should be safe on that front.
Thanks guys. I'm not sure the thickness of the plating since its been so long since I had it done. I thought about calling the company, but their customers mainly use this process to keep their parts from corroding and sometimes wear resistance; from what I understand they don't use this for high temerature applications. I'll call them as a last resort. I'll take some pictures tonight and post them up tomorrow.
Also, I don't see how the coating can go from the manifold into the engine, unless you're talking about it passing through the EGR system to get there.
Otherwise, the only way any flakes would be going is towards your cat.
Otherwise, the only way any flakes would be going is towards your cat.
EGR is before the manifold (passage is in the head), only thing it would do is go through the turbo and exhaust.
Paging jetjock on it's effect on the cat
Paging jetjock on it's effect on the cat
Sounds like a coating for guns, like NP3 or melonite, which are very effect in keeping the surface clean.
I thought about trying one of those finishes on my manifold since they're designed to last, but I've never seen it done.
I thought about trying one of those finishes on my manifold since they're designed to last, but I've never seen it done.
Electrolysis nickel bonds at the atomic level - it's not a coating - nickel adheres quite well to cast iron and steel. If the plating shop used the same thickness as they do for corrosion, it should be plated on at a 0.001" (1 thou) thickness minimum. Like Grim said, it should easily withstand the heat. Nickel does not react with platinum, so there should be no effect on the CAT.
BTW - looks nice
I'm starting to plate (on a small scale) Electrolysis Nickel Boron Nitrate - lowers the coefficient of friction on moving parts to very low levels. Has about the same Rockwell hardness as straight nickel (57-60).
BTW - looks nice
I'm starting to plate (on a small scale) Electrolysis Nickel Boron Nitrate - lowers the coefficient of friction on moving parts to very low levels. Has about the same Rockwell hardness as straight nickel (57-60).
Basically - yes. Companies call it different things as a marketing tool. The boron content varies somewhat - that also affects the hardness.
So many geeks in this thread! lol, just kidding. I'm surprised we have this many people that know about this stuff, but very glad at the same time that we didn't get "Just spray paint over it" responses..
-Mike
-Mike
There's electroplating and there's electroless plating. One uses electricity while the other does not. I have no idea what electrolysis plating is but I suspect it refers to the first process
4U2QUIK
1UZFE SWAP DUDE!!!
Umm... I always thought the process was called electroless nickle plating. I've never heard of electrolisis plating.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroless_nickel_plating
I've literally had tons of parts put through this process. and it can flake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroless_nickel_plating
I've literally had tons of parts put through this process. and it can flake.
super.secret.supra.club;1559311 said:
I wish it were that easy! I've been looking for about a year now for this particualr application, that's why I got on here to ask you guys what you all thought.:icon_bigg
4U2QUIK;1559326 said:
Honestly, that's the way I always thought it was spelled, but the place I used to work for had it spelled "electrolisis" on all their paper work. Probably one idiot spelled it wrong and it spread through the whole company! But truth be told, it is spelled this way on certain web sites, so I don't know what to think. If you say that nickel plating can flake, I don't know if I should take my chances. I may just find another manifold, clean it up, and spray some high temerature paint on it and call it a day. Maybe I'll sell the plated one on ebay to some one that wants to take the chance.
I appreciate the help.