Plating a frame

I

itsfixed

New member
Location
York, PA, USA
Hi guys, I am attempting to get a 73 750 frame cad plated and the plater is very concerned about cross contaminating the plating solution with the wash/bath solution. From what I've read here, the SFC frames were drilled at the low spots to allow the solution to drain out. Can anyone please post or send me some pictures of where the factory drilled the drain holes and what size holes so I can drill in the location where it has worked for the factory?
Just to let everyone know, I am not modifing an original SF1, the complete engine was found at a public sale with no known wherebouts of the rest of the bike. About a year later I found the matching # frame with title on ebay in Winnepeg Canada (I'm in south central Pennsylvania), along with most of the rest of the bike all broken to pieces. Since it would cost much more than the value of the bike to reconstruct it, I might as well have some fun and build a special. So far I've found the original tank and an American Eagle front end and wheels. This forum has been a wealth of information and I would appreciate any help and information.  Thanks in advance, Keith Rugh, York, Pa, ksarugh@comcast.net.
 
I?m afraid I can?t help you about the holes, but have to ask why you are cad-plating it.
Your SF frame is made of very heavy water pipe and rust is extremely rarely a problem with them.
A possible problem is cracking, primarily of bracketry (engine mounts, mudguard brackets etc), from vibration.
Cad plating will be hard to cover in the event you weld to fix something in the future.
Good luck with the project.
 
Small world, I'm in Winnipeg. I'm sure I know the bike frame and bits you bought, though I would not know the serial numbers to confirm.  It has a long history of not being used. There is good chance it's stable mate, an SF2 I think, will end up available as well in some form, whole or parts. As to the frame, on my SFC 750 I powder coated the frame to a color very similar to the cad plating. If your not a purist, you might want to consider this option. 
 
Thanks for the replies, I am hoping to plate it only for the "technical look" of the SFC's. I'm not going to attempt to copy an SFC, but they look like no other bike I've ever seen, and in my area (harley factory next door), Laverdas are almost nonexistant. I was leaning toward cad plate for 2 reasons, a local zinc plater felt it may not plate well up in the recess behind the steering head where cadmium would, & would also be more durable. And on a previous post under "SFC 750 frame questions" MarnixSFC said his research came up with drum brake models being cad & disc brake models being zinc. I realize its not an SFC so I dont need to be concerned with being correct but...   You are right, if I ever have to weld anything after it is plated I will be kicking myself in the ass.
 
Having removed powdercoat from a Leverda frame i can verify that the welds are not waterproof - so your plater is right to worry about contamination....
I've Nickel plated a couple of my own build frames and discussion with my plater led to leaving everything open for drainage and closing tubes off later with plastic plugs.
If I were you, I'd discuss with the plater how he's going to handle the frame - what attitude he's going to have it in when plating and hoisting in and out of the bath. This should give you the locations of any holes you wish to drill for drainage.

Cad is very rare now as a plated finish - very toxic I understand. Personally I'd bright zinc it - it's nearly impossible to tell the difference and zinc doesn't dull off as quickly as cad.
 
Keith,
I am at this same stage with an SFC 750 that needed restoration. I did a test coating of zinc on the fairing support that mounts to the top of the motor and got rust appearing at one of the welds a few days later. The cause was partly due to the fact that it had been slightly bent in a low impact accident.
The finish of the plating looked like it was painted flat silver. I will post a photo later. If you decide to get the frame cad plated you can get a flat clear over it to provide protection from future corrosion.
I am now going to get my frame painted using the zinc finish as the colour guide.My local plater won't plate the frame anyway.
I have the frame nearly completely bare and will also photograph the holes. I have just had the engine soda blasted as well.
Ian
 
Here is the fairing mount:-
IMG_0465.jpg

There are two holes on either sideand they are 12mm:-
IMG_0466.jpg

The top frame rails would have the open ends for draining:-
IMG_0467.jpg

Just for interest this is how the engine turned out:-
IMG_0469.jpg
 
     Ian,   beautiful, thank you for the photos, my top frame rails are open just as your picture and I can clearly see where to drill the bottom cross tube. Wow, the soda blast really does make the aluminum look like new. I did a set of BSA cases with an old undercoating gun using a mix of baking soda and water and it took a long time, but came out great. Thanks again, Keith.
laverdaskidoo said:
Small world, I'm in Winnipeg. I'm sure I know the bike frame and bits you bought, though I would not know the serial numbers to confirm.  It has a long history of not being used. There is good chance it's stable mate, an SF2 I think, will end up available as well in some form, whole or parts. As to the frame, on my SFC 750 I powder coated the frame to a color very similar to the cad plating. If your not a purist, you might want to consider this option.  
Click to expand...
  Actually this frame came from a guy named Leroy in Winnepeg, who wanted the front end and wheels to build a sportster special, who bought the whole rolling chassis on e-bay from a guy in, I believe, West Virginia, who bought it from a guy here in Pa. The engine and cycle got separated and the owners of each unknown. I had the engine for about a year and luckily found the matching # frame, but only after the chassis was dismantled. Its a much longer story than that and has some intresting points but it turns out the bike was originally in a garage about 6 miles from my home for over 20 years & no one knew.
 
Keith,
I am starting to re-assemble my SFC and I noticed another 2 holes on the front side of the cross tube under the seat. The tube I refer can be seen in the second last photo that I posted earlier. I hope this hasn't come too late.
Ian
 
Keith,
I have to add the location of 2 more drain holes that I located yesterday whilst checking steering stem bearings. The top 2 frame tubes that are welded to the headstock also have an opening each into the steering tube. There shouldn't be anymore now.
Ian
 
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