|
Re-chromed rotor housings
There is a long thread on the other forum :icon_tdown: which will probably be shut down soon because you have to pay them to tell any good news.
Anyway, we'll start one here. Below are pics of the first housing we had done and then the second done so you can see the improvement. Right now we are working on fixtures to be able to do them in production form as a matched pair of housings. At the same time we are making the necessary parts for chroming 12A housings as there will be an immediate demand for 12A as you can no longer buy new ones. 6 FD housing are ready and waiting too. We have the housings pictured below in a running engine for a couple of years now so all looks good so far. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...re-chrome1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...re-chrome2.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...re-chrome3.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...re-chrome4.jpg And the second one done: It's the same shot getting progressively brighter. This is the final and how we want them to look. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...re-chrome1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...re-chrome2.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...re-chrome3.jpg |
OMG its about time! I knew savnig old housings would pay off. Will you have the info about the limitations of what can be re-chromed?
|
Looks great! What is the material used? Cost?
|
Right now we are only able to re-chrome housings with no damage to the steel insert. Later on we plan on developing a method of repairing the steel insert so even damaged housings could be done.
Material used is top quality hard chrome duplicating the factory finish as close as possible. |
Looks great man.
This is what we need, I'm tired of cnc'ing 13B housings to 12A size. Would you be able to rechrome MFR rotorhousings too ? Kim - Lost member of the RX7club. |
We're looking at MFR housings as well and my guy tells me they should be no problem, just have to deal with them a bit differently with no steel insert.
|
Good stuff! What do you think this treatment would cost?
|
At this point I'm not too worried about pricing for resale, it will be good. There are always ways to bring down production costs. Besides we need to get everything set-up first and do a pile of testing in some race cars.
|
Quote:
|
I don't do ceramic coating, that's JHB
|
Quote:
|
hmm your saying that the steel insert damage is the only thing you cannot fix so reseeding chromium is not a problem what about mild scratches around exhaust ports . define extent of damage ?
|
im curious what the updates on this are
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
That's right for now we cannot repair the steel insert but that will be looked into after we finish the required fixture for production chroming. Scratches are no problem as long as they do not extend into the steel insert and cause it damage. In other words if the chrome is removed there can be no damage to the steel insert because it would have to be repaired before re-applying the chrome. Any existing damage however mild would only be accentuated by the chrome. |
well i have been saving my rotor housings.
|
so flaking is fixable essentially?
|
It is subjective as to whether flaking is repairable or not. If the steel underneath the flaked area is pitted and rusted then that will translate into the chrome when re-applied. Really we will need to strip a bunch of flaked housings to see how they look in the flaked area compared to the rest of the insert. On an old 4 port housing I have the flaked area was evident once stripped but housings recently taken from service may not show this problem as the flaked area hasn't had time to degredate.
|
When are you planning on starting production? have you decided pricing yet?
|
Well we hope to get it off the ground over the winter. There is still some challenges with our fixture but we are working out the bugs one at a time. Pricing will depend on how well the fixture works, if we can get things going smoothly with fast changes to the next pair this will keep costs down. Our goal is around half of new, hopefully we will hit that mark.
|
Are you testing with Steel Seals, or just your Ceramic?
|
Right now the 2 housings in service are running steel seals. For starters we will use steel factory seals so we are comparing on even ground. We need to know how the chrome wll stand up to OEM use situations long term.
|
How is this going? Does this process appear to be feasible yet?
|
The fixture were making has been more problematic than expected so we've decided to scrap the origional design in favor of a new design that will eliminate previous problems. We've learned a lot from messing with this thing and the new fixture will be much more functional with faster changes possible. Really it comes down to throwing more money at it, so once my parts order is completed I can look at moving forward with the new design.
We've also applied for a government grant to help get this moving along, if that goes through things will happen a lot sooner with proper cash flow to commit to the project. The funds would also be used to explore means of repairing gouged housings for re-chrome. |
I have several housings that are undamaged, but worn. Can you take them for a beta test? I don't mind paying $200-$300 per housing if they turn out to make compression. If the process fails, I got them for nearly nothing and they are worthless now, so I don't mind. Maybe if a few people do this it will help with the development costs (I don't know what the costs are - probably higher than a few jobs in the backlog would cover).
|
I would be interested as well. I've got a few housings kicking around that are worn, scarred, but not into the steel that I'm aware of.
Would be willing to put them into know working good engines and run a few dyno's, track days, auto-x's 10k miles and pull them apart and send them to you for inspection. Always interested in research and development |
^^Hey guy's, definitly we could use some housings for chroming down the road once the trial runs are completed. The more beta testing the better. We have about 6 FD hosuings that are nice candidates to get us started as well as some 12A. Once we get them completed I'll post pics and then we can look at getting you guy's set up.
|
Quote:
Thanks |
I have crap loads of housings, I am building an engine in the next 8 months, I'd be more than willing to try this out if everything comes together in time.
Plus I'm in Canada :) |
Excellent, hopefully we can work something out for you. I'll be checking the status of our grant application on Monday, the guy I deal with has been out of town.
|
Any progress on this?
|
Yea, we are unable to get a grant so the new fixture will have to be funded out of pocket. Just need to allocate some funds for this as it will not be cheap to make.
|
BEST thread on the rotary webz , subscribed
with out giving away the trade secrets is the chroming treatment staged in steps with varying chrome compositions to put softer but corrosion resistant layers on the liner and progressively harder chromes on the surface treatments ( as i believe mazda evolved after noting chrome to liner separations ) i guess what i am asking is ,, does this new process have specialized layer compositions to 1: bond favourably to the liner 2: another that is impervious to mixture and moisture from attacking the inner and causing separation 3: hard faced on the top to limit galling and friction also,, any plans to try a final nikaseal facing? |
Quote:
At this point no there is no progressive application of the chrome, we were just happy to get the result we did after so many others have tried with mixed results. My guy tells me that the chrome flaking is due to the prep of the liner and feels we wont have this issue. We use the best quality hard chrome available and I guess the real tell will be when the engine Pineapple Racing built comes apart and we can see the internals. It's been a few years so its just about time to get at that. No real plans for Nikasil at this point although we do have access to it and I already have a client who uses Nikasil on the housings for their 35cc UAV engines. In fact they ran the special custom ceramic apex seals we made directly on the steel housings with no heat treating or hardening of any kind. Cubewano reported the steel polished like a mirror with no advetrse wear patterns. On the Nikasil housings they have run the engine with ceramic seals for 250 hrs with no measurable wear to seals and housings alike. Measurements were taken with a digital Mic in a temperature controlled environment. I'll definitly be talking to my guy about your points though :) |
If you can produce this for way less then stock housings you will be swamped with orders. People better stop throwing out housings. I have a few sets that required refurbishment but I went and bought new housings to bed in those NRS seals :)
Hopefully this venture will progress.. |
This is so awesome. I really hope the Pineapple Racing engine comes through with good results.
|
Quote:
yes we will all look forward with much hope to the results of the pineapple pull down if it shows compatibility with mazda seals you are onto a huge thing my leading questions as to the process of chroming comes from recalling some SAE paper some-wheres regarding to the varying Cu / Si / Cr compositions in the chrome applications all done in sequence to promote bonding, corrosion resistance and hard facing - not all normally applicable in just one chroming application as for the nikasil - - nikasil has been shown to work well in the UAV engines and i wonder if a trial recoat on mazda housings is worth a look-see particularly in view that the process may be simpler than multiple chrome composition application and due to the the apparent compatibility of nikasil with the ceramic seals BTW,, if you don't mind ,, for interests sake ( i don't own a rechroming business !! ) is the initial stripping process a hone, electrolysis , or a media abrasion technique? |
ps
would love to learn your digital mic technique for gauging the inner housing dimensions is there any chance of some pics of this in action,, or a vid ? my own process are far more rudimentry than that,, and something i wish to improve on |
I too am glad to see this progressing.
I have a bunch of housings that are past resurfacing (although that is a really cool survice that goopy offers) and will need to be rechromed. I hate throwing things away, so I have been saving them. bumpstart, you should contribute in the tech section, I like your attitude! |
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:25 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Hosted by www.GotPlacement.com