Galvanizing

[Rand Smith]

Does anyone know of a reputable galvanizer. Would it be hot or cold? I am near completing a 107 pu and want to do it right. Recs would be appreciated. I am located in Mass.
Thank you

[J!m]

Hot dipping is "right" but there are fewer and fewer places doing it these days...

The ones that do, don't want to be bothered with Rover Owners, because when your grill comes back all warped from the heat they don't want to hear about it...

There was a company in Glastonbury CT doing guardrails for the highway (big enough tanks for a full frame there), but last I heard they would not do car parts.

[jac04]

I had all my stuff done at Connecticut Galvanizing in Glastonbury. However, J!m is correct that they don't want to do car parts. You can try giving them a call to see if they will do it.
Now, I'm not really sure I would trust them with a nice restoration. All my stuff came out horrible the first time around. They agreed to do it again, and everything came out perfect, but they were NOT happy about having to do the rework.

[BirdNerd]

Rand,

You could do what I did: Take all the parts that you want galvanized--Take digital photos of each part, create a list of what you are sending to the plater. Talk with the plant manager several times before you ship the parts so he knows what he going to recieve.

Then build a custom crate to hold all the parts. Then FEDEX the 200 pound crate at great expense to the galvaniser where they promptly loose them.

Or you could just throw your parts in the trash and save yourself the shipping costs!

I spoke to a half dozen galvanizing companies, most already know about Rover owners and WONT deal with them (us)

The guy in CT said to me "You F'in Land Rover guys think this is a F'in Chrome shop." (galvanizers talk like that) I offered him 3X his normal lot charge and he still told me to get lost.

Good Luck
p

[J!m]

Gee; it sounds as if you had a much easier time than most of us do...

But, it is true that it is much easier to buy another truck with good galvanizing and scrap the rest of the truck than to try and re-do the original parts...

Note to self: open galvanizing shop and charge three times as much...

[jp-]

I use Central Galvanizing in Kosciusko, MS. They did the frame and bulkhead on my 109", and all the parts on my 88". The guy is real nice and does have a few old cars himself so he knows what it means when you tell him it's for a restoration. The only thing that happened was that they put a slight bend in my 88" windsheild frame due to a little careless handling, but I was able to straighten it without flaking off the zinc. Price was very reasonable. I can't tell you the price though, he made me assure him that I wouldn't .

But beware, if you are the type of person that is going to bitch and complain that the color on the zinc isn't right, don't use them. Because I don't want to lose my connection.

The only thing I am not sure about is if you can ship parts to him or not. I always drove down and left a trailer. I would come back and pick up the parts a week later. He does all the MDOT galvanizing so your parts do not have priority. The tank size is 50' x 10' x 8' deep if I remember correctly.

[jp-]

Oh yeah, and the reason these guys are all going out of business is because of the natural gas bills they have. He told me that his NG bill was $1,000,000 a month and that was in 2002! Remember the zinc has to be kept at 800 degrees year round. There is no cool off point!

No small hot dip galvanizer's can afford to stay in business. And the big guys are doing so much state government work they don't want to waste their time fooling with something that's only going to make them a few hundred bucks. Heck, they probably lose money having to modify their hangers to dip the unusual Rover parts.

And just as soon as they get it dipped up for you, you guys want to tell them that it just doesn't look quite right! Now you want him to rehang everything and dip again! It's no wonder they don't want our business.

[Rand Smith]

Throwing the '55 rover p/u isn't really and option considering the galv trim is the last thing to complete. Of course perfection is what I'm looking for. Doesn't sound promising. Ike this is your old truck any help on where you get your stuff galv'd? Tks againe, Rand

[Leslie]

Note to self: since I have a good relationship with my galvanizer, and they have no problem doing Rover parts for me, do I want to risk having someone mess up the relationship??

Ok, ok, I'll share....
This is the place that I used to do my bulkhead, breakfast, trim bits, etc.

http://www.zinc-partners.com

However, realize, their specialty is doing industrial stuff, don't expect "architectural" grade stuff.

I rec'd my bumper from Ike, and I think his shop did great work... but, it wouldn't have made sense for me to ship bulkhead, breakfast, etc., all across the country, then ship it all back, and not expect transit damage, etc.

While I used the Bristol location, they have a location in Poca WV, which would be a bit closer... but, I suggest finding someone "local" that you can deliver the stuff in person, then go pick it up and look it over, make sure that you pick up everything, etc. etc.

[leafsprung]

I cant recomend the places I use. They dont like dealing with small jobs and the only reason they deal with me is I do large lots of parts and never complain. There is a local place with a small (9x3x3) tank but they cannot do frames, firewalls, roofracks etc). I use another place in Portland to do all the big stuff and they are difficult to deal with to say the least. I had an excellent place back in Indiana. Very reasonable, friendly, enthusiastic, quality oriented etc. Excellent to deal with . . . . but 2500 miles away. Im afraid you will just have to spend the time to find someone who will work with you.