Malcolm Cox Kawasaki 750 Turbo NEW Silencers....

[Charlie @ Evergreen]

When you get pricing sorted email me as may buy set keep on shelf for future build

[Malcolm Cox]

Malcolm ,thankyou for your concise reply.
I am sorry if you think my posts have been negative, and I do appreciate the costs involved in tooling and your efforts in this endeavour. I certainly am not trying to cast any aspersions as to your professionalism.
I will send my details and look forward to following the progress.
Good effort.
Dazbo

Hi Dazbo,

Thank you for your reply, appreciate it.......
I have sent you an email, my emal address is coxeng@gmx.com
I look forward to your reply to me.
kind regards
Malcolm

[Malcolm Cox]

Company name and location would be nice, if you don't mind and yep I'm very interested in a new pair of pipes myself

David,

Thanks for your message, My company is Cox Engineering Laverda (1978) and I am based in Alcester, Warwickshire.
My Bio....
I have been a Laverda main dealer since 1978 in the UK, and I specialise in the manufacture of high quality chromium plated exhaust systems
and Brembo replacement cast iron brake disc rotors for all the Laverda models. I export my products globally to every part of the world.
All of my work is specialist and one off and includes the total restorations and re building of Laverda motorcycles and engines.

[longfiredragon]

Beautiful work Malcolm. Personally I don't need a set.

It's too bad your across the pond though, I would love to have my current exhaust tip I am running thrown in with a batch of black chrome.

[Malcolm Cox]

Beautiful work Malcolm. Personally I don't need a set.

It's too bad your across the pond though, I would love to have my current exhaust tip I am running thrown in with a batch of black chrome.

Thanks for your comment, much appreciate it.......Believe it or not, I do have work sent to me for rechroming from the USA, both black chrome and bright chrome.
That is from dealers and priva customers.......
You are always welcome if you are stuck.....

regards
Malcolm

[dazbo]

malcolm
ive contacted you by email ,please let me know if you require further details.

im interested in your reply to Lfd about the rechroming.
over the years many people on here have looked into it and reported that it is unavailable for various reasons , the restrictions/banning of the chemicals involved and the refusal by platers to work on used exhausts due to the possible contamination of the fluids by carbon build up etc.
if you can find the time , would it be possible to explain the process involved and the likely costs of :
a) renewing the black chrome on a pair of original pipes which are solid but have surface corrosion ,almost like a grainy imperfection rather than being rusty .
b) having a set of(used) one off stainless steel silencers black chromed
c) having a set of new one off stainless steel silencers black chromed .
thanks for your help.

[JezZedexE1]

im interested in your reply to Lfd about the rechroming.

That would be of some interest to me as well. I have heard over the years that plating old/used/dirty/rusty items was not favoured as it reduced the quality of the plating solutions and they would need to be replaced. One or two companies suggested they could do it as the last plating session prior to emptying the tanks for new fluids.

the restrictions/banning of the chemicals

That is one other story I have heard. Supposed HSE/EU rules regarding certain chemical/s involved with the black chrome process being banned, here in the UK anyway. When I first heard about the work being done on the Laverda pipes, my first thought was that the plating was being done somewhere outside the UK. Now I know that is not the case.

I also have a decent pair of original silencers I would consider getting re-plated if that is an option.

Either way, it is great to know there is some potential for replacement parts that are hard to come by.

[batpooh]

[quote="Malcolm Cox"]Thanks for your message, My company is Cox Engineering Laverda (1978) and I am based in Alcester, Warwickshire.
My Bio....
I have been a Laverda main dealer since 1978 in the UK, and I specialise in the manufacture of high quality chromium plated exhaust systems
and Brembo replacement cast iron brake disc rotors for all the Laverda models. I export my products globally to every part of the world.
All of my work is specialist and one off and includes the total restorations and re building of Laverda motorcycles and engines.[/quote]

That's interesting Malcolm your not a million miles away from me Aylesbury, i get up your way now and then maybe i will pop in for a cuppa and a chat

And if you need any help with this project I could always pop over on one of the bikes

[longfiredragon]

Guys, I do not know the exact process, but I am sure Malcolm does. However I have heard (At least here in the US) that rusty or older maybe corroded parts are not an issue. That is as long as they are stripped correctly. I have also heard there is a specific way to strip old chrome, so it can be replaced with new. Of course if you have considerable rust or corrosion going on and you strip the part it won't be a blemish free part, therefore you are not going to have a perfect chrome job. I mean a double or triple chrome dip plating job might fill in some blemishes but if the part is pretty bad, it's going to show on the chrome plating.

I have also heard that they usually give the part something like an acid bath which would completely strip everything including carbon and such from an exhaust piece down to bare metal which I believe is what you need to start with.

Just MHO but if a person was to put anything less than a 100% completely stripped bare metal 100% clean part into a chrome dip or bath and contaminate your bath, well you might not be the sharpest tack in the shed. Plus your chrome job would probably suck and not stick so you would be defeating the purpose.


My plan was, I have a used exhaust tip that I was going to put into a glass blaster, or an aluminum oxide blaster which I have access to here at work. Then if that wasn't enough, I would find out what else I have to do to get the part stripped down to like new bare metal. Then I would package it up in a vapor bag which prevents any rusting or corrosion really, really well and ship Malcolm and perfect clean stripped piece ready to go. Short of maybe baking it for a period of time to get any oils out before chroming.
This was my plan no matter where I end up sending the part.

[Malcolm Cox]

Rechroming of old Black Chrome Parts and Bright Chrome parts......

Thanks to everyone for the comments....May I give everyone the benefit of my experience.......

I got involved with chromium plating at the age of about 17 (Now 64) and started building world class top show bikes. My plater at the time, a guy called
Bill Olner started Nuneaton Fine Finishing, and he sponsored me with free polishing/plating for my own bikes. I was heavilly involved in the custom scene, and
won Bike Magazine, "Street Racer of the Year" in 1979, and won there IOM TT Custom Bike Contest, One of my bikes was even flown to Daytona for a custom show.....
My plater was well pleased with the publicity, then I built a custom Hesketh, sponsored by the Lord, and my payment was I made the jigs to imerse the Hesketh
frames in the tanks at my platers, he done all their polishing & plating. He also done all the work for the National Motorcycle Museum, and many other well known
companies etc.....
During this great time I was taught exactly what is required to prepare any metal for plating. Bill, who was in the polishing and plating shop at the original Jaguar Cars
in Coventry taught me many skills from his life in the trade, and I helped him with specialist tooling and jigs to do his work. For me, the opportunity to do his ha set
me up with the knowledge in the metal finishing trade......

Now, to make things clear about plating, the initial process for Bright Chrome or Black chrome is basically the same, with the exception of the last process which determines bright or black, it is the chrome tank, one for bright or black.
With Exhaust systems, you NEVER copper plate them, because copper will blister on an exhaust with the heat.
The process we use is called duplex nickle. From the polishing the parts go through a cleaning process first, then into the first nickle tank for nearly 2 hours. After that
they go into a second differen nickle tank for 20 mins, and then into the black chrome tank for 10 mins, then the items are neutralised, then into hot water. The black
chrome is then oiled, and then polished, job done......

Rechroming.....
To set the records straight here......This applies to Bright and Black Chrome. NO decent plater will ever replate exhaust parts, but in particular silencers.
The carbon which is in say a silencers can not be sufficiently removed to ensure no contamination is done to the VAT's.
My platers nickle VAT contains about £8,000 in nickle. The slightest contamination would cost about £8k plus around a weeks lost production while he cleans and
renews the chemicals, and stablises the tanks.
Trying to repair old silencers if a waste of time. The sheet metal in the 750 Turbo silencers is only 1mm thick as new. (I use slightly thicker at 1.2mm)
Firstly you can not remove the carbon, so Caustic soda, or Acid or Shot blasting simply will not do the job to a clinical cleaness.
Even if you clean it properly, trying to braze 1mm thick steel 35 years old does not work. As it rusts it gets thinner than 1mm.
Before you even braze old metal, you have to chrome strip the old chrome off first which is a plating reversal in a chemical known as "Pickle" in the trade, or in
Nitric acid depending on what material it is. Where there is rust, the acid will remove all he rust as well as the chrome & nickle. Even assuming you remove the
old plating, and then braze/weld successfully, then it has to be repolished all over.......so there is simply no metal thickness to allow this. And, even if you do manage
this, the plater will simply refuse to do the job......Only option then is ceramic, so go see Camcoat in Liverpool......

All of my polishing and plating is done in the UK by a specialist Production trade metal finishing company, who do not do private work, but they will do replating
for me as long as (1) I fully prepare the work prior to delivery, (2) I do any repairs necessary. My plater will not clean parts or repair them, they are production platers.
I can take work in for replating, either bright chrome or black chrome. There are no new laws surrounding plating, but if the UK had stayed in the EU, The European Union were/are going to impose massive difficulties with the disposal of water used in platng process due to chemicals washing away in the sewer's etc.....so leaving the EU may at least save the UK plating industry. I am told the new EU laws would finish 80% of platers in Europe......And personally, I will not be going to China for
anything, especially a specialist black chrome finish...!!!! Hope this may help, regards, Malcolm

[Malcolm Cox]

malcolm
ive contacted you by email ,please let me know if you require further details.

im interested in your reply to Lfd about the rechroming.
over the years many people on here have looked into it and reported that it is unavailable for various reasons , the restrictions/banning of the chemicals involved and the refusal by platers to work on used exhausts due to the possible contamination of the fluids by carbon build up etc.
if you can find the time , would it be possible to explain the process involved and the likely costs of :
a) renewing the black chrome on a pair of original pipes which are solid but have surface corrosion ,almost like a grainy imperfection rather than being rusty .
b) having a set of(used) one off stainless steel silencers black chromed
c) having a set of new one off stainless steel silencers black chromed .
thanks for your help.

Hi Dazbo, I have received your email, and have replied to you, please read and reply, thank yu.....

In reply to your questions, I have wrote a long piece below, which will answer your questions I think.....
But I will add the following. Silencers rot from the inside, so even if they look solid, that may not be the case when they ar stripped in pickle or acid to strip
and clean them.
Stainless steel is not a good material to chromum plate, you can plate it, but it can be problematic.
Black chrome is also a more difficult process than Bright chrome, so the success rate is lower.

I look forward to your reply, regards
Malcolm

[Malcolm Cox]

im interested in your reply to Lfd about the rechroming.

That would be of some interest to me as well. I have heard over the years that plating old/used/dirty/rusty items was not favoured as it reduced the quality of the plating solutions and they would need to be replaced. One or two companies suggested they could do it as the last plating session prior to emptying the tanks for new fluids.

the restrictions/banning of the chemicals

That is one other story I have heard. Supposed HSE/EU rules regarding certain chemical/s involved with the black chrome process being banned, here in the UK anyway. When I first heard about the work being done on the Laverda pipes, my first thought was that the plating was being done somewhere outside the UK. Now I know that is not the case.

I also have a decent pair of original silencers I would consider getting re-plated if that is an option.

Either way, it is great to know there is some potential for replacement parts that are hard to come by.

Hi JezZedexE1,

I have posted tonight to try to answer some of the questions asked......
Rusty items are fine, the plater will imerse the "Rusty item" in the "Pickle" acid which removes all the rust, rust is easily removed, but when you remove rust from steel
you may be shocked at the surface it leaves, it may look like sandpaper......
You are pretty correct with the EU rules, they are likely to end 80% of Chromium platers in the EU......that is all types of chrome, Bright and Black.
This is because mainly the disposal of "dirty water" which would have to be taken off site, the cost being massive, and no longer viable.

As for doing a job before chemicals are changed, that is rubbish, my plater has a chemist go to his factory every day to sample all his tanks to make sure
he achives perfect chemicals, that is why his work is so good. No plater will let his tanks get "Dirty" as the plating would be rubbish.....I would not even
consider a company like that to do my work, I would steer well clear. I suggest you Ceramic coat your silencers if the plating is shot......regards, Malcolm

[Malcolm Cox]

I have now had nearly all the replies back to m from members, but there are a few who contacted me, but have not replid to my email yet.......

Dazbo
Rich- rslv67
Colin Vicorey

Please can you reply to me guys, and if anyone knows them, please send them a message..!! Thank you, regards, Malcolm

[dazbo]

Malcolm ,you should have received a reply from me now,
I'd also like to thankyou for taking the time to explain the chroming process and problems etc with used systems etc.
Thanks
Dazbo

[Mang]

Loved the detailed explanation malcolm. Thank you.