I have been calling around about getting the Europa frame galvanized.
The only hot-dip guys in town say "Can't do it. It will warp all over from the
heat."
One electroplating place I reached said "Sure, we could zinc-plate it. But we
won't. We never do car or aircraft parts. If you get a good case of hydrogen
embrittlement, you will have a failure and sue us."
The other electroplating place I called said "He is full of baloney, you won't
get hydrogen embrittlement, it is easy to avoid. But you won't get any
coverage inside the frame, either."
So how the hell does Lotus do the new frames they sell?
On another note, the dip-and-strip place here is highly recommended by the
Porsche guys. Apparently there are only three places in the USA that use this
method, and one of them is ten miles from my house! This is some kind of
reverse-plating advertised not to warp, embrittle, or eat away your remaining
steel, whilst removing every speck of rust. They have two tanks, each big
enough to take a whole car body and more.
The price has gone up since Terry Pitts had Europa frame done about 4 years
back. He only paid about $50, he says. Now the guy quotes me $250-375
"depending on how bad it is when we get it in here." Terry says that when he
was in there, that the MPCA (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency) was planning
to analyze their operation, and they expected to have to raise prices. The May
1989 PCA (Porsche Club of America) NORD STERN magazine had an article on the
place (they are a regular advertiser). One of the things mentioned is that
"you could drink the water discharged from this place due to the new $50,000
treatment system." Guess that answers that question. Now I have to change
that part of the budget by about a factor of five.
The same NORD STERN article has pictures of a couple of Porsche guys inspecting
a rack of car frames. Right on top, upside down, is a Europa S2 frame!
Anyway, the joint is:
International Metal Stripping
3520 International Drive
Vadnais Heights, MN 55110
(612) 484-9546
Phil Ethier, THE RIGHT LINE, 672 Orleans Street, Saint Paul, MN 55107-2676
h (612) 224-3105 lotus@pnet51.orb.mn.org (infrequent mail checks)
w (612) 298-5324 phile@pwcs.stpaul.gov (lists go here)
"The workingman's GT-40" - Colin Chapman "It's a Mistake" - Colin Hay
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