I would like to plate the nuts and bolts from my cage rebuild. But am concerned about Hydrogen Embrittlement.
I have spoken with the plater I use and they said, just let them know any that are high tensile steel and they will bake them after plating.
They said they do it all the time.

What are peoples thoughts on doing this?

Looking at the bolts - black bolts look to be high tensile are they?
Does anyone know what I should not plate or have baked?

Caliper mount bolts?
Caliper joining bolts?
Shafts... x 2 that go through the cage?
Shafts x 2 that go though the dog bones?
Drive shaft bolts... they must but be high tensile.

The rest do not look to be in a situation where high tensile bolts are needed and would be safe to plate.

Thoughts?

 

I don't know the answer to your questions about hydrogen embrittlement, but is it possible to buy new bolts that are already plated? Years ago I looked into one of the plating kits and decided that it was cheaper, faster and easier to buy nuts and bolts that are already plated with the finish I want. Especially when it comes to suspension components, it's not something you want to take a chance on.

I'm personally a fan of the zinc yellow-chromate finish but my vendor offers a fairly wide selection. Here is the plate under the differential after I cleaned it up and put it back on with new hardware.


Here is a good shot of the zinc yellow-chromate bolts on the front of a V6 I built for my MGB.

 

My chemical friend said that there are three types of coating: cadmium ( the most resistant), white zinc and gold zinc. Zinc does not resist acids well.
that is cadmium.

 

If the fasteners are cooked over C'150, it can weaken. ?Perhaps?

 

Baking the bolts within an hour of plating drives out the Hydrogen from high tensile steel.
That is what they say.

Your bolts look great - looking at the bolts the only ones that look hardened are the black ones that bolt the calipers together.
The rest look like they were once plated.