What's the coating on OEM Honda nuts and bolts? I'm talking about the coating that turns the bolts that nice golden hue. I know it's an anti-corrosion coating. Is it a galvanize coating of Zinc? Or is it Cadmium? I'd read somewhere that Cadmium isn't as common due to its toxicity.

 

i've always heard it called "yellow chromate" or "yellow dichromate." could also be zinc chromate conversion coating. i don't know if they are the same thing or not.

 

Is this the "golden hue" you are talking about? If so, it's yellow zinc plated.

Hope that helps.

 

the new ones i have seen are green.

 

since '06 i think... they are now using green-ish ones instead because the yellow/gold are said to be mildly toxic.

 

That depends, some are not greenish, some are now just straight up silver colored, they're still plated, but I think it's just zinc. Originally these parts I believe were zinc coated followed by a yellow chromate plating. It's a multi-step process.

If you bring your parts to a local plating place they should be able to tell you the best way to get a similar finish. Rules have changed on the chemicals involved in this stuff so some things need to be done differently and may not look 100% OEM but they can get it close. I have friends who have had a bunch of nuts and bolts done. You can tell they aren't OEM, but that's only if you're an OEM fanatic, the layman won't know the difference.

Also, getting this done professionally is not cheap. There are also kits you can buy to do it yourself which are relatively inexpensive but there is a pretty steep learning curve so I wouldn't recommend going that route if you want your final product to look really good and consistent.

 

Yeah..I emailed a place that does this kind of coating. He said Honda used a 2 step process -- A galvanizing (Zinc) followed by the chromate (gives the Yellow hue).