Refinishing 81D bottle stack, what's powder coated, zinc plated, painted, etc.?

[brasskey]

I took apart my 81D bottle stack and I'm a little confused on the proper way to refinish all the parts. I got some great initial help from a member, but wanted to upload a bunch of pictures so I could get specifics. I have only restored a few machines, and they weren't an all out restoration like I'm planning for this. So, I wanted to seek the advice of the experts that have done it. I planned on replacing all the springs, but I could only find the bottle gate springs online. Are the others reproduced (I have them labeled with red arrows in the pictures)?

So, my first picture is all the parts laid out and then I grouped other pictures into parts that I think are powdercoated and then parts to zinc plate. The springs are in the pictures, but as I mentioned previously, I would like to replace them unless that's not needed. Please chime in if I have parts in a group they shouldn't be or if some simply need to be just cleaned or spray painted. I just want to to do this right. Thanks.

All parts laid out (minus front white plate which I will get painted)




POWDERCOAT












ZINC PLATE

[Fire708]

I didn't powder coat anything on my 56 but I'd be careful of how the parts fit together. The coating will add to the thickness and my interfere with movement.
http://soda-machines.com/discussions/index.php/topic,16809.0.html

For the plating, don't have the gates or any other pot metal plated. The parts will deform or melt.
I replaced the springs I could find replacements for and cleaned the rest as well as I could. Not sure how well they would do during the plating process.
There is a post on making springs
http://soda-machines.com/discussions/index.php/topic,12845.0.html

[Slapshot42]

Whatever you powder coat ask for zero tolerance on any opening it also does to tape the ends of the armatures so they fit properly!

[MoonDawg]

         The front white face plate is the only piece that really needs powder coating.
Bottles will chip the new paint around the edges and you will have your rust back the first month.
          The 2 pieces you show in the second picture are usually stainless and can be polished.
          The shelf plates shown in the 3rd picture should have the same finish you choose for your shelves and sliders.
          The shelves can be zinc plated without removing the rollers, powder coating melts them.
          Keep the bottle gates and everything in the pictures below them............. in your possession, just clean them up.
Springs become brittle after heat treatment, and the bottle gates and index cup will melt. (Try the wire wheel on the stainless rollers on the gate,
and on the face of the gate itself).
   
          And considering this is your first restoration, you don't need to go overboard. Half of the items you are concerned about will never be seen once you are done.
Think of it this way.............., every piece you sublet out has a chance of never coming back, plus the thickness may interfere with operation.

[brasskey]

Thank you everyone for the replies. So, it sounds like only the front faceplate should be powder coated. I wanted to power coat the tub liner, but since it's suggested not to powder coat any other parts I listed, I would assume I couldn't perfectly match the hammertone paint on the other galvanized parts to the powder coated tub. So, is it best just to blast the tub, shelves, and other galvanized parts and then hammertone?

[Ltransam]

Also its not necessary to replace the springs If there in good shape and have good tension I just wire  brush them and reinstall with light oil on them 99% of them are not seen .

But you can go to harbor freight and by a spring kit and make a couple from them your self
IE Actuator return & Coin return . I have done it .
But the long skinny ones Nope I haven't found a replacement   

[BrianS]

I did a stack a while back and I kept everything in your last 2 pics and just cleaned and polished.  All the springs, nuts, and spacers I kept or replaced - sodajerkworks has the smaller springs and the bottle gate clips.  Everything else I sent off to be zinc plated.  You have to decide what you want to do with the bottle gates and arms.  They are riveted together and as stated above, the gates can be damaged in the zinc process.  They gates polish up very well though with a little elbow grease.  You can get the rivets now from sodajerksworks to put the arm & gate back together or you can just clean and polish them as best you can.  The actuator cup will polish up on its own also.  I powdercoated the front plate white and the bottle rests/shelves grey to match the tub. Take pics of anything you take to get plated so you know you get all the pieces back.  Some of the pieces were originally yellow zinc, I just did everything in silver. Here are a few before/after pics.  I'm sure its not as nice as some of the other guys do, but I was pretty pleased for a rookie.

[collecture]

I have gotten fairly proficient at spring making since that post.
I bought a spring maker tool from www.advancecarmover.com and with a little practice, it does not take long. I need to get a wider selection of mandrel sizes to be more accurate. I also need to start a log with certain spring specifics, so I don't need to measure and count each time.
The spring below took about 3-4 minutes. The original spring was .020 diameter and all I had in coil was .024. The hardest parts to achieve are the number and tightness of the coils and the ends (loops, extensions, etc.), but that gets easier with time. It also amazes me just how much wire it takes to make a spring. The 12" cut wire is only good for a couple of low coil count springs like the dime scavenger spring on a SD rejector. I took a weekend morning a while back and wasted a bunch of spring wire, but I got better. I plan on spending a full day soon making a bunch of the springs as once you get it setup and in the routine, it goes quick.
I haven't ventured into compression springs, but I don't use many.
If you find one brittle, missing or broken, let me know Tito.

[brasskey]

Wow, thats very nice Brian. Thank you for the info. Thanks Leonard and Tom for the spring info. I'll definitely see what kind of shape they're in after cleaning and see if I need any of the uncommon ones made. Thanks again everyone.