Cav 72 bottle stack restore

[SodaShopNick]

I am trying to restore the interior only of a Cavalier 72 for my own use and am currently working on the bottle stack.  I have completely taken it apart and cleaned everything and am trying to determine if I zinc plate or just paint it with hammertone silver.  If I go the zinc plating route I was wondering if you zinc plan everything as I have read a few forum discussions on how some of the parts could be damaged by this process.   I am going to post some pictures of the parts which don't include the springs and rivets and disregard the gates which I know are painted. 

[SodaShopNick]

Picture #1:

[SodaShopNick]

Picture #2:

[Jim]

We utilize both Zinc plating and powder-coating for the vending stack parts. Parts that can be problematic are usually made from pot-metal or aluminum. If my memory is accurate, Cavalier did not use these type of metals in the vend stack construction but Vendo did.

[SodaShopNick]

Thanks Jim for the response.  If there is no pot metal I guess I could zinc plate everything but the bottle gates.  I am not sure what I could powder coat from the stack since there are so many tight fittings or would have to ask for zero tolerance.  I did already powder coat the tub and actual shelves. 

[Slapshot42]

The tub and shelves are safe. 

If you powder coat the armatures / gates you will have to tape the ends off.  Also be prepared for little things to bind if you powder coat those pieces .  Any moving parts I would zinc plate , or spray and clear coat .

[SodaShopNick]

Good points Jared.  So for people that have restored a Cavalier 72 what have they done with the bottle-stack?  Has anyone just used a rattle can and painted it hammertone silver? 

[Slapshot42]

I’m sure many have, its cheap and easy .  I wouldn’t advise as it’s not very durable and doing all that work tearing it down to just spray paint isn’t worth it!!

With everything stripped off the stack you can Powdercoat the stack frame.  If a few holes become slightly out of tolerance you can use a small drill bit to gain the proper tolerance back . 
 

[SodaShopNick]

Makes sense.  Then would you recommend trying to zinc plate everything else (not the gates)?   I know the two pieces in picture one sitting next to the stack, the one piece slides into the other so powder coating would not be an option as I would assume they would never fit. 

[Jim]

Makes sense.  Then would you recommend trying to zinc plate everything else (not the gates)?   I know the two pieces in picture one sitting next to the stack, the one piece slides into the other so powder coating would not be an option as I would assume they would never fit. 

Correct Nick, parts that slide into each other are good candidates for zinc plating. The bottle gates I have powder-coated white for durability over paint, the vend stack/rack is also a good powder-coat candidate. I would match the shelves and bottle stack/rack in the same color. The gate assemblies, arms that connect to the bottle gate and the rear linkage, can be powder-coated but may require a little work to get functioning smoothly; we zinc plate, yellow zinc, these arms.
To sum things up, you'll need to determine what items require movement or have close tolerances; these parts may be best suited for zinc plating, the others can be powder-coated.
Hopefully helpful...