John, what about Cerakote? Goes on more or less like powdercoat, is oven cured and proven tough. I think they have metallic colors too.

 

Black Chrome is intoxicating to me and my intent was to do my second set of duckfeet in black chrome, or find a set of IPL wheels or a set of the iconic coupe sport wheels from the G35 and plate them in black chrome: https://www.ebay.com/itm/265522423644

The trivalent chrome process is more environmentally friendly, so I need to figure out if black chrome is available in that process.

 

Never heard of it. I'll do some research.

Meanwhile, I'm going to have to call Socket's guy in CA after they wake up on the west coast. This is the third time in the last week that I've reached out to a company via email and got no response.

(sigh)

It feels like people don't email anymore.

 

Folks in the aftermarket auto world are not emailers. Some will text, but its not consistent. I texted Steve and said you'd be emailing him, but I'd still call if I were you.

 

I know the firearms industry has moved away from 'blued' hot salt finishes and parkerization for decades because of environmental reasons... they have a ton of finishes now that are black-chrome-blued ish. PVD, nitriding, DLC, what Beretta calls Inox on stainless, etc etc etc.

There has to be some crossover - it's all just industrial coatings at some level. All with the idea of protecting the underlying metal and/or presenting a durable cosmetic finish.

//I almost bought a set of black-chrome Nismo v1 wheels for the G but I still don't know if I can sanely fit the rears in there.

 

Just got off the phone. "We don't do Black Chrome anymore."

So there we are.

 

Trivalent chrome appears to be a safer, more environmentally friendly alternative to hexavalent chrome. Provides a durable corrosion-resistant finish similar to hexavalent chrome, but without the toxicity. Tradeoffs are complexity, softer, color is off from hexavalent and limited corrosion resistance in harsh climates.

 

If you're willing to ship it to CA, then I would suggest trying LM Chrome in Santa Ana, CA. They've done several projects for me in the past, including some black chrome plating, and it all turned out great.

https://lmchromecorp.com/

I would not recommend powder coating your strut tower bar. Powder coating will add a bit of thickness to the bar, which may make it difficult to slide into the brackets without chipping the powder coating. Power coating can also be a bit brittle, so although I don't think the strut bar will actually flex enough to crack the powder coating, but it will more than likely crack a bit when you tighten the mounting bolts. I have first hand experience with this. Although, if you aren't a perfectionist like me and don't mind a bit of chipping or cracking that no one else will probably notice then go for it. However, from your past posts and discussions on this forum over the past 10 - 15 years, I think you are like me and even a small amount of chipping will likely drive you nuts. LOL

 

Email sent just now. Thanks.

That's good advice about fitment, and torquing down the end-caps where the paint chips. Seems the simple solution would be to mask the bracket-facing sides of the end-caps.

 

Crap. I wonder why. Black chrome wheels look insane to me: https://jncwheels.com/products/jnc033-black-chrome

 

Or here's an idea... mask the entire end-caps, from the tig welds back, and only powdercoat the bar itself, not the ends.

 

Z1 offers a painted strut tower brace for our cars. I wonder if they would entertain painted it a custom color for an added charge? I know the one on the Z is also painted, but I have mostly seen polished aluminum. I like the current look of your engine bay, but I know how it is when one gets the itch.

the Z bar would look insane in black chrome tucked away in the G’s engine bay (OEM++). I seem to recall years ago someone trying to make it fit, but could not.

https://ebay.us/m/XHed5L

 

Tanabe makes one in anodized red with black brackets.

https://www.tanabe-usa.com/towerbar.asp


I've been scratching pretty hard over the last week.

I emailed Adrian's California contact yesterday, but am not expecting a response. These website emails seem to go nowhere these days. So I'll try calling them this afternoon. If it's another bust, then I'm back to square one with my already vetted powder coater.

 

That Tanabe bar looks nice. Z1 makes one as well as I updated my initial post.

 

Yep, not bad. And it's adjustable, so you dial in perfect fitment side to side. That's one aspect that's missing from most FSTB designs. Granted, mine has adjustability up and down by maybe 1/2", but the side to side fitment is either perfect or it isn't.