Uhhhh....parts not rusting?

Well, I hear you on that one. I hate painting parts where the paint will wear or melt off quickly making your blasting and painting null quickly.

I have used Caswell's metal blackening kit which is basically: blast part, decrease part, soak in a solution to blacken it, rinse, dry, then soak in oil for a while to oil it.
My blackened parts still surface rust a little if I leave them out in the rain so not much protection.
I followed the instructions to a T but cold blackening is not a very heavy duty protection. I would say it is marginally better than blasting and soaking in oil. It aint like real blackening.

Attached is a before and after tumbling and cold blackening some old washers and bolts and crap I found in a dirt pile.

Then attached is a Mopar bolt I sand blasted and blackened which has not rusted in a year but it is inside my shop out of the weather.

So then I was considering this option :

Hot electro-less nickel plating.


http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/electroless.htm

Appears all that is required is a little hot plate for the shop and probably some ventilation. Someone will probably chime in about fumes and dangers and disposal and hazards and other reasons to be afraid and not do what a person wants to do...

Also here is my thread on my vibe tumbler and blackening parts that I did. It may be useful to you..

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=138012

.
.