I don't think that plating, by itself, would be a sufficient repair. I am sure that splines can be repaired, maybe the relevant question is whether it can be done economically ? A fellow I know is restoring a Norris race car (kind of a hybridized 4 wheel motorcycle). Anyway, he needed a splined shaft repaired and ended up going to a specialized machine shop in Los Angeles and paid several hundred dollars for a one-off production, and was happy to get his part. His comment to me was that he was lucky to find this shop, since the guy who ran it did it sort of as a hobby, all of the tools were paid for and so he didn't have to charge market rates, and he had a specialized machine tool (a shaper of some sort) for cutting splines. Granted, this shaft required internal splines, but machine shop time is expensive. If someone were to repair hubs I would expect that metal would be added by welding, then the splines machined anew. Hard chroming is great for abrasion resistance but I don't think that it is any stronger than steel, and strength of material, not abrasion, seems to be the weak link for these hubs.
Having said all of that, let me add that I hope that you are successful since I have worn hubs ! I don't remember any "clunking", but an examination does reveal worn splines. I have a series V so replacements are reportedly available, although not inexpensive, so if you find a suitable repair solution please keep me informed.
-Roger
Tim Stiffy wrote:
>
> A question to the group. My SI has wire wheels and suffers from the dreaded
> "clunk" of worn hubs. Has anyone been successful at repairing them? I was
> able to find some used front hubs that were not worn too bad, but still are
> in need of one or both rear hubs. As I was digesting yesterdays turkey, I
> was wondering if anyone tried building up the splines with industrial hard
> chrome. Everything but the splines could be masked off and a .005"-.010"
> coating applied. Would that be thick enough? Any comments?
>
> Does anyone know how wide the flat is at the top of the splines when new?
> If we knew, we could judge how much wear has taken place.
>
> Can I assume that there is equal wear in the wire wheels? Which spline was
> intended to wear out first?
>
> Last, has anyone considered having repo hubs made? Are drawings available?
> In my business, I have contact with many machine shops. Would anyone be
> interested in building an order?
>
> Let me know what everyone thinks.
>
> Tim Stiffy
> Alpine SI