Grepper? You still with us? Your last login was back in mid-June.
Anyways, gave this "Zinc Electroplating" procedure a try on my "Centerstand Lift Assist" parts.
Cleaned them up in preparation for plating.
I reduced the recipe in post #1 by 1/2, making just over a half gallon of plating solution.
Ran the plate process at 3volts, 300ma, 30 minutes.
The plated parts come out with a white scum surface, which has to be water rinse brushed off.
After drying, the remaining thin white coating is polished off with #0000 steel wool.
They came out fairly shiny.
Following this recipe/procedure, I measured the Zinc plating at about 1 micron (40 microinches).
Cleaned up the parts, and ran them again for two more cycles.
The plating is thin enuff to not interfere with threads and close-fitting parts.
It's also thin enuff to show surface blemishes. So, expect to retain the original surface roughness, but it'll be shinier.
Only about half the Zinc Sulfate would dissolve, not sure if the recipe should be adjusted.
The way that the white scum builds up on the surface during plating, I don't think that sessions longer than 30 minutes would be advised. So, plan on multiple cycles if you want thicker plating...