I am trying to find out the best way to go about gold plating the center caps on my cars' wheels. The center caps are made of aluminum, with what looks to me to be a "pot metal" bracket riveted to the back, which holds the center cap in place on the wheel.
I read about zincating the aluminum, and then plating it, but what effect will the pot metal brackets have on the process?
Do I have to drill out the rivets and remove the pot metal brackets, or can I complete this process without separating them?