Assistance with tech. question concerning standard Zinc plate yellow chromate

I need some anwsers about Zinc plate Yellow chromate finish. i.e., GM 4344M 6D96/48.

How many days after the finish is applied, is the part fully cured ?

Is there a finish hardness diffrence on day one compared to day 14 ( after finish is applied) ? Does heat to the finish change or distort the finish ? If so what tempatures, and what does it do to the finish ? Will this tempature to the finish change the salt spray protection of 96/48 ?

How can someone tell if the processor skipped the required bake cycle required for this spec ?

Yellow chromate on Zinc ( or aluminum) require at lest 24 hours to cure. There may be a small change in the 14 -day period you mention, but not very significanat. Heating above 150 °F will dehydrate the protective film. The result is loss of salt spray protection, and loss of the self healing properties of chromate conversion coatings.

Standard Process would be to Plate part as you normally would except dry good with out chromate, Bake for hydrogen embrittlement the chromate or brite dip in .5% nitric acid and chromate (of course all the rinse's) depending on process, how well parst are pre-dried and and there may be some dullness to the parts