There is disclose a method of and apparatus for surface-treatment of half sliding bearings having a multi-layer construction including a steel backing, a bearing alloy layer of copper alloy or aluminum alloy, an intermediate plating layer and a surface layer. A plurality of half sliding bearings are attached to a support member in such a manner that the half sliding bearings are arranged end-to-end into a semi-cylindrical configuration. The support member is transferred to be sequentially inserted into a plurality of openable and closable plating cases mounted respectively within pretreatment tanks and plating tanks, thereby sequentially forming the intermediate plating layer and the surface layer on the half sliding bearings.