Painting Chrome ???

[dean pearson]

Question for the experts:
What is the best process for prepping old pitted chrome for paint?
I like the look plus cant afford to re plate mine there is just too much of it.
Dean Pearson[B)]

[jnormanh]

You'll need to remove all the corrosion, which can be a chore, especially on zinc die castings. A dremel tool or similar can be used to clean out the pits. Then a good sanding - you don't need to remove all the plaing if it is not blistered or peeling, then some bondo to fill the pits, sand, primer and paint.

[Tom Bredehoft]

Power sand the entire surface to get it rough, dig the corrosion out of the pits, die grinder, dental drill, whatever. Paint with [I can't find the can] some spray stuff that bonds to chrome, prime, fill pits with body filler of some sort, sand, prime, repeat until glassy smooth, paint like anything else. But I'm no expert, wait till Ray reports in.

[img=left]http://www.alink.com/personal/tbredehoft/Avatar1.jpg[/img=left]
Tom Bredehoft
'53 Commander Coupe (since 1959)
'55 President (6H Y6) State Sedan
(Under Construction 608 hrs.)
'05 Legacy Ltd Wagon
All Indiana built cars

[dean pearson]

I read online where a 3 to 1 mix of muriatic acid would remove the chrome but leave the copper?
Sounds like something I should test on a part I don't need!

[Swifster]

The easiest way is going to the chromer and having the plating removed. This is the first step in replating.

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Tom - Mulberry, FL

1964 Studebaker Daytona - 289 4V, 4-Speed (Cost To Date: $2125.60)

1964 Studebaker Commander 170-1V, 3-speed w/OD (Cost to Date: $623.67)

[jnormanh]

quote:Originally posted by dean pearson

I read online where a 3 to 1 mix of muriatic acid would remove the chrome but leave the copper?
Sounds like something I should test on a part I don't need!

Muriatic will remove the chrome, which is only a few millionths of an inch thick. It will not attack the underlying nickel (.001"-.002" thick) or the copper if there is any copper. Die castings will always have copper as the first layer, steel parts may or may not have copper.

If you have pits, then all of the plating layers have failed at that spot, and there may be corrosion spreading under the remaining plating. If you see any blisters, you can be sure there is corrosion underneath. Dig it out.

Forget the Muriatic. If you use Muriatic on zinc die cast it will go after the zinc in a big way.

Even a moderate sanding will remove the thin chrome top layer, and you can paint over the copper and nickel just fine.

[jnormanh]

quote:Originally posted by jnormanh

quote:Originally posted by dean pearson

I read online where a 3 to 1 mix of muriatic acid would remove the chrome but leave the copper?
Sounds like something I should test on a part I don't need!

Muriatic will remove the chrome, which is only a few millionths of an inch thick. It will not attack the underlying nickel (.001"-.002" thick) or the copper if there is any copper. Die castings will always have copper as the first layer, steel parts may or may not have copper.

If you have pits, then all of the plating layers have failed at that spot, and there may be corrosion spreading under the remaining plating. If you see any blisters, you can be sure there is corrosion underneath. Dig it out.

Forget the Muriatic. If you use Muriatic on zinc die cast it will go after the zinc in a big way. It will probably do more damage than good.

Even a moderate sanding will remove the thin chrome top layer, and you can paint over the copper and nickel just fine.

[dean pearson]

jnormanh, You are absolutly right but about ten minutes too late,
It worked really well but anywhere it could get around the copper, like in the pits is a bad thing.
So.... like you said I will just sand it off or possibly go with swifsters advise and have the chrome guy remove it.
P.S. Mr. Swifster judging by your cost to date you obviously don't live in california having this chrome removed alone will cost me more than you have in your commander.
I have spent more than that on sandpaper and buzz can primer!
Man could you teach me a thing or two!

[jnormanh]

quote:Originally posted by jnormanh

quote:
P.S. Mr. Swifster judging by your cost to date you obviously don't live in california having this chrome removed alone will cost me more than you have in your commander.

Running a plating shop is expensive. Talented platers don't come cheap, the electricity bill is enormous, chemicals are expensive, worker safety costs money, waste disposal costs a small fortune, and then there are all the regular expenses of any business.

The lowest cost shop I know of needs about $100 per man hour to break even, $125 to make a profit. Some shops are twice that.

Plating, say, a new bumper is cheap and easy. Clean, plate, ship. Bingo. Total labor under an hour.

Plating an old bumper is very time consuming. Straighten, strip, derust, remove dents, fill pits, plate, polish and finally plate some more. It's easy to spend 6-8 hours on a smallish one. Twice that on a 50's GM.

When I worked in a job plating shop, we'd have people come on with a bent, dented, rusty old Mustang bumper. I always told them they'd be better off to buy a new Taiwan made repro for $65. The Taiwan ones were pretty nice, close to original.

We couldn't do all the work required on their old bumper for four times that.

Stripping old parts? Most shops won't want your business, because you'll go through the roof when they tell you the cost. Some of them may be ripoff artists, but even a fair price is more than you'll think.

[dean pearson]

AMEN

[Swifster]

quote:Originally posted by dean pearson

P.S. Mr. Swifster judging by your cost to date you obviously don't live in california having this chrome removed alone will cost me more than you have in your commander.
I have spent more than that on sandpaper and buzz can primer!
Man could you teach me a thing or two!

I haven't done much...

As an insurance guy, I'll say rechroming a Studebaker front or rear bumper (non-Avanti) should run around $300-$350 each. Just stripping the chrome off shouldn't be THAT bad. Maybe $75. The guy I use for 'driver quality' has been the 'Chrome Guy' (CA) out of Hemmings. No complaints so far. This isn't show quality stuff, but decent. If I need show quality stuff, I have a couple of places in AL & GA.

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Tom - Mulberry, FL

1964 Studebaker Daytona - 289 4V, 4-Speed (Cost To Date: $2125.60)

1964 Studebaker Commander 170-1V, 3-speed w/OD (Cost to Date: $623.67)

[TedsHawk]

I have had good luck with just sandblasting the part, (as long as there is not lots of pealing chrome) and then just treating it as a reg metal part. filling pits with putty and painting, have done that in the past for myself and others and never remember any problems. lasted as long as getting cheap re pro chrome and as log as the rest of the paint job. did it with mustang bumpers acually!

1957 Golden Hawk
"Studebaker? they dont make them anymore"