Removing Chrome pt 1
05-16-2010, 08:27 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Removing Chrome pt 1
ok, so I posted a thread saying that I was gonna paint all the chrome on my truck black. WELL... this thread is so you do NOT make the same mistakes I did and waste your time.
Easy Off (heavy duty oven cleaner) did some research online, and this could of been my answer..sadly, it wasnt.
NEXT was power sanding to rough up the chrome
as you can see here the chrome has been...roughed useing 100 grit sandpaper on a power sander.
next, was "Self Etching primer" over sanded surface
after..
Dried for a few hours, went to wet sand it, and as soon as the paper hit the mirror, a chunk of primer came off..back to square one.
ok so what did we learn?
1. Easy off dose NOT work.
2. roughing up chrome and useing primer dose NOT work.
3. even though the mirrors of the truck are plastic, underneath the chrome is a thin layer of copper, under the copper is the plastic, now if you want, you could sand the chrome and copper off and then paint the plastic, but to get to the plastic even with a power sander it takes an *****load of tiem and you have to be very percise because the plastic sands alot faster than the metal around it, thus leading to a non smooth surface.
4. any type of bonding will not work either, you can buy a bonding agent from sherman willams or somthing and its made for slick surfaces such as glass, BUT since it is an acritectural type of paint it will be burned off by your top layer of automotive paint.
What now?
I just sprayed on 2 coats off black engine paint for the time being, I talked to a place that dose powder coating. They just sprayed a CHROME bumper off an old 52 ford and the S*** wont even scratch. So, within the next weekend or two (maybe 3) ill be taking my bumpers and grille and other chrome parts up there to be powder coated. (this is a for shur gonna work)
but this is how i ended up for now with just 2 coats over sanded chrome
Before
After
note: on final product I plan on a coat or 2 of clear coat to give her a little shine and I will be posting with my final results after I get powder coated.
Easy Off (heavy duty oven cleaner) did some research online, and this could of been my answer..sadly, it wasnt.
NEXT was power sanding to rough up the chrome
as you can see here the chrome has been...roughed useing 100 grit sandpaper on a power sander.
next, was "Self Etching primer" over sanded surface
after..
Dried for a few hours, went to wet sand it, and as soon as the paper hit the mirror, a chunk of primer came off..back to square one.
ok so what did we learn?
1. Easy off dose NOT work.
2. roughing up chrome and useing primer dose NOT work.
3. even though the mirrors of the truck are plastic, underneath the chrome is a thin layer of copper, under the copper is the plastic, now if you want, you could sand the chrome and copper off and then paint the plastic, but to get to the plastic even with a power sander it takes an *****load of tiem and you have to be very percise because the plastic sands alot faster than the metal around it, thus leading to a non smooth surface.
4. any type of bonding will not work either, you can buy a bonding agent from sherman willams or somthing and its made for slick surfaces such as glass, BUT since it is an acritectural type of paint it will be burned off by your top layer of automotive paint.
What now?
I just sprayed on 2 coats off black engine paint for the time being, I talked to a place that dose powder coating. They just sprayed a CHROME bumper off an old 52 ford and the S*** wont even scratch. So, within the next weekend or two (maybe 3) ill be taking my bumpers and grille and other chrome parts up there to be powder coated. (this is a for shur gonna work)
but this is how i ended up for now with just 2 coats over sanded chrome
Before
After
note: on final product I plan on a coat or 2 of clear coat to give her a little shine and I will be posting with my final results after I get powder coated.
Last edited by Deersunlimited; 05-16-2010 at 08:31 PM.
