We actually damage a lot of our chrome by using "chrome cleaners". The abrasiveness of them takes a little bit of the surface away each time we use it and shortens the life of our plating. Instead of chrome cleaner it is much better to use wax on it with a microfiber towel. Secondly, not all chrome is the same. As was mentioned above, some chrome shops do a better plating job than others. I have some parts on my 27 that were done 25 years ago by Advanced Plating and they still look like the day I got them back. They were twice as much as another plater I used for other parts, but the cheaper chrome went away years ago. Don
What about clear paint over chrome? My chrome failed due to cat pee, I'm sure, and subsequent neglect. Plastic paint really resists that stuff. Otherwise wax is good. it just dissolves from cat pee. (EDIT: Ummm, my wife informs me that it was dog pee, so either way. )
Glad to live in the northern high desert. Spoiled by rust free metals here in Eastern WA. Posted using my chicken and 2 cigs
I hate reading posts like this! I have a '52 Pontiac and the grill chrome is going to cost $$$$ and likely be a disappointment for years to come when compared to the custom chrome grill my dad put on his '69 Eldo
growing up in az you could find shot up rusted to the ground cars that had super bright shiney chrome bumpers and trim after years of neglect. you get what you pay for, it seems more than ever now
Really? I've got clear powdercoat on my polished aluminum moldings that look the same today as when I first did 'em over ten years ago ...
The clearcoat on my bike yellow'd appreciably in 5 years because I parked it in the sun every day. Indoors it should stay clear much longer. But overall I'd rather have yellow chrome than rusty chrome, assuming the paint really protects it and also not encapsulates problems that are already under the chrome. IMO if the chrome is done wrong you can't save it. It'll peel and spot and flake. But if done well, it's worth protecting. If that means I put cosmoline on it, and wipe it off when I want to show the car, then that works. But I'm building a driver & I'm thinking less and less about chrome, and more about horsepower and good running gear. Few come here crying, "My car is ugly!" but many come crying that it won't run well.
Automotive clear coat generally doesn't stick very well to really smooth surfaces like chrome especially it is on something like a bumper that is going to getting hit with road debris and such. I would think you are going to have a problem with it peeling off and or chipping long before it starts to yellow.
Wouldn't ya like to be the sumbitch that invents a new space-age coating that shines like chrome,bonds straight to metal, don't rust and is cheap!!!
By the time you pay for good clear and spend the time redoing it every other year you might as well just pay for good quality chrome.
LOL I will for myself. Sometimes being cheap doesn't pay off in the end. I also have to imagine if dog pee is ruining your cheap chrome paint stripper is not going to do wonders for it either.
If the old platers weren't poisioning everything downstream of them, and the water table beneath them, regulation wouldn't have been necessary. Regulations are not made up to randomly screw with people, they are a response to unsafe activities.
The underground platers need to get with the meth lab crowd to learn how to dispose of their chemicals.
Preparation is the key to good plating. If it's not prepped right and clean correct plating still won't last. Copper(acid and cyanide) is another very important component to beautiful long lasting plating. 2 kinds of chrome , hexavalent (white look) and trivalent(deep blue look). Very few hex baths left. If u got one u couldn't give it away ! Wanna know more ? Ask me . Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
The Jalopy Journal
