Customs Vinyl wrapping chrome instead of rechroming

Hi, new here, with a project 54 chevy Belair.

I've got all of the chrome pieces, but the previous owner destroyed the finish on the grille with 200 grit paper. Rechroming is currently out of the budget, so I was wondering if anyone's used the modern chrome vinyl wraps for that purpose?

It would be easy to just use filling primer and 800 grit, then shoot a few layers of clear and then wet sand to get an acceptable finish.

Plus it's cheap and easily removed of I want to chrome it.

Anyone done something like that?

 

Let me know if the photos don't open to full size.

As I said, it's rough.

 

I think there are three or four inquiries on this already. The usual it's great or it's crap with some concern
about longevity. I have this same issue on my 53, (so is yours) so I'm saving up for the real thing and driving while I wait. Look for chrome alternatives.

 

Related topic.... I’ve seen some really impressive work with chrome paint (like the rims in the photo). I’ve also seen some that were less than great.

I’m not talking about the auto parts store rattle cans, but the type you use a spray gun to lay over black.

 

This is vinyl wrap. Not sure I would want to undertake a whole grill as a first project. It takes some practice to get it right.

Sent from my SM-G950W using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

That fake chrome always photographs better than it looks in person, and most of them are fragile finishes. Jivin' Jer tried the spray chrome on his chopped garnish moldings for his coupe and it didn't survive installation...

 

NICE work on the 'wrap'! Wife Joey used to cover our Control Line scale planes with 'Monokote', a similar iron-on plastic...
Most of the other fliers (competitors) asked her to cover theirs... LOL (she said "No.")
My son used the 'Carbon Fiber' pattern on his O/T BMW hood. (WOW!)
If you do it right, (patiently!) and pull it to stretch it properly, with heat gun...It wall turn out.
Just LOOK at the 'bezel' on @SM-G950W (Whew!) and you can see some expertise was applied here...Convex profile was stretched and laid down to a 'Tee'.
Great work.
I have some 'history' in this...

 

There are some companies that do chrome powder coating. I don’t know how it looks maybe do a Google search. I would imagine it has same durability as regular powder coating.

 

Hot water and gentle use of an SOS pad would help those parts out.

 

Looks like polished aluminum with no clear coat but scratches easily. You can clear-coat it, but then it looks like it's polished aluminum coated with milk. I tried some, I wasn't at all impressed...

 

I had some parts "chrome" powder coated. They came out silver but darn sure ain't chrome. There isn't much in the glossy shine department.

 

Isn't all the fake chrome on new cars done with vinyl ? It seems to hold up reasonably well with care.

 

To the OP. Maybe first just try some elbow grease. With brass wool and WD40 or turtle wax chrome polish. Just clean it as much as you can.

I would not recommend vinyl over a rough surface anyhow. They vinyl with show all that if indeed it is rough. I would say clean it run it as is. Save some cash to buy either nicer replacements with good chrome or good cores to chrome.
Unless you can get the vinyl all over the part in one piece and turn the edge. The seams will want to come up. it’s take a bit but it will come up over time.

maybe buy some small samples and so a small piece before investing your money into a whole roll. also sometimes depending where you live and garages or not it may not hold over time to the weather.

I ran crusty bumpers, cleaned as much as I could and just saved up enough to send them out to chrome. But if you have bigger things to fry do those things first.

 

I had the same experience. It looks like polished aluminum but not the most shiny version of it.

 

It's not on my DD, it's real chrome... They know how to chrome plastic these days...

 

Fake chrome on new cars is vacuum metalized abs parts. This is a reflective aluminum fused to the plastic.

 

Maybe on some cheaper cars, but I haven't seen any. They do use a vacuum metalizing process, but they do copper first then plate it like any steel part. The process has actually been around since the '60s, but they had issues for a long time with the different coefficients of expansion between the plastic and the plating and the plating would tend to crack then start peeling. Ford used that on their column shift knobs on the fancier models in the late '60s, it would split and slice your hand open if not careful. Vacuum metalizing was used on the dash trim in the mid-to-late '60s; you know, the 'chrome' that would eventually wipe off from cleaning.

 

Citric acid bath. Then you could buff it to shine more.

 

Dang I forget about that hard chrome on knobs and parts. Yeah!

 

Typically I'd be all for the SOS scrub on a chrome piece that rough, but in my experience, the plating on 1951-1954 Chevy car grilles is so thin that any hard polishing takes the plating off and leaves the copper exposed, except for the die cast teeth. Those you can scrub the fuck out of with an SOS and they will get shiny, although they'll be pitted.

I've heard really good things about soaking chrome plated steel stuff in wood bleach, I think it's also called oxalic acid or something like that, a lot of chrome wire wheel guys do that since the wires are so hard to polish around. I saw good results.

But overall I like the idea of seeing how much shine you can get out of the old grille, then upgrade as good used pieces come available.

I've seen a handful of small parts done with the chrome wrap and it can look decent for someone on a budget, but I think that grille is such a massively complex shape, and it would take so much surface prep and smoothing before you could even attempt to get the wrap to lay on, it'd end up being way more work than it's worth for an OK/temporary finish.

 

I looked at it for parts on my '51 Ford Custom, bumpers and side spears. Went to the powder coater and he showed me a sample of his chrome powder coat. It was more silver and had slight orange peel to it so it was not smooth and he said. "I didn't think you would like it but you wanted to see." He was very honest about it not even close to real chrome but "That's what they call it." I am considering the vinyl on the side spears until I replace them with real and currently have the bumpers painted silver from a rattle can. I am picking up some repop real chrome bumpers from that other online warehouse

 

What is being overlooked here on American car chrome from 1950/1953 is the Korean War that caused a shortage of materials for good chrome finishes.

Many makes in that era had cheesy pot metal trim plated with minimal coatings and many were ‘threadbare’ within just a few years. Being cared for, and/or garaged, prolonged the life of the plating, but most deteriorated in a shorter time span than those that came before and after.

Ray

 

Hnstray is correct about the era of "Korean Chrome". Many brand new cars had pitted chrome by the time they were shipped to dealer lots.

 

Nope. Electrically conductive plastic can be plated, like metal.

 

find 54 chevy fenders. plenty of repo grille parts. 53 like yours is a lot harder to find.

 

See, that gives me hope that the idea may actually work.

Yes I'm concerned on the amount of prep work. Well feeling primer is easy to sand, I'm so going to have to clear and wet sand which may or may not be enjoyable.

The suggestion for citric acid is a really good idea, I'll have to buy some more and put it in my tub and see how it comes out.

 

Hello,

For some time when the wrapping business was in full play, there were mobile companies that came to your house or business to finish your car. In South Orange County, there was a huge business near the dreaded, El Toro Interchange with the 405-I5 freeway. They were doing great guns wrapping all sorts of cars/trucks. But, in talking with one of the salesmen, he said that it must be placed on a smooth surface to get the best effect. Then, it is hard to detect if it is real paint or chrome or the wrapping. In the showroom and outside in the parking lot, it was hard to tell what was painted and what was wrapped.

Your old 1954 Chevy Bel Air front area has a lot of chrome pieces and it does not look pristine to begin with in this case. One of my friends had a 2 door Bel Air Hardtop and he was going to get a tube grille. So, I said that I could try and put his grille on my 58 Impala. With all of the pieces from his Chevy Bel Air, that was going to be quite a modifying job. It was going to look different, but those chrome pieces from the Bel Air Hardtop were pristine, and not pitted or rusty.

The key statement from the “horse’s mouth” was the salesman from the wrapping shop saying: “…It must be placed on a smooth surface…”

Jnaki

Do as much as you can to smooth out the surface, but you may have to wait until the re-chroming process is available to you and your bank account. Try this, take some clear food wrapping thin sheets and wrap your present bumper and grille parts. You will see what rust, scratches and defects will show up on the wrapped surfaces.

Another friend had a mobile van business with the early wrapping techniques and products. He covered cars, vans and whatever else there was to cover. He also had the custom printed wording and advertisements available to incorporate into the wrap. They looked nice, but they were all installed on smooth, prepped surfaces.

Note: Due to the current pandemic, that huge wrapping business near the El Toro Freeway Interchange in So Cal, is no longer in business.

 

Go to a company that does vinyl wraps and ask to see the stuff.

many different price points and quality of vinyl wrap material.

good stuff and wayyyyyyy cheaper then chrome.

but your bumper would need to be very smooth for it to lay down properly and look good / last.

 

I know why you want to do it and it seems technically capable of being done, but it doesn't scream Traditional Hotrod to me. But, not my car, just MTC

 

If it does work and look decent, I wonder what rock chips will look like on the surface.