well, I called the chromers a few weeks ago and actual plating is a little outta reach for me ( 15 y.o. high schooler ) so I'm lookin for alternatives for my bumpers and my grill on the 50 Chev. Thanks fellas, Coby
Coby,,no paint is going to look exactly like chrome, but Rust-Oleum makes a "Chrome Paint",,they sell it in spray cans or if you have a spray gun setup you can buy it in quarts,,lots cheaper that way. I've used it on some minibike parts and it works OK. The trick is numeruos very lite coats because it is very thin and runs like crazy. If you have any othe questions about it or paint questions email me because I only check this board every once in awhile so I may not see your question. [email protected]
Ugh, hell no. I'd rather sell the car to afford chrome on the bumpers than paint them. It is a little pricey and I'm not quite sure about it, but HOK makes a paint that has a legit chrome effect. I have no idea how it works just yet because I've never used it, but it is out there. Just another option.
Alsa corp make a chrome paint. Its actually kinda cool- looks like chrome but not. Maybe a good alternative if you still want the shiny... what they say about it: "WHAT IS KILLER CHROME? Killer Chrome is simply the finest ground metallic pigment available anywhere. This assures a mirro-like finish every time! A far cry from other would-be chrome spray paints which do not deliver what they advertise. Combine Killer Chrome with our (2K) 2 component clearcoat and you have a true automotive finish! http://www.alsacorp.com/products/killercans/kc/killerchrome.htm
Eastwood makes a powdercoat kit that has a 'chrome' powdercoat that looks pretty good. The basic gun is under a hundred bucks and comes with 2 cans of powder, 1 chrome, 1 black. That's last time I checked. The bad thing is you need an oven to bake the part in once its sprayed. Don't use your Mom's. Good news is you could use a toaster oven (if the parts are small enough). Or you could pick up a used oven for $20... Do a couple of parts for someone at a minimal fee and make your money back, or get a couple of buddies to go in on it. Did you scrub the hell out of your chrome with steel wool yet? Get the fine stuff. 00 to 0000 I think. Won't be perfect but it'll help. Might be a good idea to clear coat after to seal the metal.
B4 you do anything, try scrubbing your bumpers etc. with aluminum foil. I haven't tried it but I've heard it works well. If I was 15 again (you lucky little shit) and on a budget thats what I would do. You don't need perfect chrome and a lot of flash to have a cool ride!
Let me make a suggestion coming from someone who was 15 once. Focus every single effort and dollar you have on making the car dead reliable. Great steering, brakes, tires, etc. Don't spend a single dime on appearance until you can honestly say that every mechanical feature is 100%. Once you get everything mechanically 100%, then start to focus on the cosmetic things like door fit, windows, seat belts, rust out areas, gauges working, etc, etc. LAST of all... Worry about anything that just ought to look better or needs customized. I am not sure what condition your ride is in, but just some thoughts from an old guy... Good luck and have fun!
I think that the best thing for you to do is leave them as is until you can save up some cash. I have seen crome paint used before by my brother-n-law and it looked very bad. Focus on what you can afford and take it one step at a time. You will be much happier with the end result if you don't get it finished for a few years. Just do what you can until you can get a decent paying job.
Coby, I recently posted a thread pondering this same issue. Only I had already gotten my '34's grill and bumper powder coated what I was told would be a color called 'almost chrome'. It may have well have been called 'almost blind' because that's what you'd have to be to believe it was almost chrome. I then painted it, (on a HMABer's recommendation) with Dupli-Color's chrome paint. Bad idea. This looks as, dare I say it, as 'rat rod' as is gets. I can't stomach the cost of the Alsa paint, although I would like to see it in person it looks REAL nice in print and on the web. My metal is pitted to badly too have chromed, which is why it went to the powder coater. I've since decided to paint the grill the body color and use as much of the repopped chrome add-ons; V8 and Ford logo, stainless trim that runs the perimeter of grill opening and the chrome radiator cap. Whatever you do, think long and hard and do some testing before you do the real parts. Vance
alsa stuff is preety good prep for it like normal paint but it is not buff able so it got to be dirt free no touch ups! looks good from10feet. I think its 400 a quart or so! pricey but way less than plating.
Someone on the Hamb has a Chev with bumpers and grille that were stripped to the copper plating, then presumably clear coated. A viable alternative that's cheap and looks good. A plater would be able to do reverse electrolisis to take the chrome off without too much cost. The vast majority of chrome cost is in the buffing and polishing to get the article suitable for plating. I got a horn ring plated, and they put 5 hours into the prep!!
kindof repeating what was already said but, the rustoleum "chrome" paint is for interior use only. Read the can. The rustoleum chrome paint is really just a bright silver. I thought putting a coat of clear over it might make it look better and hold up better on some turn signal reflectors. The clear really knocked down the metal flake in the paint so it just looks dull silver. It looked like crap and I ended up redoing them with regular silver paint. If I'd tried it on something that really shows, I would have been pissed. My 17 Y.O. son Dylan is working on a custom '65 F-100, so I know where you're coming from. Keep it up and keep asking questions. Tom Tom
Save your money and use it on something mechanical and get the car reliable. Wait until you can buy new ones (Ebay) or rechrome them. If you HAVE to paint them then Alsa Corps stuff is the closest you will get. From about 10 feet it looks like chrome and close up you can tell it's not but still nice. The trick to that is to lay your black base coat down and wetsand and buff the hell outta the black and get it as shiney as possible and then lay down the Alsa Chrome and when that is done you can buff that and wipe with a soft cloth to shine it up some. When you lay your clear on it, it will dull it out just a touch but that's how it is, nothing to do about it.
Put a wanted ad in the HAMB classifieds for nice driver quality bumpers and grille. I'd much rather have some decent used trim parts than have some spraypainted junk. For $200-$300 you aught to be able to buy some decent useable bumpers and grille. The Alsa stuff is quite impressive, I've seen it up close. Problem is, there is a ton of prep involved, and the materials are expensive. I would only use that on something that can't be plated, like fiberglass bumpers or trim that was repaired with a non-plateable filler.
umm do this this is seriously good advice that i personally should frame on my wall. But there is also a new alternative to chrome plating called vacuum metalizing (google it) not sure if its availible yet to people like us yet or what the cost is but since chroming is so pricey i bet it would be cheaper. basically it evaporates a metal and coats the part uniformly and looks alot like chrome. http://www.muellercorp.com/process.htm
Glad to see all the old HAMBers not giving this kid any shit! Like..."do a search" or "why the f--- would you do that"...As of lately there has been way too much bitchin and not enough answers. I LOVE this place!
he did say "bumpers and grill", might rethink the cost of an oven to do that. he can do it with IR lights, again, not affordable, I vote he goes with the "make it mechanically nice, then make it pretty later" mindset.
Vacuum Metalizing is the process of creating a very thin aluminum film that is eventually cut into very small particles that can be put into paint and sprayed with standard spray equiptment. Actually Alsa, as well as everyone else making "chrome looking " paint, is vacuum metalized aluminum flake. The problem with all of these though is adhesion issues. If you get a stone chip it will eventually peel away the rest of the paint. I would not recommend it for bumpers. Jerry
Absolutely. But he asked about the shiny bits. Are we to assume that the car in question is a piece of crap because he's young? Maybe it's ready for finish work. Who knows? Again, you're right. And powder coating is your expertise, not mine. Around here full sized ovens can easily be had for well under $50. If I was doing big parts I'd get two, pull the doors off and put them face to face. Where there's a will there's a way.
And then die from the gas fumes, or blow up your garage with a nice little spark. If he's 15 lets let him live to see his license.
Thanks for all the great ideas fellas. I've looked on the National Chevy Association website and I can buy brand new one piece bumpers for 350 a piece ( good option down the line ). And I'm glad you all suggested the mechanically sound aspect of everything. I've put all new brake lines and fixed alot of the "unsafe stuff" on the car ( leaky carb, broken header stud, rebuilt wheel cylinders, rebuilt master cylinder, etc ). Me and my Dad have been painting the car ( pics soon ) and I don't wanna put rough lookin bumpers and shit back on it so, thanks again. Later Coby
if you want the bumpers and grill to look nice try what My dad and I did on my dads valve covers. Duplicolor makes a very nice looking wheel paint that is a nice metalic silver grey. it dosent look cheesy, and is pretty tough. whats nice is it paints nice and evenly. then when you clear over it, you freak out, because it goes a solid grey. the next morning you come out to the garage and it is just beautiful. its worth a try. http://www.duplicolor.com/products/wheel.html we used the Silver color. Jordan
I was gonna say almost the same thing. Start out with some 0000 steel wool, then use some Eagle One Never Dull and alot of chrome will come back. My buddy swears by diet coke and aluminum foil, never tried it. If I was 15, I would be trying it.
quoted for troof! Make the thing drive good and dont spend a penny on looks until it runs the way you want it... That said there is very little a good cleaning cant help.. spend some time and elbow grease with steel wool and the old chrome will shine up better. You can always tell your friends its a rat rod until you have the resources to make it look better.
It is possible they have improved this in the last few years but when I tried it a ways back I was not thrilled with the results. 1. It was very expensive. 2. It requires lots and lots of prep (more then regular paint). 3. It doesn't really look like chrome when finished. This was my experience but perhaps others have had better luck?
We saw an awesome chrome 47' Panel Truck at the Louisville show. The site is (http://www.goldtouchchrome.com). I'm going to have to agree with everyone on the fact that nothing does justice to a car like the real thing. Real Chrome bumpers, and a Real Chrome grill. For anything else this paint job up close and personal was fantastic.
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