Chrome powder just looks like a crappy aluminum polish job if you ask me. Must be cleared or it will turn gray super quick. Vacuum metalization is a close to chrome as it get, just not a lot of company's can pony up the $250,000 (for the smallest machine) to do custom projects. paint on chrome (not Alsa) process someone mentioned looks good, and you can paint over body work if need be. tint the clears to look like a candy, etc. the company that has the paint that looks good is in Florida (cant remember the name)
Chrome powder looks like clear anodized aluminum trim to me. Looks OK on smaller parts. Seems like the clear powder "clouds" the chrome.
the company in florida http://www.sprayonchrome.com/ads.html i can't find anyone that has tryed this one
eastwood single stage "almost chrome" no top coat. So far after 3 years still looks good, and way better than the original paint that was on them. definitely not chrome though.
When I was blasting, I had a customer that owned a bike shop with a spray chrome system. It looked pretty good, but it did turn gold on things that get too hot... like engine cases. If I were to go that route on my '54, I would have _everything_ done that way so at least it would look consistent. It would be weird to have a spray chrome bumper hanging below a real chrome grill.
I saw them a SEMA about 4-5 years ago, almost bought the system not that bad $12,000 at the time for the biggest, best, blah blah. I does look great, I don't know about durability
I wished all the powder manufactures would call it super silver or similar. I HATE explaining this same conversation 20x people a week!!! Although if I tell them it looks like smashed assholes...... lol
You can see the contrast with the chrome coil. It certainly is not a replacement for chrome but I don't think I'll ever be able to afford real chrome. If you get down and complain that you can't shave in my carb linkage...I've got two words for you... I just talked to a friend who wanted to have the chrome trim rings rechromed that came with his H/L frenching kit that has been on the road for many years. Maybe 10"in diam. 1 1/2" wide, no pits or dents no repair work just strip, repolish and dip....350 Amercan dollars for the pair!!! They obviously have more work than they want and are weeding out all the pikers. Consider me weeded.
Here is the company that has the technology you want. I saw them at SEMA last year and this stuff looks like chrome. Here is their website. http://www.sprayonchrome.com/index2.html
a little off topic but has anyone setup to do there own chrome at home with a kit like this? http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/
Here are some items I have done recently in the "ultimate chrome" powder with acrylic clear powder topcoat. Like I said, it looks like Jet-Hot header coating to me. My camera and photo skills are poor though.
A bag of smashed assholes,,,,!!!!! That is the best one I ever heard. LOL!!! You are right though,,not even close to real chrome. But,,the Mercury valve covers look really nice,,,not chrome,,but very nice,,,like polished aluminum maybe? Tommy
That's a good tip, I never tried that before but if I ever have to strip powdercoat again I'll do that. Don't get me wrong with my original statement, powdercoat is useful stuff, great on suspension components and high wear areas where paint won't hold up. But the chrome doesn't look like chrome. If you're going for a polished aluminum look, then you can pull it off. But exterior trim with powder "chrome" on it just doesn't look right. Chrome is the reason a lot of my fixer-upper projects end up taking a long time. I can't afford to have a whole car's worth of chrome redone, but I don't want painted parts or pitted, shitty looking stuff either, so I end up hunting down nice used stuff here and there.
At the chrome shop here, we use a torch to break down powdercoat over steel, tham sandblast clean. It works great. Just an idea to save coin on plating: Take your nasty pot-metal parts, sand them down to the base metal and polish out the pits that can come out (don't cut through!), then buff them up really bright. They can be cleared, or simply keep a good wax/sealer on them and hand polish them every now and them. They polish up much like aluminum (very bright), they just can't hold their shine without protection/maintenance. When the time comes to get them plated, the plater has a head start and saves you a little money. You can do this with steel parts also, as raw steel can be buffed up very bright, but it is harder to polish than soft pot-metal is, and requires a clear coat, as steel can flash rust so easily.
I'll tell you how I made a big mistake that might stop someone from doing a similar thing with valve covers or intakes: I spent over 20 hours polishing out an aircraft spinner until it was PERFECT. Since it was obviously going into harm's way I took it to a powder coating shop to have it clear coated. He promised it would look "even better". It looked like that powder chromed bag of smashed....Well anyway It was a nightmare getting it back off and polished out again because I had to take it farther down than the original starting surface. Why not buy another spinner? $1600.00
Has anyone ever seen or used Eastwoods Liquid Chrome? The pics in their add look kind of like polished aluminum also. http://www.eastwood.com/ew-liquid-chrome-w-black-base-coat-kit.html
Those Merc covers look really nice for an inexpensive dressup (not like chrome but quite nice). I will probably go this route myself as the chrome that I really want for my hemi valve covers would end up way out of my price range.
ROFL!!! It's cheap, if you squint real hard it sort of looks like the real thing and you'll never be satisfied when you get done.
When it's time to do the HUGE amount of chrome on my car,I'll sell something or take out a 2nd mortgage,if I have to..BUT.. On the garage wall is a pic from somewhere of a good looking shoebox painted black with silver bumpers,etc..Can't tell from the pic,but it's either paint or powder coating.. When I first looked at the pic,my first thought was he's waiting for chrome $$$$$,and it looks a helluva lot better than body color bumpers.. It's a good looking car,regardless.. I'll probably do the same thing,when the time comes.. Then,I'll sell a kidney..
The do it yourself kits like caswells are bucket size outfits that are capeble of copper/nickle and zinc. CHROME is not on the agenda for reasons like you will need a three phase rectafier capable of at least a couple of hundred amps . chrome is carcinogenic and shipping is a bear.OK for nickle on like vintage bikes and gun parts .
I'm with Giganto (wow, that's got a strange ring to it...), I too recently worked at a powdercoating place, as much care as Pacific Powdercoating takes to take the metal to clean point of adhesion (and if yer part's already chromed, hopefully it doesn't flake 'n bubble in the process), the Cardinal faux chromes look exactly like chrome: until you clear it. If you don't clear it, it's extra vunerable for chipping, then you've got black showing through (especially on bigger/broader parts, not really on smaller parts). But as Gigantor said, powdercoating is powdercoating: especially tough when cleared. This year I've restored turn signal bezels and exhaust bezels, after filling in the pits with under 'coating, the chrome 'n clear came out nice. Last year I faux-chromed my windshield wiper motor mount, its gotten lots of attention, just that bit part. Anyway, hope that helps you decide.
The Jalopy Journal
