painting chrome?

[tommystinson]

Any tips on painting chrome? I've heard that even bead blasting the parts won't really help the paint stick all that well. Paint friendly plating over the chrome? Acid strip the chrome? I have no idea. (Once again, a winter project.)

[sixtysix]

In my experience...if you sandblast the chrome it is gone. Bare metal paints up fine. I have a cheap 5 gal sandblaster that I load with kids play sand at $2 a bag finish is almost as good as bead blast. Works for me anyway.

[dragxs11]

What chrome are you painting tom?

[buffalo]

You can paint chrome as well as any other metal, just sand it good with 220 or 360 grit sandpaper and spray away.. I painted a semi-rusty crappy looking header on my bike 2 years ago and it still looks good today.

[tommystinson]

At this point I'm thinking of painting the front and rear fenders. I'm not sure what else. I like the look of that off white pearlescent paint that Audi used a few years ago. If I did that, then did the frame in a very, very dark red (burgundy?) metallic (almost black) I think that would look pretty nice.

[strom]

If it only looks bad and its not rotten, you can de-chrome it, polish and re-chrome. Anyone who chromes stuff can do this. Check for prices, but its not gonna get you broke.

LP

[s38310]

Painting chrome will work but my experience is with automotive paint products versus spray can products. I painted my fenders and headlight bucket with BC/CC and they look great. Previously painted some truck chrome fenders and they still looked good after 4 years. I would recommend that you sand or sandblast to give the primer a bite and use an epoxy primer to give yourself a good start. If you use spray can color then maybe a paint shop will spray a epoxy primer for you next time they have some mixed up.