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Stripping Chrome

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 6:40 pm
by Serious Satellite
Okay, gonna strip the old chrome off of the bumpers, anybody else done this and if so, any advice on how to do it?

I found a black anodized paint and I wanna black out the bumpers, the headlight bezels, and the grille with the anodized black. ..

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 9:06 pm
by Eric
I'd take it to a chrome plating shop. They can dip it to strip the chrome (I believe the same process they'd use to prep it to re-chrome). Short of that, I don't know how you'd effectively strip the chrome. Some people just scuff it and paint over, but if it was mine, I'd get all of that shiny stuff off of there first!

Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 9:29 pm
by Smellslike1974
Can it be sand blasted?.For some reason i think theyd charge you more for just getting it stripped and not re chromed.

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 2:32 am
by fourforty6pac
To strip chrome smaller parts can be submerged in muriatic acid (but sometimes the nickle layer wont come of this way). Larger parts can also be submerged in muriatic acid and a little help from a battery charger. It's kinda like the rust removing trick. Put thre pos on the piece you are stripping and the neg on a piece of metal. Apply 1 amp per each square inch of chrome to be stripped. The fumes are harmful and can ignite be careful, just do it outside and it should be ok. I learned this from an old timer a long time ago, I think he got tired of me bringing in all of my parts to be done so he taught me a few worth while things so I could do these things in my garage. He owned his own plating shop for over 40 years.

Sand blasting does not work well. Chrome is very hard and under the chrome is a nickle layer. It's hard to get a quality job on something that paint wont stick to.

Taking your bumpers to a shop won't cost as much as a rechrome they only have to do 1/2 the work.

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 2:16 pm
by Smellslike1974
Is the chrome already peeling Serious Sat?

Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 2:56 pm
by Serious Satellite
The chrome is okay for a daily driver, especially the back bumper. The front bumper has a dent I need to work out, but it's not peeling. Just pitted, and somewhat crazed.

I'm doing a Landon (a poor man's restoration) on my Serious Satellite. I figure that when I get my daughters out of college, I can start replacing the fiberglass with sheet metal, but I've got to get the damn thing running and on the road. I'm going nuts.