Spray on Chrome

[JohnG]

See:

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/segment/restoration-blog/spray-on-chrome/

This might be an answer to the never ending problem of replating interior pot metal or plastic parts.

See what you think!

John

[Guest]

Hey John,
I like it! Do they offer any kind of a guaranty?
Richard D. Hord

[Dan Leavens]

John that's pretty slick. I will keep this in mind for any future interior stuff but as stated not sureabout outside plating

[Guest]

I saw that a while back ...

looks like it would be great for interior. They did show it being used on a hood ornament The clear coat should make it last as long as your paint. Might not work so well on bad bug contact areas like the grill and front bumper, etc. Mike

[Anders]

We have this at work, and use it on 1:1 models where chrome is required. The biggest problem we have found, and so far there is no solution on the horizon, is that when we clearcote the chrome, and this is A MUST, as you can not touch it without clearcote, it gets a yelloish tinted tone and looks a bit like "Antique chrome".
It´s also not as light as you most probably want it.

But if you go ahead and give it a tinted clearcote, like a candy color, then, W O W !
But that´s another story i guess...

At SEMA, I saw a few helmets ( Nice! ), a very wierd 4 wheel dragon bike (?), but the red color was great. A very cool green color on a monster truck ( my pic is way darker than the real thing ) and a Ford Mustang, at Ford´s boot, and that was stunning. My pics don´t do justice here. The Mustang was like "Cerise chrome" if that might help you... WAY shinier than "Candy apple paint". This is mirror-stuff!

You can also find pics and film at spectrachrome.com

But don´t let them fool you. The white chrome is not going to be white. At least, not yet The Blue-Red-White helmet is pretty fair to what the white will look like.

[Guest]

Thanks for the ...

clarification on it's uses. Very helpful info. Mike

[JohnG]

Anders, thank you for the great information and photos!

Now - - suppose you had pot metal parts on your Thunderbird that were pitted and needed refurbishing. Perhaps the instrument bezels or radio faceplate etc. Would you have them done with this process?

thanks!
john

[Guest]

Hi Guys
This process is ideal for the pot metal parts bearing in mind that the surface is "clear coated" so it will only have the same durability as paint, but a great alternative

My '31 Plymouth hotrod i"m building will have black chrome on the frame it looks like a smoky chrome colour, also looking into the block as it will be de-burred and would look great in the same finish

May look into setting up a franchise with this soon

Richard

[YellowRose]

Spray on Chrome

If notice, one of the things that Leno and the guys were working with in the video was a pot metal airplane hood ornament with a lot of pitting on it. After scrubbing, sanding, whatever they did, to get the pitting off it, they smoothed it out, painted it and then clear coated it. I did not see any pitting showing on the finished product and as I remember, they said it was pot metal.

[JohnG]

I would assume they had to sand off any high spots (bubbles and so on) and filled in the pits. At that point a urethane base is used and then the chrome and clear coat.

I have never sent any pot metal parts out for replating. The bad ones I had were replaced with reproduction pieces. I do remember Alexander saying years ago he had sent pieces out, waited pratically forever and then gotten disappointing quality back (while paying top dollar). So this gets my hopes up for a reasonable alternative.

I have since discovered that Eastwoods carries the products.

John

[Anders]

The Chrome paint is no paint, but liqued and it´s a chemical process that make it stick to the special ground paint.
You start with sanding and filling the pots or whatever dents you might have just as when you prepare for normal paint. Then you apply the special basecoat that need to be supersmooth ( as any base coat ). Then you apply the chrome ( check videos on youtube ). After that it´s time for clearcote or candy, and clearcote.
I would not use this at all for anything that I want to look like original chrome, as it is to dark and to yeoowish.

I guess the yellow tone is the biggest problem, and I am sure they ( some ) will come up with an answer to that, but my best guess is that it will take some time.

[Guest]

As far as pot metal goes I have a guy here in OZ that repairs and plates it and he does a really great job. But as with all pot metal it's porous and I don't think anyone would or could guarantee that it won't happen again.

Richard

[simplyconnected]

Two observations:
Leno said "This cannot be chromed." He was holding a hood ornament.

They said pits are filled with Bondo, then primed.

When pot metal (zinc) corrodes, it forms black spots and white powder that must be removed. Black corrosion must be drilled out. The first step in plating is 'stripping' down to bare metal, so this operation is the same. All old paint, plating, and corrosion must be gone.

These guys apparently use bondo and sand paper next, where a chrome shop would nickel strike, acid copper plate, fill with lead and smooth, then copper plate and polish. You can see that plating is expensive because it is labor intensive.

In either case, applying the bright finish is easy. The hard part is properly prep'ing the piece to make it last many years.

This paint process has its place and it should be much cheaper than chrome plating... but it's paint.

Here's my re-chromed hood airplane:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCzOTS8T66o

My chrome shop says temperature changes on dissimilar metals causes plating to fail. Makes sense, if your car is in a heated garage all the time, it should stay pristine.

[JohnG]

Sounds like the same old rules of restoration once again apply: preparation is everything.

What we might want to find is some unbiased car restorer who has taken a piece they care about, had it refinished with spray on chrome, and can objectively say "yes, I am quite happy with this" or "it's better than nothing but I can see a big difference" or whatever their honest appraisal is.

Leno's video made me optimistic while Ander's comments make me much more cautious.

Meanwhile I can see why NOS parts draw high prices!

John

[Anders]

Here's my rechromedhoodairplane:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCzOTS8T66o

"LIKE!"