Painting Chrome

[DawsonsCreek]

So i've given up on finding black crash bars and have decided to try my hand at painting them. I've been reading post after post and searching my @$$ off all day on here to find out the best way to do it. This is what I've come up with so far and was just looking for some input on what people who've tried painting chrome think and what experiences they've had.

So far I plan to:

1) Sand the piss out of it with my orbital sander and 600 grit
2) Get some type of cleaner and clean the piece
3) Spray on a coat of primer
4) Spray my coat of black on
5) Then spray on a couple coats of clear coat to try and get some type of protection for it


Hows that sound anyone whos done it? And what kind of luck have you had once you've done it?

Thanks again folks for all your help!!

[DrBob]

Personally I'd use 400 grit and sand by hand, as the orbital sander will leave swirl marks. The best thing to do is have the chrome lightly sandblasted. Make sure you use an etching primer, like one with zinc phosphate. I'd also skip the clear coat. The clear coat will flake off when the black paint under it flakes off. If you skip the clear you can just touch up the black anytime you want.

[Capkangaroo]

That sounds good. Skip the clear coat like DrBob mentioned. As for the sand paper 600 is super fine. That's more for finish sanding. I suggest you go with a 200 or under then go up to smooth out the surface.

Have you considered powder coating?

[adricon]

Have it sandblasted and powder coated

[XoZe]

Originally Posted by adricon

Have it sandblasted and powder coated

I am thinking of doing the same...

[diamond_jim]

If you do it yourself, my advice is to use this product. It's a little costly but well worth it. It comes in black as well to help if you are painting something black.

Bulldog Adhesion Promoter

[DawsonsCreek]

I know sandblasting and powdercoating would be the best way to go. But by the time I finish doing that I've got $500 into a pair of crash bars. It just doesn't seem worth it. If I try it this way and it looks like ####, then I'm out like $30 and can go powdercoat anyway. So I guess we'll see how it turns out. If it turns out good, I want to do the main part of the headlamp as well.

[DawsonsCreek]

If you do it yourself, my advice is to use this product. It's a little costly but well worth it. It comes in black as well to help if you are painting something black.

Thanks DJ! I'll definitely look into that. When I was writing this post I was especially interested to see what you, profane and a few others had to say about it.

[diamond_jim]

I'm like you, Dawson. I'll try the lower cost DIY route first. If it doesn't work out, I've tried, I've learned more, I had fun and then paying the pros isn't so hard to swallow.

[Vader]

Definitely look into using an adhesion promoter such as "Bulldog". Spray on 2 coats of this stuff on sanded bare metal before your primer. Make sure you use some degreaser such as prep-all to remove wax & oils. Everyone who suggested powdercoat is right, it is the toughest coating out there but it may be beyond your capabilities/equipment/budget. BTW this is my first post but i have been reading the forum for a while, Really great stuff here.

[Jay313]

I painted my stock pipes black some time ago. Here's the thread:

http://www.motorcycle-journal.com/fo...ock-pipes.html

I sanded by hand using emory cloth: 60 grit, 100 grit, 150 grit. The paint filled in the sanding and left no visible marks at all. Since it was an exhaust, I obviously was using high-heat paint, in this case Rustoleum BBQ Black. So far I've only had to do one touch up on a small spot where someone put the boot to the pipe and melted a bit. When I scraped off the melted stuff, a small speck of paint came with it. Touched up beautifully, though. Not noticeable at all. For that reason, I would also advise not doing a clear coat. The beauty of the rattle can job is that you can touch up the mistakes.

In case anyone is wondering, I priced a sandblast/powder coat job on the stock pipes at around $200. I also called around a few body shops and found an auto painter who said he would sandblast and paint them for $100, but I would need to supply the paint, since he didn't stock high-heat paint.

Since you're looking to do crash bars and don't need high-heat stuff, I bet you can find an auto guy to paint them on the cheap, if you don't want to put so much elbow grease into it. I just figured I would do it myself first, since I would only be out $5 for emory cloth, $5 for spray paint, and $5 for prep solution. If it didn't last or looked like you-know-what, I could always take it to a pro to sandblast off my mistakes and do it right.