Chrome dipping plastic?
- Thread starter smoked72
- Start date
Bottlefedford
Forum Member
Only thing I can think of is paint... Not the cheap walmart chrome spray paint but many paint stores have good chrome paints
Birdie2000
Club Member
There are some good coatings out there that can simulate chrome for plastics and such, but I couldn't tell you what/where because I've forgotten, plus it would probably be expensive. Vacuum metallizing is the process that would normally be done to chrome plastic but I don't know if you can get it done for individual pieces.
orangejuiced86
Club Member
A guy I work with is sending out his fiberglass bumpers for his dart to a place in Maryland to have them chrome sprayed? I have no idea what that means but the pictures he showed me of their work looked really nice. I guess only time will tell how his parts turn out.
93 saturn sl2
Forum Member
Chrome sprayed like how wcc did that Audi for the CEO of monster cable?
orangejuiced86
Club Member
I have no clue. He just asked me of I knew anyone that did and I googled it or him and he called a bunch of places. It's gonna be like $300 to have his rear glass bumper done.
smoked72
Forum Member
I have seen some places that paint it on or are selling high priced DIY kits. I may consider the Eastwood kit that uses a black base then chrome and clear.
LITTLEMAGS
Club Member
we did some chrome "like" paint in the shop and it turned out "ok"...not really chrome but looked "ok"
Ozz
Forum Member
I've chromed plastic. The process is quite extensive but it came out amazing. I can't even scratch this stuff with my fingernails digging into it. However, some manufacturers other than the one I bought materials from, you can rub through their "protective clearcoat" by flicking it hard enough with your finger and scrape the piece right down to the base. It's very hit or miss between companies. Worse yet, and this is the main reason I didn't go forth with expanding my business to offer this service full time, is that every mfr has extensive lists of people who've thrown away thousands due to bad chemicals/materials. Yellowing is very common in the chrome (actually silver nitrate deposit) and/or the clearcoat.
To give you an idea of pricing you could expect, I would have charged $40 to do this cap and $100 for the reservoir. The chemicals are very expensive and as I said above, the process is a huge PITA.
Vacuum metallizing is very weak and doesn't usually come out as clear as the spray chrome would. Depends on the condition of the part and of course the guy doing it. I suppose a heavy clearcoat would help but who knows how much it may cloud up the finish. It can also pretty expensive on large parts. Years ago I had a power steering cap (similar to the one shown below) done for $30-40. Not sure what you'd expect to pay to do these wheels, but that might be a $100 job for the pair. If anyone is interested in having vacuum metallizing done, I have been using the same guy for 5-6 years for little parts here and there. He's located in WI but takes mail orders. Timing is slow, 1-2 months out per order. FWIW, many chrome spray shops would say the same for spray chrome if not worse. I was turning them out in 3-5 days when I was doing it. There's a lot of prep and waiting for the chemicals to cure and such, but people just like to be slow or are so back logged they can't even touch your parts for 2-3 weeks to begin with. Anyway, if anyone wants his info I will pass it along.
My father-in-law runs a body shop and has experimented with some of the expensive single stage "chrome" paint. As someone else said above, it comes out pretty meh. Gives a hint of a polished finish but not very bright or deep. More like a very glossy gray/silver. Another friend also used the Eastwood kit and it was pretty comparable to the stuff my FIL used, which was an automotive grade paint. The Eastwood kit was a little cheaper, but the process was considerably longer. With paint, sometimes that's not worth the extra savings.
I've powder coated plastic with success before, it can be done depending on the grade of plastic. Here's a pic of a piece I have done dozens of in chrome powder:
To give you an idea of pricing you could expect, I would have charged $40 to do this cap and $100 for the reservoir. The chemicals are very expensive and as I said above, the process is a huge PITA.
Vacuum metallizing is very weak and doesn't usually come out as clear as the spray chrome would. Depends on the condition of the part and of course the guy doing it. I suppose a heavy clearcoat would help but who knows how much it may cloud up the finish. It can also pretty expensive on large parts. Years ago I had a power steering cap (similar to the one shown below) done for $30-40. Not sure what you'd expect to pay to do these wheels, but that might be a $100 job for the pair. If anyone is interested in having vacuum metallizing done, I have been using the same guy for 5-6 years for little parts here and there. He's located in WI but takes mail orders. Timing is slow, 1-2 months out per order. FWIW, many chrome spray shops would say the same for spray chrome if not worse. I was turning them out in 3-5 days when I was doing it. There's a lot of prep and waiting for the chemicals to cure and such, but people just like to be slow or are so back logged they can't even touch your parts for 2-3 weeks to begin with. Anyway, if anyone wants his info I will pass it along.
My father-in-law runs a body shop and has experimented with some of the expensive single stage "chrome" paint. As someone else said above, it comes out pretty meh. Gives a hint of a polished finish but not very bright or deep. More like a very glossy gray/silver. Another friend also used the Eastwood kit and it was pretty comparable to the stuff my FIL used, which was an automotive grade paint. The Eastwood kit was a little cheaper, but the process was considerably longer. With paint, sometimes that's not worth the extra savings.
I've powder coated plastic with success before, it can be done depending on the grade of plastic. Here's a pic of a piece I have done dozens of in chrome powder:
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smoked72
Forum Member
That resevoir came out pretty damn good. Quality work with quality materials gets high pay so not too worried about the cost. I just want it right and it to last. I recently was involved in the purchase of a warehouse that had a large quantity of house of colors paints and pearls so the rest of this project is gonna be bad ass so not looking to skimp or do anything cheezy.
Ozz
Forum Member
It came out looking just like chrome, but after it aged while being on the car (not even 500 miles on it) some areas dulled out to a finish that wasn't even as good as a polished look. I'm taking it off the car this year because I'm sick of looking at the regressing quality. The cap still looks good though.
That's the big issue about the spray chrome: lasting quality. I put in countless hours of research when I was ready to buy a $10K system, no matter which mfr it was they all had people on forums everywhere going on and on about the varying quality between chemical batches, yellowing, dulling, lifting, etc. I was ready to deal with some hit or miss production but when people are losing 2x the cost of the machines because of inconsistencies of materials, that was not worth the risk. The bad part is they'll come out looking great but down the line...who knows!
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mayhem
Club Member
Unlimited Chrome in Fenton, MI. 800-550-1601 Mark or Kevin
Its a LONNGGGG process they do, its Chrome. I've seen a set of fiberglass bumpers they did and they were perfect and lasted.
Ask around.....alot of local guys have used them. I know Bill at QC Coatings recommends these guys too.
Its a LONNGGGG process they do, its Chrome. I've seen a set of fiberglass bumpers they did and they were perfect and lasted.
Ask around.....alot of local guys have used them. I know Bill at QC Coatings recommends these guys too.
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smoked72
Forum Member
Ok thanks. I talked to Kevin today and just emailed him pics and waiting for a quote. He uses a spray on method Cosmichrome.
Ozz
Forum Member
Cosmichrome is the stuff used on that reservoir above. The cap was done by different methods.
The owner of Gold Touch Inc. in Ohio, a distributor of the Cosmichrome system, actually did that reservoir in-house for me as a sample product when I was sourcing their equipment. I even went down there for a day to use it all. I think because of the hard edges of the reservoir around the fluid line nut, it's caused the discoloration. It looks like it's been stressed just sitting there while the rest of the flat/round areas still look perfect. Just an FYI. I'd say on your wheels you shouldn't have to worry about anything though. The Cosmichrome system is cool and worked as it should have when I used it.
I was doing some powder coating for a customer a couple months ago and he mentioned he was in talks w/Kevin at Unlimited Chrome and was told that they no longer do the spray chrome. That was in November. Are they doing it again? If so I'll relay that info to my guy so he can check it out again.
The owner of Gold Touch Inc. in Ohio, a distributor of the Cosmichrome system, actually did that reservoir in-house for me as a sample product when I was sourcing their equipment. I even went down there for a day to use it all. I think because of the hard edges of the reservoir around the fluid line nut, it's caused the discoloration. It looks like it's been stressed just sitting there while the rest of the flat/round areas still look perfect. Just an FYI. I'd say on your wheels you shouldn't have to worry about anything though. The Cosmichrome system is cool and worked as it should have when I used it.
I was doing some powder coating for a customer a couple months ago and he mentioned he was in talks w/Kevin at Unlimited Chrome and was told that they no longer do the spray chrome. That was in November. Are they doing it again? If so I'll relay that info to my guy so he can check it out again.
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Ozz
Forum Member
I can't say I blame him, honestly. The chemicals are incredibly expensive and the mfr's themselves don't help you out when their stuff yellows. That's exactly why I decided right away to stop.
$300 though - yikes. I guess there might have been more money in this than I thought. That's 3x what I would've planned to charge for a job like that had I kept doing it.
If you were considering anywhere near that cost, why not find a replacement wheel and have a powder coater toss it in the oven to see if it'll survive the curing temperatures? If so you'll be able to get a decent finish on it. Like I said, I do it all the time with flimsy engine caps.
$300 though - yikes. I guess there might have been more money in this than I thought. That's 3x what I would've planned to charge for a job like that had I kept doing it.
If you were considering anywhere near that cost, why not find a replacement wheel and have a powder coater toss it in the oven to see if it'll survive the curing temperatures? If so you'll be able to get a decent finish on it. Like I said, I do it all the time with flimsy engine caps.
Ozz
Forum Member
It works well on plastic, plus it'll come in handy for other possible projects. Looks like a somewhat-dull polished finish, definitely shiny and reflective. The clear would be good at keeping it looking right, too, probably moreso than using powder since it can't get that ideal powder-to-metal adhesion.