Painting chrome?

[Scarsman]

Ok, so I want black hood handles and gas lid, not chrome. Has anyone tried painting chrome? Can it be roughed up enough for anything to stick, or would it be better to try and find someone who wants to trade their black parts for my chrome?

Also, my chrome wheels are starting to bubble on the back side, so I know it is only a matter of time until it gets to the outside. Any fixes for this? I imagine it would be a big deal to try and get the chrome stripped off the wheels. I would like black wheels eventually, but I don't have the money to buy wheels right now. This is why I don't like chrome wheels. They peel!

[snmazer]

I painted my chrome grill and fuel cap black. I went to my local auto paint supply store and they provided me with the correct info and supplies. They said to only "scuff up" the chrome with a scotch brite pad, not sand paper. The scoth brite pad sort of dulled the crome and didn't leave any deep scratches that would show after painting. They also sold me a etching primer. They said to spray 3 thin coats for proper bonding. I then sprayed the chrome with the flat black paint. I have washed the vehicle several times since painting the chrome. I have scrubbed smashed bugs off of the grill, and the paint looks as good as it did the day I painted it.
Hope this helps.
Scott

[Scarsman]

Ok, thanks. That sounds promising. I am trying to decide what I want to do with the grill. I will either go black, and color match the HUMMER letters to the body color, or color match the grill with black letters. I'm not sure yet.

[snmazer]

I had a difficult time deciding also. I just went online and looked at pictures of other peoples H2's and decided to go with the clack grill and the body color matched HUMMER letters. The letters are easy to remove, just heat them up with a hair dryer and you can peel them off. Also use the hair dryer to remove the left over glue that sticks to the grill.

Scott

[OrangeCrush]

If you're painting "plastic" chrome, you can scuff and use a self etching primer on it before painting it.

If it's chrome on real metal (ie. bumper) the ONLY way to do it and expect it to stick is to so sandblast it so it has a texture so you can prime.

H2 grilles are plastic coated chrome so they're not a big deal.




HTH's,

Mark

[snmazer]

Mark, Awesome looking SUT.