Chrome alternative

[garyp]

I have read many articles about chrome alternatives but tried my own idea and it works great. I did both bumpers on my 39 Dodge and they turned out beautiful I have had many people look at them and can't believe they are not real chrome here is what I did. First I used my angle grinder with a flapper disc and ground all of the old chrome and chrome residue off them until they are bare metal make sure you get along the edges real good, then I used 80 grit sand paper and smoothed them all out then 150 grit sandpaper getting all of the deep scratches off before going to 220 grit and sand until there is no scratches they should be looking real good at this point I used 800 grit to polish them up nice and again make sure there are no scratches then I used mothers metal polish with 0000 steel wool and buffed them until they shine beautifully and I used a product called floods oil paint infuser and put that on with 0000 steel wool and wipe it off right away and when you are done they will look just like chrome but it take a boatload of hours of grinding and sanding to get it done but to me the results will be worth it.  Good luck 

[casper50]

photos?

[Mike36]

Gary that sounds good, but do you know how long they will look good without re doing them? What is oilPaint infuser? What does it do?       

[The Oil Soup]

This stuff looks easier. 

 

[maok]

WoW! If that is true, that is absolutely remarkable.

[kencombs]

That reminds me of the demos of Muggyweld by the salesman.  Looks so easy.  But I've never been able to weld/solder/braze whatever it is, an aluminum can with it.

 

Guess that makes be suspicious of demos.  But I'd love to try it, but not at the cost I've seen for it.  Cheaper than chrome for sure, but LOTS higher than paint.

[Andydodge]

O/k.............I used to own a Hobby Shop, Scale Automobilia for 20 yrs till 2 yrs ago...........about 10 yrs ago a new product came on the market from a company called Alclad and they came out with a range of metalliser hobby paints such as various types of aircraft and military paints.....as well as a paint called Alclad Chrome............to use it you applied it over a Black paint, ideally black enamel and whilst it didn't dry before your eyes it wasn't much slower, being an alcohol based product............if you noticed in the demonstration it, the Alsa Chrome was applied over a nice gloss black paint or black covering...........have you ever noticed that a perfectly smooth black paint job is VERY reflective?................well it is and the silver paint basically uses that property of the black covering to give you the chrome effect...........one problem that the Alclad Chrome had was that it was a "soft" paint and therefore didn't take much handling and if covered with a clear gloss it became a little duller than it had been without the clear..............I've never seen nor used the Alsa Brush on Chrome myself and am very impressed with the result as shown but I'd be wary of its longevity, still it may offer a great alternative as chrome plating is now prohibitively expensive ............andyd   

[knuckleharley]

I have seen youtube videos of people putting "chrome decals" on old bumpers instead of having them chromes. There are also other videos of them applying these "decals" to  "paint" whole vans. The stuff that is supposed to be paint sure does hold up nicely,but I don't know about the chrome.

[garyp]

I check the Alsa chrome and found it was very expensive also that is why I did it the way I did I will takes some pics and post tomorrow. The product from Flood is an oil infuser for paint but the oil in it protects the metal from rusting for a year then just apply another coat I bought a can for 7 or 8 bucks at the hardware store and only used a fraction of it. Listen I would not be telling you guys this if it did not work the only drawback is it is a lot of work the more you sand the better it looks and as you get closer to the end most of it is by hand it is not easy.  Garyp  

[plymouthcranbrook]

Expensivie is right;

 

https://alsacorp.com/easy-chrome/#pricing

[sser2]

30 minutes ago, garyp said:

I check the Alsa chrome and found it was very expensive also that is why I did it the way I did I will takes some pics and post tomorrow. The product from Flood is an oil infuser for paint but the oil in it protects the metal from rusting for a year then just apply another coat I bought a can for 7 or 8 bucks at the hardware store and only used a fraction of it. Listen I would not be telling you guys this if it did not work the only drawback is it is a lot of work the more you sand the better it looks and as you get closer to the end most of it is by hand it is not easy.  Garyp  

Yes, Alsa Chrome is so expensive that I would just do the real thing and not worry about how long it will last. As to how much work goes into polishing, the same stands true for classical chrome. Chrome just provides protective layer, all beautiful sheen comes from quality polishing work.

 

DIY chrome plating is feasible - the process have been described in much detail and bath recipes are available, but there are two chemicals that are difficult to procure - cyanide and chromic anhydride. Electroless nickel gives appearance of chrome, and Caswell sells kits, alas, also too expensive.

 

I have done steel or aluminum polishing like you describe, and it indeed looks great. I used clear nitrocellulose lacquer for protection. Nitrocellulose sticks well to bare metal and is quite durable. But it has to be completely colorless. Yellow tint in lacquer makes metal look like nickel, not like chrome. Protecting oil sounds interesting. I looked for Flood oil paint infuser as you suggested. My search turned a lot of Flood paint additives, but I am not sure which was the one you used. Could you provide a link to the product?

 

[garyp]

Here are some pics of the bumpers I finished and the can of flood pentrol I used I tried to post a couple of more of my car getting painted almost done pick it up tomorrow start to put it back together long road 2 years did all the work myself except for paint and the engine rebuild.  Gary

[garbagestate 44]

I have to say that that looks damn good. Did you have to sand most of it by hand? I know that I'd be the hit of my neighborhood if I were to try traditional chrome plating here in Northern New Jersey where most people don't even know how to change a tire and everybody is packed in like sardines.

[sser2]

Agree, it looks fantastic! Thenks for information about Flood penetrol.

[casper50]

that is good enough for me to try on my daughter's 53 GMC.