painting chrome

i am sure someone has asked this before but, what is the best way to paint over chrome? the exhaust has chips all through it, and im thinking of blacking out the whole bike.

When i painted over my chrome fender i sandblasted it first. It worked great!

It would be tough to sandblast the pipes though unless you have access to a fairly large sandblaster.

One of those hand held blasters would work but it would take a while

I "blacked" out my bike (the chrome) over 20 years ago with rattle can semi gloss black. It worked great but now your talking about exhaust heat, etc. Sand blasting would be great or at least a really good sanding? Most members here use really high temp barbeque paint! Let us know.

I painted my Chrome fender black also. The easest way is to soke it in a 25% solution of Muriatic acid which can be bought at your local hardware store. This will remove the Chrome, the rust, but not the Nickle. This is actually beneficial. I let it soke overnight. Than I lightly brushed it with a Scotchbright pad to remove anything els which may have loosened up and than wrinced it off with destiled water to prevent further rusting. The best paint to use is Por-15. When it dryes it is permenant. This takes about three days. But you can handle the part in about 12 hours Por-15 makes a good header paint also. www.por15.com/?gclid=CKak7POrr48CFR8ZIwodnwyNMA

Post edited by: otakar, at: 2007/10/27 10:55

Post edited by: otakar, at: 2007/10/27 11:00

I brushed muratic acid all over the header pipes to "prime" them before painting. Do this outside in a well-ventilated area using rubber gloves and eye protection, and don't breathe the fumes as muratic acid on chrome reportedly re-acts to form some poisonous gas (cyanide?). Rinse well with water by hosing down. Then won't hurt to do a little fine wet-sanding. Dry thoroughly. Spray paint with several light coats of Flame-Proof Hi-Temp from auto-parts store). I used "flat black" which has lasted very well for over two years and still appears freshly painted with no flaking or peeling.

P.S. The muratic acid was applied continuously and allowed to remain on the header pipes for only a minute or so. It works quickly.

Post edited by: Patton, at: 2007/10/27 11:00

thanks for the excellant ideas guys. ill let you know how it turns out. one of these days i need to post the pics of her, as soon as i figure out how to decrease the pic size

I have never tried it but i have heard of guys sanding the chrome, if you have the time, and then using an etching primer, followed but a "regular" primer, and then painting. But im not sure if it could take the heat.

IF you have a nearby chrome shop, you can ask them to strip it for you. They won't charge much, if they are cooperative. They have to do it anyway when they have to do a re-chrome. Fast, easy, cheap and no metal eating sandblasting. Note, most shops do not like mucking with used exhausts due to all the crap inside of them.

well its done, all blacked out. took some high temp grill paint, and it looks awesome. the paint looks like the finish on my sig. like a flat black all around, with a bright blue strip in the middle of the tank. anyone know how to convert it so i can post the pics?