How do you remove old chrome?

I have a couple of engine covers that are in good shape except for the chrome flaking off. How does one remove the chrome so that the piece can be painted or polished?
I tried the piece against a wire wheel on my buffing set-up but was NOT satisfied with the results.
Any suggestions?

plating shop.

Plating Onto Chrome With Gold

Chrome cannot be plated onto. You must strip the existing chrome using an acid solution consisting of 2 parts water to 1 part muriatic or hydrochloric acid. ALWAYS ADD ACID TO WATER. Chrome plate can also be buffed or blasted off.

According to Caswell anyway.

yeah wiremans right...bout all you can do is go to a plate shop....or you can buy a small chrome kit..does like 200sq inches.. includes everything but the power supply...i think it takes about one amp per square inch...so a good 200 amp battery charger will suffice. then you could remove the old chrome and put it on something else...like my covers:)

[img size=354]

Post edited by: wireman, at: 2006/08/14 22:58

yeah ive got a little experiance with that.:whistle:

My neighbor has this 85 Virago XV100 I think. The engine and differential covers have the chrome peeling. We talked about it and wonder if it would be better to try to get ones from a parts bike/ salvage yard or get the old ones rechromed. I say the ones in the junk yard will be peeling soon anyway. Get the originals redone if youre gonna do it.

im thinking about just polishing my aluminum engine parts instead of plating,i love the look of polished aluminum.gotta plate the steel stuff though!

Wireman, what is the best way to polish the alloy and what about the heads and block? In asking the 'best' way, I generally mean the easiest and least time consuming!
Don't mind fixing but the ol cleaning is a hassle
Cheers
Steve NZ.

depends on how anal retentive you are! i like to blocksand all my aluminum parts first to get them nice and flat and smooth first. that aluminum is all polished by hand after many,many hours of sanding and wet sanding.i like mothers aluminum polish for the hand polishing.

I had a set of exhaust pipes that were flaking the chrome off and one of my buddies told me about what he had done to a set of pipes he had the same problem with. First he used a glass bead machine to remove the old remaining chrome and then painted the pipes with a muffler black he got at the local Caterpillar dealer, I guess the paint is used on diesel engine muffler and piping. That was 2 years ago and the pipes still look like the day he painted them.

I'm not sure if this would help but I did see the results in this case.