The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Bumper Chrome Removal

I've been seaching for a way to remove the chrome from my bumpers. I want to paint them rather than rechroming and I wanted some feedback on a good method. Thanks

GC,

Last summer I used sanding/abrasive disks to remove chrome from a bumper. Actually, I do not know if I removed all the chrome but I know I removed all the rust and smoothed all the front surfaces until I had clean, smooth, shiny metal. The bumper was then primed with PPG epoxy primer. PPG Urethane was the finish coat (applied in September).

I had one chromed bumper and one painted bumper that were cleaned up and painted at the same time. It will be interesting to see if the chromed one holds up under the paint.

By the way, I posted your same question and it was suggested to sandblast the chrome off: http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000851#000004

After much indecision, I decided not to sandblast. If I made the wrong choice, at least this is an easy piece to remove and refinish.

Good luck,
Tim

The most recent Mini Truckin' or Street Trucks (don't remember which) has a article on smoothing out a bumper.

They used an acid dip to remove the chrome. I think they said it took 15 minutes - but this was a "bumper shop".

- Ryan

Thanks for the input. I will look into the sandblasting vs. dipping method as sanding is going to be avoided if possible. I'll let you know when I find out.

A chrome shop would "deplate" a chromed piece, which is the reverse of plating. Anodes are switched, and an acidic solution is used. Usually have to remove the protective chrome and the underlying nickel. It is actually nickel that gives a plated piece its shine, a thin layer of chrome keeps it shiny.