The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Painting chrome

I'm working on another truck. I have a (thick) grill that I wanna paint. If I sandblast it real good, will bondo and/or paint stick to it?

I don't know for sure about body filler, but you will most likely need to use a self etching primer before you paint to make sure it will stick.

Remember sand blasting will warp the grille if you are not real careful! It will also leave pitting. Walnut hauls will leave a finer finish but again be careful of warpage on the light grille. Body Filler will stick to bare metal but if there is any dents it would be better to work them out carefully or if cracks they can be welded up and then worked out after grinding.
62Blue
Don

Last time I painted some chrome, it was new chrome!!!!!! I scored it with some fine sandpaper and epoxy primed it. No issues yet! But, boy it hurt to scratch it after I paid all that money to chrome it. ( It was a piece that required both chrome parts and painted parts.)

John,

When I picked up my grille from the chrome guy, he told me to just be sure to scuff it up before I paint the stripe across the top. He said as long as I scuff it up good I should not have any problems with the paint sticking.

Metal is metal and you can paint any metal. Like Bill and Tim posted, scuff your chrome as you would any other steel surface to prep it for painting and use a good bare metal primer or etching primer and there is no reason it shouldn't bond. Steel, nickel, chrome, i.e. the hard metals and don’t under normal conditions skin over very fast so you have a fairly large window when it comes to painting them. Cad plated, zinc or galvanized metals should be etched also before painting and you don't want to let them sit to long before applying a finish to them. Aluminum begins to oxidize or skin over as soon as you clean it so getting a primer on immediately after cleaning is imperative.
Denny G

Yes, it is just that simple... just be sure the surface is thoroughly scuffed before you paint. Paint does not molecularly bond to metal it adheres and those minute scratches is what makes the difference in how well it adheres.

You can paint a sheet of glass and it will stick and as long as you don't expose it to weather or abrasion... like painted signs on store windows. But trucks are exposed to all of the conditions that would deteriorate that bond.

I has OEM chrome front and rear Bumpers. I sanded with 80 grit primed with Napa Brand MS Self-etching Primer and rattled canned it with Rustoluem Plastic paint lloks absoulty great.. I posted a write up on it several month back.