My car is going in tomorrow for the front bumper/lip to get repainted. well i also want to get my door handles, grill, chrome trim on doors, and b-pillars repainted. now i was speaking to the bodyshop guy who i've known for some time now and he's telling me that the paint will never stick to the chrome even with sanding and that it will start chipping and he doesn't want to be responsible doing a job like that.. but i've seen cars on here and i've known plenty of people on azine have repainted their pillars along with their grill but no so much the door handles but it still held up pretty well as i can see..

question is; will the paint stick to the chrome?
i want to tell him to do it anyways and i'll take the risk of it chipping if it will hold up

thanks,

 

He's right and I don't blqame him for not wanting to take responsibility for that (sign of a knowledgable painter) however - if you sandblast the chrome - or acid dip it then paint with seelf etching primer - it'll have a fighting chance... but typically paint doesn't like to stick to chrome.... it'll also be subject to heavy fisheye but he can takes steps to minimize that (again - painting chrome is not recommended but it can be done)

G/L and post some pics when it's done....

 

thanks for your input!!

but how is it that people are painting their b-pillars with spray paint+clear
and others get their grill painted
and get away with it?

 

yea paint doesnt stick to chrome at all....if u wanan do some work, u can actually peel off the chrome from the wing and trim, and get bare plastic....then use a good plastic promoter and paint/clear. most places i asked said it would come out like shit because of the pressure from the gun...use spray bomb and u can get it done..

 

what shop are you bringin it to?

 

reason ppl paint their grille and have good luck is the pieces are plastic and can be sanded easily, the door handles are metal (I believe different chroming process). B-pillars are plastic as well. The door handles will definitely be susceptible to chipping if not prepped properly, and even if you do everything possible they can still chip. Good luck!

 

yeah i only want the outer chrome part of the grill painted and the chrome part that is on the hood. i might just pass on the door handles but i atleast want all my chrome trim on the doors and grill painted.

armando's on main ave across checkers. been going to him for quite some time now. guy does quality work. know of any other places that can do work like this?

 

^^oh, ok I thought you were going with body color door handles () You should be good to go then!

 

yea i do A&C Auto Body in garfield. they have a contract with the nissan dealer my friend works at and i seen alot of his work. it comes out perfect. they even did my friends 09 accord when she got into an accident and it came out perfect. im getting my bumpers and lip kit done there.

 

Any plastic parts can just be scuffed using either a Grey or Red Scotch Brite Pad depending on what your gonna lay down over whatever material. Chrome shouldn't be different either, as long as its scuffed down. Please don't get sanded and scuffed confused..

 

Best bet is to strip the chrome off the parts. I'm in the process of redoing my grill surrounds since when i had them painted they only scuffed teh chrome and painted over it. It easily chipped in under a few months and looked horrible after a year. So i wet sanded the old paint off, then layed down some brake fluid and let it soak into the chrome then after an hour or so you are able to scrape it off with a utility knife. Sand it down, and prime with some self-etching primer.

 

^^yeah I pretty much sanded my grille surround all the way to the ugly looking plastic before painting. Its held up great so far..6 months and counting.. (I did use wheel paint to do it, not sure if it makes any difference)

 

i really want to. but if it's going to turn into a PITA then i'll pass

cool. gotta check em out. didn't get to drop off the car today but definitely wanna drop it off sooner than later.. can't wait to get the other mods put on we should meet up when i get my car back, take some pics.

so you're saying with scuffing it'll work, but not with sanding?

hmm..sounds like a good idea. might just take off my grill to do that and drop off the car. but what about that nasty trim around the windows? is it possible to take off and reuse?

idk about the door handles tho.. would be real sweet to have them painted body color

 

my guy said he is sanding and using metal etching primer

 

i used 3m exterior vinyl