Chrome to Black

[montmil]

Haven't tried this yet but sounds plausible. Gale Gorman -Houston, Texas, and an ABC member buddy, sez it works.

"Etch the chrome first and paint will stick. Muriatic acid works and is readily available for swimming pool cleanup. Flush it with water, let it dry, and paint with whatever suits you."

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Monte

[Patrick_Krivacka]

thanks for that, Monte. I've been thinking about doin' some painting. I wonder if the same technique works aluminum ?

[montmil]

Chrome provides such a hard finish that paint is attached only by the film strength of the cured color shot. Flaking and chipping and peeling are inevitable... Gawd, what a mess. The acid will etch the hard chrome surface and give the paint something to hold onto.

I sure would not employ muriatic acid on aluminum. One of the "ab fab" DIY soda blasters would get you to a paintable position.

Monte

[Bob_Roller]

When we remove a filter from an engine and it has metal on it, the first test that is done, is to place a small amount of the metal into a small container, then add muriatic acid .

If the metal is aluminum, it 'boils' away in under 30 seconds .

Muriatic/hydrochloric acid is not kind to aluminum or magnesium parts .

Sanding with a fine sandpaper, like 220 grit would be a better option .

[Patrick_Krivacka]

Rodger that. I've used the sanding method with success in the past. I'm always on the lookout for a short cut.

[Lucky_Lou]

There are acid etch primers availiable ive used them on zinc plated steel panels and seem to work with minimum prep but i think you would have to "score" a chrome surface to get a good finish.
Lou

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Hey Bob Roller - I have some KleanStrip Aircraft Paint Remover for a project on my Honda CB200 which involves steel.

Have you used this product in your career?  I know it is nasty stuff (I'm going to buy an upgraded respirator next payday).  I just wondered if it is safe to use on aluminum surfaces.  I'm not seeing anything on the can's label or other data sheets that says not to.
http://www.kleanstrip.com/



I already have applied it to three small spots on the Honda's cases where the gasket refused to come off.  It worked very well.  It's been a week, and I haven't been back out to the garage to see if I have big gaping holes in the engine, or not!

[Bob_Roller]

Rob it's safe to use on aluminum, there's no acid in it, methylene chloride is usually the active ingredient .

Make sure you have thick rubber gloves on when you use it, the common thin medical type gloves aren't thick enough to protect your hands from it .

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Make sure you have thick rubber gloves on when you use it, the common thin medical type gloves aren't thick enough to protect your hands from it .  

Yeah, I wondered about that.  I've been putting together an order with this company:
http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/find.php?find=chemical-handling&substring=&pageID=1

They have several to choose from.  I suppose pretty much anything on page two of that would work?

[Bob_Roller]

You can probably get what you need at a grocery store or home improvement center .

[Justin B.]

Eastwood has etch primer for aluminum.  When I was in the Army we had to prime aluminum with zinc chromate primer...

[montmil]

Sometimes difficult to find actual zinc chromate primer. The idiots at EPA continue to attempt to protect us from ourselves. Now, they want to eliminate 100LL aviation fuel. This will have a huge cost impact upon the General Aviation industry; likely forcing many private aircraft to be grounded by their owners due to "safety" concerns from the gubmint.

But I digress... I helped restore a Cessna 120 with another gentleman and we used an aluminum alodine "wash" before shooting silver Imron color on the aircraft. This was nearly twenty years ago and the paint is still as new. No flakes, chips or de-lamination.

Alodine is a nice alternative to spraying and helps prevent corrosion. My 1932-era Pietenpol had it's aluminum parts left with just the alodine finish. It's a soft, golden color that always drew positive comments at fly-ins.

Monte