Ok I've got a car with a chrome plated plastic grille, and the whole thing is pitted and badly. tried some scratchX which made it shiny between the pitting but as far as the pitting was concerned it was still there and not even touched. My question is what can I do about this? I'll try to post some pics later but right now i'm at work and don't have access to my camera :nixweiss I think I may have to wetsand but just want to see what everyone else thinks.
Pitting+chrome plated plastic
- Thread starter ga_se2005
- Start date
Eliot Ness
Active member
If the pitting are areas of missing chrome there isn't too much you can do. If you wet-sand you'll more than likely 1.) dull the existing chrome and/or 2.) sand through to the plastic. Either way it will look worse than it does now.
The best course of action is to replace it; either with a new piece or a nice one from a junk yard. One other option is to sand and repaint your grill. They do make a chrome paint, but personally I don't think it looks very good. You could always buy a can and try it on a scrap piece of plastic, but I think you'll be much better off just replacing it.
I think there are places that will re-chrome plastic pieces that advertise in Hemmings, but I don't know of anyone who has had that done, what it would cost, or how well they turn out.
The best course of action is to replace it; either with a new piece or a nice one from a junk yard. One other option is to sand and repaint your grill. They do make a chrome paint, but personally I don't think it looks very good. You could always buy a can and try it on a scrap piece of plastic, but I think you'll be much better off just replacing it.
I think there are places that will re-chrome plastic pieces that advertise in Hemmings, but I don't know of anyone who has had that done, what it would cost, or how well they turn out.
Thanks for the response. Yes, I have seen the chrome paints but I have used these and the paint isn't very good and looks pretty cheap when done. I have been looking for chrome platers but cannot seem to find one even remotely close to me ( I live on Cape Breton Island on the east coast of Canada). I have been looking for a replacement grille but haven't had much luck at any junkyards, all that turn up are the same or worse than the one I already have. Oh well I guess I'll just have to live with the shiny but pitted look until another better grille shows up or a chrome plater opens up that can do plastic :nixweiss
Zrex61 thanks for the info. I never heard of this procedure before and appreciate the feedback. I've heard of chrome plating on fiberglass and other nonmetal materials so i just assumed this was chrome plating as well. Pricing on this doesn't process doesn't look that bad either.... maybe this will be done sooner than I thought:dance
Eliot Ness
Active member
Here is a site that has some good info:ga_se2005 said:
Chrome plating plastic - Vacuum Metalizing – The Mueller Corporation
Note the following: "Vacuum Metallizing conforms to the base material that is being coated. If there is texture, scratches, blister, etc it will show through the coating."
Either you or the person doing the job will have to make sure there is a smooth surface or the pitts will show up...... just like a bad chrome plating job that is done over pitting.... it won't look very good when finished.
Is there a way to tell whether a plastic part has been chrome plated or vacuum metalized? Plastic "chrome" flaking is a big problem for those of us that own Jaguar XJSs...the headlight bezels almost always look awful. I'd always assumed it was chrome, as the layer is very thick and looks like metal peeling off. To my knowledge, nobody on the XJS boards has found a good, relatively cheap source for re-chroming these.