'New' Chrome wheels!

Hello all,

I think anymore I'm somewhat known for slightly unorthodox and what I hope, is original ideas for the Riv. But not too extreme. This is yet another project of that nature! it's about time to think about putting my Winter wheels on (sigh) but I really don't like the stock silver wheels much. About a year ago a friend gave me a guitar to paint, and I found a good looking 'chrome' paint kit from Eastwood. I just finished the guitar (after much delay) and the 'chrome' paint looks FANTASTIC.

http://www.eastwood.com/ew-liquid-chrome-w-black-base-coat-kit.html


So let's do the crappy silver wheels!






Scuff 'em up...




A good quality adhesion promoter and primer...


Then, believe it or not, a good quality black for a base.


Lol didn't think this one through. Hopefully the grass grows out enough and I can cut it before it becomes Winter.


Then I shot the black wheels with a high quality urethane clear. The chrome paint needs a perfectly smooth black base.


This is where this paint process gets difficult. You have to spray the chrome on with a jamb/touchup gun with almost NO material flow. As in very very light mist coats of paint. You end up applying about 5 coats, 15 minutes inbetween and you CANNOT let is sit longer or shorter than that or it gets dull. This is after one coat.


Two...


Five coats! Looks incredible. Chrome can't 'really' be applied like paint in a conventional sense, though there are some processes out there that are 95% like chrome. This kit ends up looking like a VERY  reflective stainless steel in color. It's so freakin cool in person. This chrome paint is more like a tint - the reflectivity you're seeing is actually the black base! The chrome paint is just coloring that black to simulate metal/chrome.


Oh yeah...


So far all the pictures I've taken have been at night so with my poorly lit garage these don't get their due justice. I snuck this one picture in before the sun set and before I applied a final protective coat of urethane clear.



Hopefully tomorrow morning I'll get a few good pics in the sun! I'm really happy with how they came out. Something different!

-Andrew Z

dats not shabby at all! Im a gonna send ya minz.overnight em please  

Great idea,looks cool,and I hope that spray on chrome lasts a long time.

Very nice! Years ago when I was in the business of scratch building models for clients, I needed to simulate brushed aluminum from time to time. The models were made of wood, foam and styrene plastic. I found a metallic paint used for model aircraft called Alclad Metallic. Used the same process you described including the glass black undercoat, then several coats. EACH COAT GOT SANDED. Before the clear I would scuff the finish with sandpaper for the brushed look. It was indistinguishable from a metal part, because the paint actually was real metal.

Again, awesome job. I never thought of doing it since my wheels already chrome! Tip: maybe if you stopped after one or two coats the effect would be a black chrome, something like Pontiac offered for the G6 coupe:



Cool look, imo.

Looks Great !!!  
** CHROME RULES **

Very nice, but were you tempted to stop after the black?

O yeah.....they look good even in black

Cant wait to see them on the Riv. I like the one coat of chrome over black. Cool.

Never liked alloy. Chrome is the shit.

Thanks everyone! I knew you might like them. I know I love them! I finally got a look at them in the daylight/outside and they're such a unique color and reflectivity (is that a word?) .

Aaron - Thanks! I've actually had to do the same brushed finish every once in a while. That paint would have been handy! I'll have to look around and see if anything like it is around still.

As far as the black chrome tip, I definitely considered it! With just one coat it looks exactly like that G6 wheel, and believe me, it was EXTREMELY tempting. I like how they came out though, they do look a bit 'smoked' still. I don't think I used enough chrome to get the look I wanted.

I do have a few pictures to share on my phone but not at the moment. In a half hour or so I will.


Dave - not so tempted to stop after just the black, but the wheels actually don't look terrible shiny black!

Here's a few pics of the finished product! Hard to describe what they really look like. They have the reflectivity of the chrome, but a second type of reflectivity from the urethane clear! Very neat and unique. I can't wait to see them on the car too.

Hyper silver?

Good enough name for me! I like it.

Nice job! Those look really sharp.

Don't worry, overspray on grass goes away rather quickly! Ask me how I know! (okay, don't ask just take my word for it)

Thanks Derek! Lol I actually did the same thing a few months ago when I redyed the plastic on the seats of our Century. You think I would have learned...

what dye did you use? where the leather or fabric? and any pics?

I used SEM Color Coat for the actual coloring/dyeing and be sure to use SEM Adhesion Promoter first! I also did a coat of the Adhesion promoter after everything was dry just to aid in easy cleaning later if need be. Pics of doing the door panels about halfway down on this page:

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t10419-1979-century-turbo-coupe-200-pics

Never showed any pics of the new wheels? did I miss em?

No you didn't miss them...I never posted a picture, stupid me.



It's hard to get a good picture of them, especially in the winter. They definitely turned out more gray than silver, but they still look 'chrome', just darker! Really neat color, even though it wasn't exactly what i was going for. They look great for Winter wheels, and the clear coat I used held up perfectly!

I just picked up a paint set to do mine. Gonna wait til it gets a little warmer than hose the spare set of wheels with brand new tires.

Can't wait. Hoping to get a similar result as you. Any more pics?

Actually I don't, sorry. Just the ones from when I finished the wheels on Page 1.

Charlie if you need any tips on that kit (if you got the same one I did) let me know...the directions are good, but I found some things to try that worked better for me.

Thanks, Andrew. I went cowboy on mine today. I dont have a garage to work in to properly paint so it had to be in the grass with pollen, flower petals, and bugs constantly blowing over my wheels

I was at oRlys a few weeks ago for MAF cleaner and found the duplicolor black chrome kits on sale for $10 a pack so I got 2. Just enough to do all 4 wheels.



After a couple coats of black base coat



Another couple coats of black base and then the start of the clear