Best way to get chrome off this piece? With pic of front grille

It's the rear Riv emblem. Believe it or not, it just pops right out of the trunk lock (glued into place with flexible rtv). I've been wanting to paint this a flat/gloss black theme to match the rest of the car. Please see pics below. As you can tell, there was a paint or some other kind of aluminum or chrome colored coating on the inside of this piece that has already begun to flake off. Otherwise, it is translucent. I'd like to strip it all the way down and then either paint the whole inside gloss black or just the R gloss and the rest flat. Advice on that is welcome as well.





Anyone with tips on how to preserve the plastic while removing the coating?

Thanks

Lacquer thinner will melt the plastic creating a mess.I dont know about paint stripper? the best way would be to wet sand the piece.start with some 600 and work your way up to 800 or more.
spray a little adhesion promoter onto the front and back followed by the color of your choice.silver for the inside that will show through nicely ,and whatever color for the outside.clear coat after all is said and done and your done.
tedious getting into those tiny grooves

Dental pick and some glass cleaner. Should break it down enough to chip off but not cloud it.

Wonder what would happen if you just soaked it in Coca-Cola for a while?

But seriously, here is a site for plastic modelers that seems to have answers:

LINK.

And the Caswell Plating site says to use an "Acid Pickle" and reverse-plate the stuff off (I like this approach) - they give formulas for the pickle juice, basically it's battery acid or another acid - see the OTHER LINK.

And a toy site: The OTHER OTHER LINK

Bottom line: Household bleach might do it just by soaking the part, won't hurt the plastic in the timeframe of interest (5-10 minutes). I say might because the plating for model car parts is sometimes only paint. The professional platers (Caswell) tell you straight up how it's done, but the stakes are a little higher (battery acid?!?!) and you have to get electrical connection to the plating. Have a look at the sites, see what you think. I dunno what you should do, but I'd buy a bottle of good bleach (probably Clorox?) and soak the thing for 10 minutes.

Albertj

I would try using a very sticky tape, like duct tape or other industrial adhesive strip (2-sided foam adhesive). Apply firmly and then peel up to see if the foil separates. Try applying and pulling up abruptly and rapidly, like when removing hair from a shirt. I bet with some persistence more will come off, maybe all of it. Good luck!

albertj wrote:

Wonder what would happen if you just soaked it in Coca-Cola for a while?

But seriously, here is a site for plastic modelers that seems to have answers:

LINK.

And the Caswell Plating site says to use an "Acid Pickle" and reverse-plate the stuff off (I like this approach) - they give formulas for the pickle juice, basically it's battery acid or another acid - see the OTHER LINK.

And a toy site: The OTHER OTHER LINK

Bottom line: Household bleach might do it just by soaking the part, won't hurt the plastic in the timeframe of interest (5-10 minutes). I say might because the plating for model car parts is sometimes only paint. The professional platers (Caswell) tell you straight up how it's done, but the stakes are a little higher (battery acid?!?!) and you have to get electrical connection to the plating. Have a look at the sites, see what you think. I dunno what you should do, but I'd buy a bottle of good bleach (probably Clorox?) and soak the thing for 10 minutes.

Albertj

yeah if you go that route check a Ph chart and start at a less alkaline or acidic compount first. ill check mine out tomm. when i can see outside but it sounds like its going to be a large pain to remove it all with out messing up the clear plastic

I used Aaron's method with sticky duct tape and was able to get all the chrome flaking from the R. The rest of it seems pretty difficult to get off, especially with the ribbing in there. The way I see it, it wouldn't be terrible if any part of this plastic was scratched on the inside because that is the part I would be painting. Thus, the paint would fill in the scratch and you wouldn't see it from the outside. Maybe I'm looking at this wrong. You guys agree? I'm thinking I'll paint the R gloss black with a brush and once that paint has dried, I will spray the rest of the inside flat. Then I'll use a little rtv to re-apply it to the trunk lock mechanism (i'm painting that flat black as well).

Thanks for the feedback thus far.

The paint might fill in the scratches, or it might not, depending on how deep they are. A very thin paint will flow into the scratch cavities, but still may be visible. One way you could do it, if you had time, is to bead blast or sand/scratch the foil away, then apply a clear coat - this should restore the transparency. THEN when it's dry, use your paint of choice.

Be sure to use a clear coat recommended to be safe with clear plastics, as it's possible the curing process could fracture the emblem. Also be sure the paint you select is compatible over the clear coat. Test a sample to be sure. Good luck!

I would use something like superglue/crazyglue to reinstall it, I've had very good luck with that as far as glued on trim pieces. I don't like RTV for that.

Thanks guys! Will post pics up hopefully tomorrow evening.

Teaser of front. I already sprayed the rear lock mechanism flat black. There was a slight imperfection on it behind where the medallion would sit so I just left it. Will get a better pic of that tomorrow on the car.

My love for this car is coming back in a HUGE way. I'm getting well over 30mpg on the highway so I'm getting about 390 miles to a tank before the light comes on. What an amazing car.

edit:


Those are going on the car in a few days with the Yokohama new tires. There is no chrome left on this car. Not sure how many people will like this but I think the transformation is complete. Not exactly murdered but kept with the black theme.

looks interesting so far,can't wait to see the car with no chrome all put together.