Author Topic: Powder coating over chrome? (Read 994 times)

GavinDavis · « **on:** August 26, 2012, 09:10 PM »

Hi guys,

I picked up a 96 Haro Zippo in chrome the other day, completely original but in need of a major clean etc. However, when cleaning it up....i turned it upside down to find that an area of chrome is missing about the size of a 50p on the downtube due to flaking. My goal for this little number is to create a retro Master replica and originally i wanted to keep the entire bike chrome. Now im leaning more towards the powder coating option due to the missing chrome, rather than suffer the heavy expense of re-chroming

So....my question is.....can the frame be powder coated over the top of the existing chrome? If i chose this option i would only want it powdered from the front, going just past the seat post?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

meticulous · « **Reply #1 on:** August 27, 2012, 07:50 AM »

yes it could, though the powder may scratch off easily....

GavinDavis · « **Reply #2 on:** August 27, 2012, 12:21 PM »

Quote from: meticulous on August 27, 2012, 07:50 AM

yes it could, though the powder may scratch off easily....

I was thinking a similar thing

....maybe it would be best to have it all blasted and powdered then if that is the case.....doh!!

deeman · « **Reply #3 on:** August 27, 2012, 08:48 PM »

It would be possible to do it,although the proper way would be to strip the chrome off first before powder,I had a Redline RL-20 powdered over chrome a while back,unfortunately I never got to ride it so can't report on chipping etc,but the powdercoater told me it wouldn't stick as well as if it were bare metal and that he wouldn't guarantee it.It looked fantastic though and seemed to be on there solid enough.If you did this you could keep the rear end chrome

GavinDavis · « **Reply #4 on:** August 27, 2012, 09:17 PM »

Quote from: deeman on August 27, 2012, 08:48 PM

It would be possible to do it,although the proper way would be to strip the chrome off first before powder,I had a Redline RL-20 powdered over chrome a while back,unfortunately I never got to ride it so can't report on chipping etc,but the powdercoater told me it wouldn't stick as well as if it were bare metal and that he wouldn't guarantee it.It looked fantastic though and seemed to be on there solid enough.If you did this you could keep the rear end chrome

Having spent some time on the frame today it turns out that there is some slight pitting on the chrome at the rear

....i dont think it would stand the test of time if i left it so im certain now that my best option would be to have all the chrome stripped and then powder the whole frame. At least then i can be sure it will be 100%. Cheers for the advice though dude

HARORIDER · « **Reply #5 on:** August 28, 2012, 08:04 PM »

as long as the chrome is keyed properly the powder will be fine

animal · « **Reply #6 on:** August 29, 2012, 06:02 PM »

Just get it media blasted or emery cloth the whole frame

Ask SBD he will know the best

My latest MRD Pro was media blasted so I emery clothed it aswell and Dan painted over it with brilliant results

john4130 · « **Reply #7 on:** August 30, 2012, 05:24 PM »

how did haro paint their chromed frames? they seemed to be quite durable and after a couple of years when it did get tatty you could strip it and have a nice chrome frame.

GavinDavis · « **Reply #8 on:** August 31, 2012, 07:51 AM »

Quote from: john4130 on August 30, 2012, 05:24 PM

how did haro paint their chromed frames? they seemed to be quite durable and after a couple of years when it did get tatty you could strip it and have a nice chrome frame.

That was the original look i was going for....semi paint...semi chrome, but after cleaning it up ive got a bit of flaking chrome so its all going to have to come off and get powdered....doh!! Cheers for your advice though lads