Painting over Chrome

What are your thoughts on Painting over all the chrome on a 99 Tacoma? Is it worth painting it all black or just buying a new grill and bumpers?

 

Hi there,

I painted over my chrome grill following various methods on here. If you take your time, do the right prep work, use self-etching primer before your black paint is applied, and do multiple layers, I think you can save yourself some money. Mine has been going on 4 months now with no signs of fading or chipping.

 

Thank you for the tip/info! Much appreciated

 

Before I sandblasted mine and did it the "correct" way I did it with scuffing the chrome until dull, few thin primer coats and thin coats of paint and it lasted about a year before I repainted. Probably would still look good.

I used sanding grinder, brillo pad and scuff pads, black etching primer and semi-gloss black with clear on top. Prob was Krylon or something. If you take time it will look just fine. Tape it up good and wont even have to remove from truck.

 

If you don't have the time.. take your stuff to a reputable powder coating shop to get it blasted. I did that with a lot of my motorcycle parts and they look great once prepped and painted. Do it right the first time either way!

 

I have the time yes, but out of the two suggestions, which would be the cheapest route?
If anyone has any pictures of what they theirs looked like afterward please post them

 

It seems like plastidip works well for covering up chrome.

 

But is it durable and last long is the question...

 

Mine has been plasti-dipped black for almost 2 years. it's also easy to touch up with an additional coat if need be. I have a few rock hits I need to address but I might be replacing my rusty pieces instead

 

I've seen a few reports on this forum that it easily lasts a few years and is easy to touch up. I ran into someone last week that plastidip'd his wheels and they looked perfect after a year! Wheels take a bunch of abuse; I was rather impressed.

I plan on dipping my chrome grill in a few weeks.

 

I've heard of a lot of success with plasti-dip. I did some wheels years ago but they peeled fairly quick. Probably try doing my wheels with it soon.

End of day, sandblasted and good powdercoat is best method. I'd see what that cost and go from there. Scuffing, primer and paint can be done for less than $50 and some time which is hard to beat.

 

can't find another pic right now but here's a recent "half shot" showing the one little stone hit

edit: apparently it doesn't show here but there is a tiny visible hole above the turn signal

 

Hmm, yeah that hole barely noticeable on here, but that Hummers park job... eh... needs some work

 

The chrome used on the first gens was absolutely awful. The chroming process doesn't put a protective layer underneath the top surface so any decent sized scratches lead to rust, and fast. If you do paint over the chrome, do as the guys above said and either sandblast or make sure you remove as much chrome as you cant down to bare metal and use self etching primer. Otherwise I can promise you rust will form quick. Good luck!

 

I did my bumper ends a couple years ago. I sanded first with some really rough sand paper, 80 grit i think. Then i sanded again with 220 IIRC. Then I used self etching primer just like @99SuperTaco4x4 already mentioned above. I did 2-3 coats of this then lightly wet sanded with 330 grit and did 2-3 coats of automotive primer. Let it cure for a day then lightly wet sand again with 330 to smooth out any rough spots. Then panted with semi-gloss black paint. I let the paint set for about 1.5 days before reinstalling. The paint has held up great with no issues. Just make sure your primer coat is nice and smooth before painting or you will see random rough spots through the paint.

 

I plastidipped all the chrome on my '04, for the most part it's held up well but there are chips and scratches in it. To be fair though I wheel pretty regularly so it's expected. I even painted my wheels with actual wheel paint (using the right process) and the Plasti Dip has held up WAY better than that stuff.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ok-so-here-we-go.486087/

 

Plastidip costs about 6 bucks.

 

Plastidip is as cheap and simple as you'll find and will hold up well.

 

^

Plus you can just peel it off if you don't like it and try a different color or paint