TOPIC:

Hi guys,
I have a bunch of new old stock parts in excellent condition but I don't like chrome. I want to black everything out but I don't have any experience with chrome. (rust yes but chrome no) Can I powdercoat over everything? do I need to strip or blast the chrome off first? maybe a self etching primer before paint? I don't have a local shop that does chrome so I would have to ship to someone who I've never met/ won't meet in person. I have dealt with a few local powdercoaters and they seem happy to take your money and powder whatever you want but not really help out at all with letting you know what prep would save them time and save you money etc. I'm ready to say screw it and experiment with Harbor freight stuff and learn to do it myself at this point. Any help would be appreciated.

Are you kidding?

If you honestly have new old stock chrome parts for a KZ you would be very shortsighted to ruin the chrome or paint the parts. It's fine that you don't like chrome, that's not really unusual, but is it possible you also don't like money?

There aren't very many new old stock chrome KZ parts still available, and there is considerable demand for them. You can very easily sell new old stock chrome parts for much more money than it would take to replace them with used parts. Since you plan to paint them anyway it doesn't matter at all it the used parts do not have perfect chrome.

I would list the new old stock parts in this thread so folks can see what you have available. You might get trades plus $$ for them. If not, eBay is a very easy way to sell new old stock parts and an easy way to find used parts.

Obviously, it's your money and your parts, but to me it seems like a total waste to strip the chrome off new old stock parts when they can be sold to someone who really wants them and replaced at a profit so easily. Ed

Count me in as interested....

chrome is in .you can buy beat up stock parts and have them powder coated .but good condition chrome parts are worth there weight in gold.

Well Ive just gone through this myself. I went on the interweb to look at home ways to strip chrome. ( I really dont like chrome) No good. It was all bollocks.I tried various methods and had bits soaking in pots of household chemicals for a few weeks. Nothing worked.
What I did in the end with my bits,I started with a degreasing,then went over everythingl with a wire brush on a drill then a fine sandpaper.The idea being to get the shine off it. I took it to my local,friendly bike shop (they just got a powder coat set up). Washed it,degreased again,sandblasted it(they only have a small sand blaster,not strong enough to strip the chrome but enough to key it for PC.).
Powder coated it,stuck it in the oven and said 'Wow' when it was done. It came out great,Im very happy with it.Though,The bits arent on the road yet so I cant speak for the durability of it all(maybe it all flakes off in 6 months!) But it looks great.
I sarted out with a chrome headlight shell with a chrome rim

Powdercoated the shell with a matt black with some kind of bits in it and the rim is with a clean satin black

I also did the starter motor cover but I didnt get a photo of it.

Saying all of that,my stuff was very second hand with rust sprouting through the chrome so,I had nothing to lose but I have to agree with what 650ed says.

Good luck

typically a good bead blasting will give the chrome enough "tooth" to hold paint or powder.

leon

I have heard that professional powdercoat companies dont strip the chrome anyway ,they treat it with acid,then paint over it.

I've blasted chrome before and the chrome lifted in localized areas. Once that happens you need to fill the low spots so to speak before painting. A low pressure blasting could work, but I think a good soaking in phosphate sauce would etch the metal and be lower risk.

Not getting into the debate...

You don't need to remove the chrome to paint!
Scuff the chrome (scotch brite pad) then use adhesion promoter, primer, paint then clear & good to go.

OMR

What he said!. If you have some chrome ill buy!!?? lol. Let me know what you have.

650ed wrote:


There aren't very many new old stock chrome KZ parts still available, and there is considerable demand for them. You can very easily sell new old stock chrome parts for much more money than it would take to replace them with used parts.
I would list the new old stock parts in this thread so folks can see what you have available. You might get trades plus $$ for them. If not, eBay is a very easy way to sell new old stock parts and an easy way to find used parts.

Yes you're right 650ed I don't like money! I like old motorcycles!
just kidding but before you guys lynch me, I got a parts lot off of someone with a bunch of stuff in it. None of it is super rare or hard to find and I suspect much of it is probably reproduction stuff anyway- headlight bucket, blinkers, grab bar, crash bars etc. I can't imagine any of this stuff would be worth the hassle of trying to figure out if it is original or not, selling it and buying new stuff and then blacking it out etc. etc.

Hey guys, for what it's worth, I had a small batch powder coating shop a few years back, and any chrome parts that came in to be powder coated were tossed into the oven first. If the chrome came out, without any of the chrome starting to lift, then it was ok to powder coat. If the chrome started to lift, then the chrome had to be removed first. As far as prepping the chrome for powder coating, it was ruffed up with Scotch-Brite, cleaned, treated with an Iron Phosphate, and shot with your choice of powder. I only had my shop for 3 years. Had to close the doors to health problems, but did not have one piece of powdered chrome come back.

This is a good site to buy your powder products from, as they do deal in small quantities of powder coating supplies, and they used to have a great, informative forum.

www.powderbuythepound.com/