Does anyone have an idea how I could transform my chrome bumpers into 'black' chrome? I'm not a big chrome fan, but painting them isn't the most durable route for stone chips, etc. I've already got some 'black chrome' tail lights & I think doing the bumpers would be a good compliment to them. I've thought about using gun blueing stuff, have any idea what it'd do to chrome? I suppose I could pick up some scrap somewhere and give it a shot... But any other ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

Hey, a fellow South Dakotan

 

What about powdercoating them? I think they can do glossy colors, so it could look like "black chrome."

Just a thought.

 

Chroma - You bet! ...But not originally -- been in Rapid City for four years now, grew up in Deeeeetroit.

vtn98 - I've thought about that, because we have a place in town that does powdercoating. The thing that dissuaded me from it is that I've got a black powdercoated grill/brush guard that's been on the truck for about two years, and it's got all kind of stone chips in it. Maybe it was just a cheap p/c job, but if my bumper ended up looking that way, I don't think I'd be real happy. My goal is to retain the durability of the chome, but lose the color.

I'm just gonna find an old hubcap or something and try the gun blue idea. Will post results/pics. If it doesn't work, I think my next preference would be to try some spray-on bedliner material, but I'd have to find a way to get the chrome prepped right and then keep the coating from chalking up.

 

Highwayman, some of us are still stuck up here in Detriot.
I am interested in your blueing idea.
I am considering blueing the expansion chamber on a 1980 CR250R.
Looking forward to seeing your results.

 

redelsinore - I don't know if I can imagine anything worse than a winter in Mo-Town without the Red Wings... I can survive out here in SoDak because I don't get to see any games anyway.

I plan on conducting my experiement this weekend, and will try to have pics up on Monday. After reading up on it I'm not entirely sure regular gun blue is going to work, because of the chemistry involved with using it on chrome vs. carbon steel. It's cheap, so I'll try it anyway... But I did find this web site which may be useful:

http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/

If all else fails they've got a black chrome plating kit that's reasonably priced, and you'd just have to strip off the existing chrome first. One other thing, though, is that stainless steel has a real high chrome content (what makes it "stainless"), and requires a different chemical bluing/blackening process than carbon steel. I see this place has got stainless a steel blackening kit, and I'll try to find this stuff locally and give it a shot too.

 

I tried out regular gun blue on my chrome trailer ball this weekend, and nothing happened... Didn't bother to take pics. After reading what I read over the past week I'm not real surprised. Normal gun blue only works on high-carbon steels -- for reasons I'm sure I should remember from high school chemistry, but have long forgotten.

I couldn't find any of the Caswell bluing for stainless steel in town, or any other brand of stainless blue for that matter. I'll order some from their web site and give that a shot. I'm a little more optimistic about this route, again because of stainless steel's high chrome content. It'll take a while to get here, but I'll update when I've had a chance to give it a whirl.