Removing Chrome ?

[Mark R]

Just a quick question fella's.How do I remove chrome from parts I want to weather ?

[Art Anderson]

Just a quick question fella's.How do I remove chrome from parts I want to weather ?

My old standby for decades is lye, known also as sodium hydroxide. Lye is death to aluminum, which is what model chrome plating is--micro thin aluminm applied to the model parts. Lye will not only strip the aluminum, but will also get rid of the base coat that all vacuum-platers use for both adhesion and to give a wet-look shine to the plastic parts. That allows you to see all the details molded into the parts, and also to be able to polish out mold parting lines and such without any "ghose" of the edge of the basecoatings.

Lye is hazardous, so use carefully, use PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), like protective gloves on your hands (lye will eat your skin away, burning you), and eye protection is an absolute MUST. But, used with caution, basic following of the instructions on the package, it works very well, and is biodegradeable.

Lye is the active ingredient in stuff like Easy-Off oven cleaners, drain openers, and is available by itself in powder (crystal) form, as "Lewis Red Devil Lye" (with this, follow the directions to the letter on the package!).

Oven cleaner and Purple Power/Castrol SuperClean are used full strength, and will strip the "chrome" and base coatings in about 10 minutes. Lewis Lye can be mixed stronger, I find it can strip the chrome in seconds, the base coats become soft in a couple of minutes. An old toothbrush works well to scrub away base coats from nooks and crannies.

Always rinse the parts thoroughly with clear tap water, and lay out to dry on clean paper towels. Been doing this since the late 1960's, with nary an accident, and I know it works.

Art

[MikeMc]

Amnonia or bleach will work well and quick.....they leave the clear on.

[Jordan White]

i don't care at all for the oven cleaner method as it's messy, hazardous and in my opinion and experience does something weird to plastic.

Dave

I used the oven cleaner to strip my F-350 Dually, and it wasn't too bad. I got the scented kind, so it doesn't smell like a chemical plant. I used a plastic bucket so it didn't get all over the place. I used gloves and goggles (The goggles, they do nothing! ) so I didn't get it on me. And the plastic parts seemed fine to me when I was done. They even held paint just fine afterwards (after washing them off with soap and water first).

[RodBurNeR]

I use the Purple stuff to strip most of my paints and the chrome from old bumpers to get them replated.

Here is a photo tutorial I did awhile back if you want to check it out.

http://public.fotki.com/drasticplasticsmcc/1/2/1/my-tips--tricks-and/stripping-old-chrome/

[Railfreak78]

I use Westley's Bleach White. It's a cleaner for white wall tires and convertible tops, etc. It does not ruin the parts and strips them clean. Perfect for Alclad or color matching schemes. I have it in a cotton candy cup cause it's cheap and have a cheap net from a kitchen set that I heated the handle for the bend. This holds all the small parts. Here is the results from my 74 Caprice.

[caine440]

I just used Windex to remove the totally hideous chrome AMT was kind enough to put on the bumpers of the Duster I am working on.

[Mark R]

Thanks guys for the varying methods for this process.

Alittle trial and error I believe is in order

[Matt Bacon]

This is all very useful stuff, guys... now, can anyone in the UK provide me with "translations" for some of these products? I have some "Household Ammonia" (what it says on the bottle); would that do it? Is "Fairy Power Spray" like "Dawn Power Dissolver?

bestest,

M.

[Jordan White]

This is all very useful stuff, guys... now, can anyone in the UK provide me with "translations" for some of these products? I have some "Household Ammonia" (what it says on the bottle); would that do it? Is "Fairy Power Spray" like "Dawn Power Dissolver?

bestest,

M.

Well, I do know that Oven Cleaner translates to Oven Cleaner.

[Mark R]

I just used Windex to remove the totally hideous chrome AMT was kind enough to put on the bumpers of the Duster I am working on.

Thanks Caine. The windex seems to have worked fine.(fyi that's what I had readily available)

Well, I do know that Oven Cleaner translates to Oven Cleaner.

ROFL -- that is priceless....

[Art Anderson]

Amnonia or bleach will work well and quick.....they leave the clear on.

Yes it will. However, it's the clear base coats that made for "gloppy" chrome plating on those model car parts--not the vacuum metalizing itself--that is but a few molecules thick.

To recover the little details on plated parts when stripping, removing that clear coating will reveal details that most of us have never seen before--that is why I use sodium hydroxide or products containing it.

Art

[caine440]

Glad to hear it!

It even took off the messed up yellowed base coat on my AMT Duster.

Now it is time to spray it with Spazstx.

[Nick Winter]

one word Bleach, let it sit over night, and when you check it your left with nothing but bear plastic.

[Jordan White]

one word Bleach, let it sit over night, and when you check it your left with nothing but bear plastic.

Does it grow fur and claws and suddenly have an appetite for fish?

[Nick Winter]

Does it grow fur and claws and suddenly have an appetite for fish?

I know I misspelled Bare. But no it dosen't it grows gills and swims in the bleack

[Nick Winter]

BLEACK! Gaahh! that waz wut the bear-Knuckled Fish screme whan they hit ewe in the fase for miss speeling.

Sorry I was a Letter off, it should be *bleach