Hi guys,

 

I'm looking to chrome plate my alloys since they are old and should be refurbished. In my research, I've found that the pre-chroming steps should be the following:

 

1. sandblasting the wheels

2. applying a zincate layer

3. electroless nickel plating

4. copper plating

 

Did I miss anything so far ?

There is a chrome finish powder coat that looks like chrome without all the faffing about.

http://www.eastwood.com/hotcoat-powder-single-stage-reflective-chrome.html

There are several places in the UK that offer it, not sure about Greece, but I can't believe that someone in Greece can't do it for you.

Get plety of pictures if you do anyway, never seen anyone chrome them yet!

I want to chrome them because the paint/powder coating can and surely will get pretty ugly (as per my research, it is a matter of weeks...maybe months). By adding a chrome layer, I hope the wheels will be fresh as long as my car will be (and if I am not wrong, please correct me if I am, this is how the OEM alloys are done).

2 years ago I bought a set of used alloys .. just to be sure I would not regret damaging new ones. Since I haven't got any new scuffs on them (and there are a lot of pretty high curbs where I live), I decided to get them properly refurbished (I've seen this practice on 4x4s, it should work both on steel and alloys as well). The bad thing is that the factory were I will sandblast the wheels can only apply the 1st zincate layer, so I hope I will find where to apply the other layers.

 

Can anybody tell me if there is another step into doing this or there are only 3 layers (zincate, copper and chrome) ? Should the final layer be polished ?

 

Later edit: I pretty much suck at Photoshop, but this is pretty much a sketch of what I am trying to achieve(and ignore the cat, it was the first photo that came into the Photo Library lol ). 

Edited 4 February, 201610 yr by Alexandru

The wheels on the Chrysler PT Cruiser are powder coated and very robust.

It's almost impossible to get things chromed because of the incredibly nasty chemicals you have to use.

About which chemicals are you talking about ? I'm just sandblasting them, not chemical peeling them.

http://www.finishing.com/321/08.shtml

About which chemicals are you talking about ? I'm just sandblasting them, not chemical peeling them.

Chromic Acid

Chrome plating is done in very highly concentrated (about 32 oz./gal) chromic acid, H2CrO4 -- "hexavalent chromium" -- the stuff that made Erin Brockovich a household word. If a neighborhood child develops cancer from any cause whatsoever and his/her parents find out that you were chrome plating, God help you. Factories that use this stuff require exhaust scrubbing, they require fume suppressants that are monitored every day. The workers require medical surveillance (frequent blood tests for absorbed chromium).

If you do illegally dispose of chromic acid you will probably be caught because it leaches through the ground very readily and turns up in the aquifer, and it is not only easily detectable but it's visible at 1 part in a million, and all wells and water supplies are monitored for chrome.

Dropped a beaker on the garage floor? That could be enough to poison all of the wells around you, and you do not have "pollution insurance" in your homeowner's policy.

On top of all this, many city councils have a written or de facto ban on chrome plating