Painting Egg Crates
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 40,404
Likes: 791
From: Redondo Beach, California
Had mine done, along with all the other chrome, by a local plating shop. As I mentioned above, they were blasted down, re-nickled, rechromed, then I primered and painted the entire part, then removed the paint from the edges. 
No mention of anything out of the ordinary, with respect to the crates.. Its been around 4 years now and the edges still are perfect...
No mention of anything out of the ordinary, with respect to the crates.. Its been around 4 years now and the edges still are perfect...
I know plastic parts can be vapor/vacuum deposited with what looks like chrome. I've often been tempted to try it. A shop that does vacuum deposition offered to plate a metal part for me. Never followed through.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,118
From: Crossville TN
I believe that vacuum 'plating' process for plastic parts uses aluminum (rather than chrome). That stuff is good for interior parts; but put them outside and they deteriorate rather quickly. I think doing that for outside parts would require the part to be clear-coated to protect it from environment/UV.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 897
Likes: 245
From: Green Valley Ca
From what I know, they are difficult to rechrome. The louvers are a cast aluminum alloy, not pot metal. Any re-chromer can strip them down; remove the chrome plate, the nickel plate..and polish the basic aluminum. For re-plating, the polished aluminum has to be anodyzed with a electro conductive anodyzing. After this specialized anodyzing plating, the part can then be nickel and the chrome plated. There are not that many shops that can do the electrically conductive anodyzing.
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 5,814
Likes: 414
From: Pittsburgh suburbs Pa.
I believe that vacuum 'plating' process for plastic parts uses aluminum (rather than chrome). That stuff is good for interior parts; but put them outside and they deteriorate rather quickly. I think doing that for outside parts would require the part to be clear-coated to protect it from environment/UV.
