General Cycling Discussion - Painting over rusty chrome???? I searched

I know I know I searched and couldn't find anything for my predicament. I bought a 20" freestyle
bike for my nephew and the paint was chipping and pretty crappy in general So I thought no big
deal I'll strip it and repaint like I have done on many a bike, Well after some test spots I notice
it wasn't just shiny stock 4130 but it was originally a chrome finish bike and after reading on here
about painting chrome and the bad outcomes I guess since they were starting with a nice finish.
I was wondering since there is some scale rust and who ever painted it did sand it some what but
not really well enough. What am I left to do? go ahead and put a sanding wheel on my drill and
get to work roughing up the majority of the frame (alot of work!!) Or using what I have seen called
a etchant primer (what brand and who carries it?) and then just paint over that. What about the
rust spots that are deeper then the rest are they going to show up? I am trying to make this nice
for my nephew since his momma is a single mom and she can't afford a bike and of course we all
know how kids are and I want him to have a nice looking bike so he don't get picked on especially
since he is moving into a new neighborhood and we all know how kids can be. I have used the
rustoleum metallic paint with rust oleum primer and clearcoat for a bike that I rode on the beach
and it was a nice smooth finish and it never did have trouble with rust but I had a smooth canvas
so to say, and I also painted my dirt bike with the same and it came out awesome does anyone know
if that is a good primer to use or is an etchant primer going to say right on the label etchant or is
it another word they may use like a propritary name for each company? Please help me help my
nephew to look cool and have the most awesome looking bike in the neighborhood!!
I wish I could afford to go the sandblast and powdercoat route but due to medical reasons I can't
work right now and need to do this on the cheap, and I am actually catching hell for even doing this
for him but I beleive every kid should have a bike and ride the crap out of it!!

I think if I were doing this project and I wanted to make it look good I would strip the frame down to bare metal with a chemical stripper, sand the rust off with either my Dremel Tool or drill, depending on how much there is, then prep, primer, paint and clearcote.

I think if I were doing this project and I wanted to make it look good I would strip the frame down to bare metal with a chemical stripper, sand the rust off with either my Dremel Tool or drill, depending on how much there is, then prep, primer, paint and clearcote.

I think thats good advice.

That is really great you are doing this for your nephew.

Acid-etching primer.

Works even on deep rust, with a few coats. This stuff is great, does not peel off like regular primer. I've used it for years. Etches right into aluminum, chrome, or plastic.

Available in most Checker, Advanced Auto... for sure in Auto Paint suppliers, $6 to $8 bucks but goes a long ways.

I didn't read your run-on post, but can't paint over chrome. End of story.

I guess you are not very well read since you couldn't take the time to read a few paragraphs. If you do some
searches you will find that there is about a 50/50 concensus on painting chrome on here, but that is too much
reading I guess you probably aren't good at rithmatic and riting either!
Have you seen any custom cars lately there are a few guys running monochromatic paint (that means one color
not 1 chrome) and they are painting over those real classic chrome plated bumpers and trim and it looks good
and that is true chrome where you could leave it in saltwater and not have a speck form, so if they can paint
that it can be done.
I got the dupli color self etching primer and did the forks, I got the crap paint job off them and the stickers
with paint stripper, then I used from 150 grit, then my wire wheel in my drill then I finished off with some
300 and 400 grit sand paper and cleaned it up and wiped it with a clean cloth. I put about 3 coats of the
self etching primer and I stuck it in my paint drying booth (which is actually just my old 4x4 truck) I figure it
will get up to about 120* in the Florida summer heat and really dry that primer!!
I hope it turns out good because there is no going back to chrome without $$ But I did happen to see
a at home powder coating gun for $130.00 in the summit racing catalog!!! The paint for it is like $3.00 so
if you figure the health benefits from using the powder coating versus rattle cans and the paint costs as
much as rattle cans it could be worth it in the long run!!( at least that's what i told my wifey)

Well I did the frame and I primed it and painted it the same day and put it my truck and the paint already seems hard as a rock!! I only used one can of the primer and one can of the cobalt blue metallic rustoleum.
It stuck just fine to the roughed up chrome and it covered up the darkened rusty spots. How long do you
think the paint should take to cure inside my truck which is like 120* but the humidity is pretty high since it
is raining every night?