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Removing paint...chrome frame?

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Old 08-02-06 | 05:02 PM
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Removing paint...chrome frame?

I was wondering how well paint stripper works for removing paint because I want to take the paint of my steel bianchi and clearcoat it to have a bare/chrome frame. Is this realistic? I also want to remove rust without scratching the metal, would polish or CLR work best for this?
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Old 08-02-06 | 07:20 PM
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Usually the chrome is only polished where it would show. But gel paint stripper will take the paint off quite effectively.
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Old 08-02-06 | 07:20 PM
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Bare and chrome are two very different things.
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Old 08-02-06 | 07:35 PM
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Originally Posted by Granny
Bare and chrome are two very different things.

This cant be stated strongly enough!

If you think you are going to strip paint and find chrome, you are waaaayyyyyyy wrong!

The amount of time you would have to spend polishing the metal just to make it shine would kill you. Sending it to a chromer might work. Lots of them available on the internet.
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Old 08-02-06 | 08:07 PM
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Paint stripper will work. Here's an example of one I did earlier this week.

Before:



After:




Now - if there is no chrome there to begin with, don't expect these results.

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Old 08-02-06 | 08:25 PM
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WOW!! Almost seems like those pics should have been posted on April 1st!!

Is it common for a manufacturer to spend the money to chrome a frame, then paint of top of it?
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Old 08-02-06 | 08:26 PM
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after further review, I cant even tell what color it is in the BEFORE picture? Looks like the top might be painted, but the bottom chrome?
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Old 08-02-06 | 08:49 PM
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The Pinarello was fully chromed, then covered with a clear black paint - most likely a powdercoat. The goal was to get the sheen of the chrome to shine through. Painting over chrome was fairly common for some Italian framebuilders back in the 80's and maybe longer.

Here's a closeup of before - look around the edges of the lug where the paint was peeling.

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Old 08-02-06 | 08:55 PM
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Bottom line is that the frame was completely chrome and this is why it looks good with the paint off.
Bare steel on the other hand might look horrible, it would depend on how carefully the welds were done etc..
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Old 11-09-19 | 09:56 AM
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Nice work, 55/Rad! I am considering doing this to a similar frame.
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Old 06-01-20 | 02:46 PM
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Interesting. Does anyone know what's under the paint of a Kilo TT Pro?

Is it chrome? Or would stripping the frame leave chrome tips and raw steel where the paint used to be?

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Old 06-01-20 | 04:06 PM
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Originally Posted by 55/Rad
The Pinarello was fully chromed, then covered with a clear black paint - most likely a powdercoat. The goal was to get the sheen of the chrome to shine through. Painting over chrome was fairly common for some Italian framebuilders back in the 80's and maybe longer.

Here's a closeup of before - look around the edges of the lug where the paint was peeling.
Pinarello used to fully chrome most of their frames and then put thin, lousy paint and decals over top of it. No clear coat so the labels turn to rubbish the first time you grab your bike by a tube and pick it up.

This thread shows my test on an early 80s Pinarello Record and the gel material I used: Early 80s Pinarello Record - New Winter Project

And, case in point for Pinarello labels on a later 80s Montello:



For removing rust from chrome, I use a ball of tin-foil and WD_40. Just wipe gently and be amazed.

Last edited by CyclingFool95; 06-01-20 at 04:09 PM.
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