Has anyone ever done it? Im thinking about painting my chrome front bumper and grill flat black maybe even that rough rhino lining stuff. Just an idea but does anyone have any pics? How strong do you think it will be?

 

Never tried it but I did try painting my chrome grille guard at one time. It worked good until i drove down the highway in rain and the speed plus the raindrops took the paint off. I prepped for 2 days and painted avter a couple coats of primer and it didn't matter. But i hear you have to prep more once you've prepped enough so I'm not sure. And no, the wreck didn't cause the paint to do that, it was like that before I wrecked.

Before:


After Painting:

 

here you go, one after I drove though rain:

 

I thought about it. I would have to scratch the chrome off so that a zinc phosphate primer could adhere to it or the nickel beneath it. Then a second regular primer. Then what ever flavor eye candy. If you prep for Imron paint it will not come off, not with out a fight.

Otherwise, just grind down to the steel and bare metal prep for paint as usual.

 

I would paint the front bumper on mine, but I would color match it to the green paint of the rest of the body. I think it makes it a lot more modern looking. If you look at 3rd gen+ front bumpers, a lot of them are paint matched anyhow. I plan on scuffing the chrome really well and using an acid etch primer for several coats and then automotive paint. If anyone thinks I'm missing something with this, please let me know.

I have a 94, and I'm either retrofitting to a 90-91 4runner bumper, or the pickup bumper, both of which have the turn signal lights recessed into the bumper instead of on the outside of the chrome so I can remove the plastic lower valance without it looking like crud. Sonoran Steel lower fill plate going in to cosmetically clean up the front.

oh, and I'd keep the chrome grill grim and signal surrounds shiny chrome.

 

x2 I've been doing the same thing for a week on some older OEM rims that I'm gonna paint. It's time consuming, but the product will be great looking.

 

I did mine.

It lasted okay, I didnt prep it that well, only ran it for a year then I got a tube bumper.

Just make sure you really sand down the chrome, there can't be ANY shiny spots. Where its shiny, the paint won't stick.

 

scuff, etch, paint... done.
Haven't done it myself though

 

when i painted my chrome rims black i did absolutely ZERO prep work. (unless you count duct taping around the rim to prevent overspray onto the tires)

the only 3 spots the paint didnt want to adhere to were the spots that were really rusty... everywhere else held just fine... and that was with 8 months of slingin mud and generally TRYING to get them to chip...

 

I just got done painting my front bumper, rear bumper, grill, mirrors, door handles, and the bottom portion of truck and around wheel wells with rustolium truck bed liner paint and the only prep work i did on the bumpers and grill were a scuff pad and a spray on cleaner that evaporates, I went mudding washed my car and went through two rain storms with zero problems

 

jackwolf, your avatar creeps me out



And x2342 on roughing up the chrome REAL REAL well, using a good primer, and giving it a few layers of the color you want.

 

I guess I'm just a creepy guy. That's actually me by the way so that might creep you out some more but that is not important. What is important is that as ugly as I am, chicks dig me.

 

I was afraid you'd say that... well, I think it's just the angle and the darkness in the background and the fact that everything except for your face blends into the dark... if chicks dig you, that's more that can be said for me

Hope I didnt offend you...

 

My chrome started to bubble and peel a TINY bit. Then my sister came along in the middle of winter: "Look your chrome is peeling!" and she tore a four inch wide strip of chrome all the way across my bumper. Three days later that entire strip was a nice orangy rust.
I took it into my work and attacked it with a sander, flap wheels, scuff pad wheels, finger nails and managed to get 99% of the chrome off, scuffed it up good. Industrial primer and Enamel paint on the grill, bumper, lower valance and skid plate. I took the Toyota Emblem off and kept it chrome to stand out. It held up throw the rest of the winter, rain, and highway driving every day. Still looks the same as when I finished painting it.

 

Here is a pic from my porch so it looks kind of funny and I can not find any before pics but we all know what are trucks used to look like.

 

Time for new tires!!

 

here's a pic of a painted front bumper I found in the calendar submissions page:

 

This one looks awesome!

 

jackwolf is dead on. it is a little more involved than just scuff and shoot.

 

If you prep it really good and use an industrial enamel that you would use on a trailer or tractor it should work well. I painted a stainless grill about a month ago at work and no problems yet. I prepped it with 180 grit and used an adhesion promoter.