removing "chrome" from grill/splashguards

DISCLAIMER:
if you are injured, or destroy valuable car parts while attempting this, i am not friggin' responsible...

now, with that said, here is how you remove the chrome tin-foil from your grill or splashguards before you paint them. i have seen several posts in the past were guys sanded this stuff off or painted over it, and thats WAY too much work. here is how you do it...

buy a propane torch bottle. you can get them at walmart, or any hardware store. they usually run about $12 for the kit, which includes the bottle and tip.

turn the torch on about medium, and run it over the tinfoil stuff at about the same speed as if you were spraypainting. hold it so the flame barely touches the part. you will see the stuff come off allmost immediatly. it will slightly "puff up", like air is getting under it. DO NOT STOP AND HOLD THE FLAME IN ONE SPOT.

after you do a large section, it will peel right off. there will be no small chunks left on if you heat it enough. it sounds scary, but dont worry, you will not warp or melt the plastic grill or splashguard. im telling you guys, this trick works.

here is a pic of mine about half done. there are some small "ripples" left behind, and no thats not the plastic warped. that is were the glue puddled when it melted. it comes off in about 5 seconds with some 200-ish grit sandpaper. and please, forgive the crappy webcam pic. its either than, or wait a month to use a roll of film.lol

BTW, what you see took me 6 minutes to do. (i timed myself.) alot easier than sanding it off, dont you think?

nice.. are u painting everything on ur truck white now to match?

yup. i was gonna wait until the weather got a little better because we have very humid winters here. but, i can wait no longer. this is the starting point.

Very very interesting and cool, I may do this to my grille because i got lazy and didnt sand the whole thing over.

Good thinking.

nice, you know I think this method will also work on interior plastics.. although I have not tried it yet.. there was a point during my radio kit construction that a hot peice of metal made contact with it.. the result was free peeling rubber coating over the abs radio bezel revealing a high gloss abs peice under it.

I should either rip the rest off or replace it... heh

James
Do you think that my heat gun would work as well as the torch for removing the chrome????


Thanks
Chris

Ya know... I still need to go to the body shop and have my hood blister and door painted and ideas like this are just gonna cost me more money. Damn you!!!

Originally posted by rokke17
James
Do you think that my heat gun would work as well as the torch for removing the chrome????

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i dont think the heat gun will work. you could try it, but i really dont think it would do anything. besides, the little propane torches are barely over $10, and 1 bottle would do virtually everything on your truck.

X24- suck it up and go get that scoop installed. or better yet, bring it over here and i will install it and paint it for you...

Sure James, Ill just run down to your little backwoods Arkansas shack so you can paint my scoop.

BTW, have you seen my video?

Originally posted by 98FordX24
Sure James, Ill just run down to your little backwoods Arkansas shack so you can paint my scoop. BTW, have you seen my video?

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"aww.... c'mon man.... it sure is purdy down here in the winter-time.... you can see all the way down to the creek with the leaves off of the trees.... tha sun is shinin'.... and we could spray paint that thing on the front porch..... i'll even have tha wife cook some vittles..... mmm... possum stew"

and no, what is this video you speak of?

EDIT- too late chris... i found it already.

And you accuse me of not noticing new threads.

VIDEO

Why did I get a reply notification to this post if nothing has been posted?

it was a ghost.

James, I have a few questions. What is the condition of the surface of the splashguard after you remove the chrome? Does it get damaged by the flames, or is it immediately ready for sand, prime and paint?

light sanding and you're good to go. in a few spots, there were some ridges, i assume that is were the glue puddled when it melted. no matter, it sanded down flat in seconds. heat it, peel it off, sand it good with 100, then 200-something, then your ready to prime it.

also, there will be small spots (mostly around the edges) that the chrome doesnt want to come off. you may have to re-heat this so you can scrape it off with a putty knife. if you are just painting them, you can knock both out in a day easy.

I might do this tomorrow. I remember trying to get the things off the fenders a while ago and I didn't have much success.

Be very careful when taking them off the fenders. When I took off the plastic piece, the bolts started spinning in the plastic. Then I took out the dremmel to cut off the nut and the heat from it melted the plastic that the bolt is supposed to be attached to. I had to get creative when putting it back on.

Use lots of lube

Originally posted by 98FordX24
Be very careful when taking them off the fenders. When I took off the plastic piece, the bolts started spinning in the plastic.

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That's what happened to me.