Black Chrome

Has anyone black chromed their bumpers or grills? How does it hold up to use and abuse? Pictures would be awesome.

 

I Had the crash bars running lights and some engine covers done on my harley, they looked great and seemed to hold up well so I would have to recomend it.

 

I have black chrome on my paint gun... in about a year it wore off where I hold it but I don't think that would happen on a car, unless you hold it alot...

 

Thanks, I was looking at threads on painting bumpers and grills when I thought of black chrome. Not traditional at all though. A few hours searching the web I found a lot of flaws can happen black chroming large pieces. I will have to shoot down the idea and go with traditional. Chrome.

 

Black Chrome Plating:
Black chrome is usually plated over bright nickel or matte nickel in the same manner as decorative chrome. Black chrome is not quite as hard or wear resistant as normal nickel/chrome and it is not lustrous. The finish may waxed or oiled to improve the final appearance. Black chrome offers high solar absorption and low emissivity useful in solar panel applications. It is also used for optical components, gun sights and components, lighting and plumbing fixtures and some automotive parts.

 

Black chrome is better now...more advances in the plating process but good luck finding someone who can do it...secondly when i looked into it it was a little more than 3 times the price of regular chrome

 

I worked on custom audio installs years ago for a SEMA Hummer that all of the interior pieces and rims were black chrome, I saw the car several years later and even the exposed parts in FL humidity were ok. The main issue is the same with all finishing the quality of the job will tell how long it will last.

Hope it helped...

 

I'm reviving this old thread. The OP later posted:

So, is black chrome HAMB-friendly? I don't recall seeing it on show cars when I was a kid in the '60s but apparently it was used at the time for non-automotive decorative plating (furniture and guns).

A post mentions that a car in the background of a 1967 pic had black chrome but it looks like regular chrome or stainless to me:
"Also, I believe the pearl yellow Vette behind Himsl's tub is the one that had all the chrome done in black chrome, and the interior was black diamond tuffted with all the buttons being black chrome pennies." http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...glifying-thread.824491/page-148#post-10670672 (top photo in post #4419).\

porknbeaner mentioned black chrome:
"Never could afford chrome anything back then. And always into drivers (riders?). Nevertheless I liked the look alot."
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...glifying-thread.824491/page-148#post-10670672

Or maybe it's black nickel?

Quoted from http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/black-chrome.170786/#post-1870016 .

I'm building a custom car model as it could have looked circa 1964 and would like to use black chrome on it but don't know if it was era-correct. What do you think?

 

I did a lot of black Chrome on a old Panhead and was disappointed that it really did hold up too well, HRP

 

btt

Is black chrome HAMB-friendly?

 

This does not, a priori, seem to be a momentous issue. Jack E/NJ

 

When you scratch or mar the Black Chrome surface (and it doesn't take much) it will show up white which shows up worse on the Black as opposed to chrome.....................................