but has anyone tried painting a small plastic piece with chrome paint, rather than paying though the nose for a "plated" one?

Specifically, the black side vent grills on my MC. I can get chrome plated original equipment ones from MossMini for $106.95/pair plus $10.25 shipping. I can get a can of chrome paint from AutoZone for $5.50. I don't want them to look cheap or cheesy but I've noticed the chrome plating on plastic parts appears to be little more than paint.

Think they'd look OK?

 

resmini,

I have tried the exact thing you are going for.

I was unsuccessful, but maybe my experience can help you.

I should have sanded the grainy texture of the side vents before painting. The bumpiness of the original plastic gave it a matte finish appearance that did not look good to me. I got frustrated and then added more layers of paint than I should have and just made a mess.

Interestingly, I also ordered the expensive plated ones from Moss and was highly disappointed that their chrome shop did not bother to sand them either, and this gave the chrome the same matte finish that my spray painted ones had. I ended up disappointed with my expensive purchase and sold them in the marketplace. They looked good, but didn't look exactly right to me. . .

There is a process that is used to actually chrome plate plastic, but it is very expensive to have small pieces done on an individual basis.

I think you should give this a try and do a better job than I did.

It is definitely worth a try and maybe my mistake can help you to succeed. If so, I'll give it another shot. . .

In short, here is what I would do differently:

1) Mask off the inside space with the tiny black holes to prevent clogging with paint

2) prep the plastic surface by sanding until super smooth, even if it takes all night

3) be very very patient and let this paint dry completely before touching it (I got fingerprint impressions by being impatient)

4) clear coat afterwards

5) let Yucca know if it worked better than my failure so I can try again

 

Thanks Yucca, I appreciate your tips. I had thought about the masking but not about sanding it smooth first.

I painted a smooth piece of plastic with the chrome paint I got at AutoZone and thought it looked good. More of an aluminum look than chrome, but still not bad. Masking off the screen part and leaving it black looks good I think.

My biggest problem will be patience, I have very little.

 

I painted over my "chrome" with black spraypaint. I used Krylon Fusion because it said no need to primer or sand. So far, the paint has held up, but in your case, I would still sand.

Best of luck!
-Cody

 

One of the SCMC members had a bonnet scoop chromed professionally at a motorbike place. It looked fantastic on his black convertible, until the chrome started coming off in sheets. Fortunately, he still had his black original scoop to drive around with. I haven't seen his car recently so I don't know what's going on with it now.
Steve?

 

its tough to get a chrome-like finish.

maybe there might be someone that's de-chroming that might trade
with yours.

 

I think a satin finish is about as good as you can expect from any home grown process.

 

You're right, I think it's going to be more like aluminum, but I'm not sure yet if I think that's a bad thing.

I almost ordered the chrome "S" grills which are on sale at MossMini for $25 a pair. I like them, but I guess I don't want to be an "S" wannabe.

 

True. you have to imaging that if you could get a good chrome finish for <$10 how could companies sell this chroming service for so much money.

 

Chrome paint is...not.

 

He's right


ALTHOUGH, this one time i found this great spray that really came out with a great chrome finish....but it was some odd non-namebrand company which i forget at this point and have never seen again. All the others i have tried since then come out with a cool metal finish, but not a chrome.

 

You might want to try Testors model paint (go to a model store). The side vent is small enough that the paint could be applicable, but I know they have a chrome silver that really does look like chrome.

They also make several (or did about eight-ten years ago) "metal" colors that can be buffed to a bare-metal finish for painting WWII aircraft and such.

 

Thanks for the helpful comments.

I'm confessing I ordered the "S" chrome side grills from Mossmini because I like them, and they were a very reasonable $25/pair.

I'm still going to paint the black ones, but will spend some time looking around for a different paint. Like someone said, all the chrome paints aren't created equal, some actually look chromey, others just crummy.

In the meantime I will be violating MINI law by driving my CR/W MC around with a big CR "S" on the chrome side grills.

Live dangeously I always say .

 

check this out....this might be a good bet. Although the price isn't exactly cheap. They even have chrome paint for fabrics if you want to bling-bling your seats

http://alsacorp.com/products/mirrach...irra_price.htm

 

Looks great.....but holey-moley is it expensive.

 

might as well just get it plated

I think it's meant to be used on things that are un-plateable like the chromed M3

 

resmini- another thing you might want to try (if the black is what's
bothering you) is to get some factory color spraypaint and paint your
vent trim your body color. might look cool, and will be original.

ive bought factory paint from these people and they were both good.
PaintWorld has faster turnaround:

www.paintworldinc.com
www.paintscratch.com

 

I've thought body color might look good too. Even though I live in a relatively small town, there's this amazing auto paint store that would whip me up a pressurized can of Chili Red for $16.00 in about 5 minutes.

Might be a good idea.

 

Leave it to the pros. IMO, there is no such thing as good looking DIY chrome project. If it comes out of a spray can it WILL look ghetto.

 

I bet you could find an MCS owner that would want to trade with you, people have been painting their chrome black!

 

I laid down for the chrome side vents and white reflectors. I didn't try painting my stock black vents for who knows what reason. BTW, the quality of those pieces from MossMini is inferior to the stock pieces. As delivered, they did not fit quite right, and had to be finnagled.

I was going to buy the S grills for _much_ less $$ than the replacement Cooper vents, but my car is not an S, and I am nothing if not pretentious.

I've painted plastic before (motorcycle parts) with good results. Sand with a fine paper, and then make sure _all_ residue is removed before painting. I use either rubbing alcohol applied with a clean towel, or spray-can brake parts cleaner. That stuff takes _everything_ off the surface of whatever you spray it on. Since the vents are plastic, I would go with the alcohol, though. Then, don't touch any of the surfaces with your fingers that you want to paint.

I may try it on my stock vents with some 'chrome' (not really, though) spray paint just for $hi+$ and giggles.

Zip

 

Resmini, I wish i had of known you wanted the chrome S grills. I would have traded you. I hate mine, and I'd rather have the plain, black ones that come on the base model Cooper.

 

BadMINI,

The plain black grilles are VERY cheap from your dealer. Something like $9 each.

 

Oh yeah, you told me that like a couple of weeks ago. I've ordered parts from Brian harris before over the phone, so I'm sure they'd ship them to me. Thanks again !! I'm getting old and forgetful !!!

 

I had the same concern about the "S" grills on my MC, but I like them and the red "S" goes with the Chili Red paint on my car really well.

I asked my wife what she thought and she said, "99% of the people around here have no idea what your car is, let alone whether it's an "S" or not".

I ordered the "S" grills from Moss.