Paint on rear window chrome pieces, '65 Barracuda

[Bob Jasinski]

Its time for me to give serious consideration to the chrome pieces at the base of the rear window on my '65 Barracuda project. I'd like some feedback as to what techniques others have used to paint these. On most any original pieces I see, and the two sets I have , the paint is literally gone. One of the biggest challenges I see is getting the paint to stick and hold up over time, as well as the difficulty masking off the areas not to be painted. I'd appreciate input as to how the chrome was prepped, what primer was used, what top coat, and how did you mask it? I do recall that someone was producing the triangle shaped red and blue inserts that go in the center in vinyl tape, anyone know a source for those now? Attached is a reference picture taken at a car show a while back as a sample of the painted molding, this is not my car.

 

[Private Idaho]

 

[Bob Jasinski]

I talked with my painter today, he says rough it up and prime it with epoxy.

 

[TrailBeast]

Blue painters tape, a razor blade and lots of patience.

 

[roger buetow]

powder coat the whole part and with your finger remove the powder from areas where you do not want it, bake and WA LA PERFECTION. Take a look at my dodge power wagon emblems D 100 200 and 500 on ebay.

 

[Bob Jasinski]

powder coat the whole part and with your finger remove the powder from areas where you do not want it, bake and WA LA PERFECTION. Take a look at my dodge power wagon emblems D 100 200 and 500 on ebay.

Thanks for the suggestion. I looked on eBay for Dodge Power Wagon emblems, there's a lot there, a link would help. I have never powder coated anything myself, have only sent it out to a service doing it. These moldings have a fine line pattern that isn't painted, not sure how you would wipe that off. I also don't think the long piece would fit in my oven.

 

[66jim]

Curious if anyone out there has fabricated an entire replacement? Thought about doing one out of anodized aluminum with a large center LED 3rd brake light.

 

[roger buetow]

because of the size you may need to have a powder coating shop do it for you it is a common practice for them I think but the end results will be great. Go on line to ebay look under dodge power wagon emblems scroll till you find my d 100 that sell for $85.00

 

[Bob Jasinski]

Curious if anyone out there has fabricated an entire replacement? Thought about doing one out of anodized aluminum with a large center LED 3rd brake light.

Layson's has offered them in the past, but they have been out of stock for more than two years.

 

[roger buetow]

Google heat lamps for powder coating there is a video for curing powder coat for items to large for an oven. Amazon has two that are 24 in. in length for around $50.00. If you do not have the powder coat painting equipment Harbor Freight has one that works pretty good I cant remember the price but not bad. Give it a try, it will still be cheaper then having a shop do it and you will have the equipment for more coating work in the future.

 

[Bob Jasinski]

Google heat lamps for powder coating there is a video for curing powder coat for items to large for an oven. Amazon has two that are 24 in. in length for around $50.00. If you do not have the powder coat painting equipment Harbor Freight has one that works pretty good I cant remember the price but not bad. Give it a try, it will still be cheaper then having a shop do it and you will have the equipment for more coating work in the future.

I can see that the pieces you offer on eBay would lend themselves to powder coat, as they have a common coated area lower than the corresponding perimeter. Basically what I'm saying is that you don't need to mask anything off. These moldings are not like that, they have areas that must be masked and coated and baked. Admitting that I don't understand the whole process, how would you bake the coating with tape in place? Would it not "bake' onto the chrome like the powder would? I would think the tape would be tough to get off once exposed to enough heat to set the powder. However, I can see powder coating the inset areas like the blue/red triangles, but not the bottom black surround line. I think I need to look at some YouTube videos

 

[Bob Jasinski]

Blue painters tape, a razor blade and lots of patience.

Trailbeast, I agree with all of the above, but as you know there is more to it than that. How the chrome is prepped so that paint sticks, primer and paint type? spray or brush? powder coat? What is the most UV resistant coating?

 

[roger buetow]

OK I see what your talking about, man that is not going to be easy to mask and paint. if you are just doing the black what about pin striping tape in different widths works pretty good on side trim moldings.

 

[Bob Jasinski]

OK I see what your talking about, man that is not going to be easy to mask and paint. if you are just doing the black what about pin striping tape in different widths works pretty good on side trim moldings.

I just watched the Eastwood powder coat video, they do show some hi-temp masking tape. Your suggestion of pin striping tape is a good one instead of a coating, I could see that working on the black surround line.

 

[roger buetow]

I have used in down the center on side trim moldings goes on easy and stays in place. When I powder coat on raw metal i just clean with acetone, you would probably need to strip all of the painted areas you want to redo, clean and then powder coat for it to grab. I think powder coat would do better with the sun then paint. Anyway that is what this car stuff is all about learning and creating. Take care and have a great day. Roger

 

[Bob Jasinski]

Found this:

How to paint over a chrome surface - Epoxy Paint - Toll Manufacturing | Viking Paints Inc..

Recommends self etching primer, makes sense, better bite.

 

[CudaChick1968]

"... it's only a five color job," possibly on (58 year old) pot metal. Any powder rookie should be jumping all over that.

 

[Bob Jasinski]

"... it's only a five color job," possibly on (58 year old) pot metal. Any powder rookie should be jumping all over that.

Thanks for chiming in Leanna. I started this thread because I really wanted to see what others have done, I was kinda hoping you would post. I'm at a crossroads right now because the better set I have (of two) are very nice original Arizona chrome I've had for 20 years tucked away. They're nice, but you still can see some very tiny pits in a few places. I'm concerned that if I send them out for plating the detail in the small fins may get blurred. At this point, If I were to recoat them, I would mask well and scuff up the chrome and either use self etching primer or two part epoxy primer, not sure what top coat I would use, but most likely epoxy as well. Do you think this job would qualify for powder coat? How UV resistant would it be?

 

[FISHYPETE]

I taped it the rectangle finned areas, then folded 600 grit paper and roughed up the cross sections. I used a satin enamal spray. No primer. Then I did the center section. Mine is a 66 piece . Still looks good with no peeling after 25yrs

 

[Bob Jasinski]

I taped it the rectangle finned areas, then folded 600 grit paper and roughed up the cross sections. I used a satin enamal spray. No primer. Then I did the center section. Mine is a 66 piece . Still looks good with no peeling after 25yrs

Thanks Fishypete, good information. 25 years is a long time, its encouraging that it lasted that long, factory paint sure didn't. I may be overthinking the UV concern though, reality is my car will be garaged or covered 95% of the time.

 

[DC 340]

I had this '66 piece replated for my '65. The pits are still there. I didn't use any primer. I probably just cleaned it with lacquer thinner and used lacquer paint. I think I actually silver painted the fin area and wiped the top. A thick grease is your friend where masking tape can't get it done. Edit: Note the red/blue color scheme surrounding the fish is not factory correct as far as I know. Just something I came up with.

 

[Bob Jasinski]

I had this '66 piece replated for my '65. The pits are still there. I didn't use any primer. I probably just cleaned it with lacquer thinner and used lacquer paint. I think I actually silver painted the fin area and wiped the top. A thick grease is your friend where masking tape can't get it done.

View attachment 1716207528

DC 340, I've thought about dealing with the small fins as you mentioned. Brushing a sliver/chrome paint on the top then wiping off to reveal the chrome while leaving the paint in the crevasses. I may experiment on my spare set.

 

[clifftt]

DC 340, I've thought about dealing with the small fins as you mentioned. Brushing a sliver/chrome paint on the top then wiping off to reveal the chrome while leaving the paint in the crevasses. I may experiment on my spare set.

That's exactly what I did to my rocker moldings. They're also finned. Sprayed, then wiped the paint off the tops of the fins about halfway through the cure process.

 

[Bob Jasinski]

That's exactly what I did to my rocker moldings. They're also finned. Sprayed, then wiped the paint off the tops of the fins about halfway through the cure process.

Clifftt, I recently got my rocker moldings back from being polished at Auto & Truck Bumpers in Hayward and they need to be painted. A while back I bought theses stickers from Layson's to apply to the rectangles on the rockers. I 'm a bit concerned about how well they would hold up and the difficulty of getting them on straight. I like your idea better.

 

[clifftt]

Bob, aren’t those Layson’s stickers for window molding?