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Remove mirror like coating

62440

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Oct 1, 2018
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Chilliwack BC
The finish was peeling off the inside plastic of my hood emblem. I tried soaking it in brake fluid and most of the paint came off except a finish that you see on the back side of a mirror. I noticed that the lens was crazed after the brake fluid soak, unless l didn't notice it before. Any Suggestions how to remove this finsh ? It's very hard.
 
Could be chromed plastic. You could try to use an acid that dissolves chrome but doesn't attack plastic.
 
Almost always, there isn't real chrome on plastic parts. Chrome won't electroplate to it. What is usually seen is aluminum, applied with a vapor deposition system. Oven cleaner with lye will take off that aluminum in a hurry.
 
Almost always, there isn't real chrome on plastic parts. Chrome won't electroplate to it. What is usually seen is aluminum, applied with a vapor deposition system. Oven cleaner with lye will take off that aluminum in a hurry.

Actually it is possible to chrome plate plastics with real chrome. You need to apply a conductive layer to the plastic (palladium iirc) and then the process is pretty much the same as chroming metal parts.
 
Yes, I know it's possible, it just isn't cost effective or often done that way. In the era our cars were put together, plastic with chrome, such as chrome trim on a dashboard, were done with vapor deposition. Same as the bumpers on a plastic model car or plastic reflector in a flashlight.
 
Lye didn't work. I ended up picking and scraping it off with a exact knife then buffing with a dremel. Next step is a bit of a joke for myself, gold leaf. I think the crazing will add to the effect.
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Interesting thought, but my eye's are failing and l don't like driving at night any more :(
 
Just a update on my hood emblem. I think l said previously this is a bit of a joke for my self, but 10 layers later of 24 k gold leaf sealed with clear lacquer and topcoat of silver paint.
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