I took my headlight bucket off and plan on painting it black. Looks like its actually made from plastic with a chromed coating over the top. Anyone ever paint these? I was thinking using Krylon fusion, which is made for plastic and forms a bond between the paint and plastic. I was kinda thinking the chrome coating should be stripped first. Anyone with experience doing this?

I was going to paint mine but saw that the cable might rub.

MotoBuddha wrote on 02/05/11 at 14:30:43:


Why do people always want to use primer?? Primer does not stick as well as paint.
Sand it with 220, wet sane it with 360/400. Clean it with mineral spirits (100% spirits) hit it with Duplicolor adhesion promoter, then paint it.

If you don't want to spend much cash, use a scotchbrite pad or course steel wool to scuff it up and then paint it with whatever you want. VHT epoxy (roll bar) paint works really well and actually makes a skin. I do this with chrome parts all the time. Remember, it has a chrome [/s]plating on it so paint for plastics does you no good. Chrome is metal....

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 02/05/11 at 22:24:55:


I want to paint it because I am making all the shiny little chrome pieces black on my RYCA cafe racer. Its the look I am going for.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 02/05/11 at 22:24:55:


I meant on chrome or aluminum parts. And you must also understand that 'primer' is a generic term. Primer by itself does not inhibit rust, nor does it help paint stick. Primer fills scratches, primer gives you the ability to add material to hide/cover imperfections. You don't want to sand away the base material, so you spray it with primer. you want a temporary 'shield' from the elements...you use primer.

You want to seal off something, you use an etching primer or primer/sealer. Flat spray paint works better than primer. Why is there no primer under good powder coating?? Why no primer under electroplated parts?? Why no primer under painted aluminum??

Unless you need to fill some scratches, don't wanna change the profile of the part when sanding, or you have a lot of plastic filler (which soaks up paint like wood) leave the primer on the shelf and use paint.

It may take a little more paint to cover, but use as little primer as you can. Ask any real painter and he will tell you, primer is for bare metal only, or as a tool to gauge the flatness of a panel when you use 2 different colors. Prime it gray, mist coat with black. When you sand it down, any shiny spots mean its high, dark spots (black primer) means its low....

Hey, I just used your reasonable point to work toward sayin what I wanted to say, which is, Why Paint, EVER.. of course I understand you guys want to make it look like you want it to look & youre willing to do the work & go thru the learning curve to get there. Im glad he said what was said about primer, I had no idea. Its interesting reading, I just like to be a wiseguy.. pay no attention to me in a paint thread, Im just along for the ride.

MotoBuddha wrote on 02/06/11 at 08:55:29:


And the same on the other end...and define professional....

Do they make a good chrome color paint?