I am told There is a place in Australia called Colour Smart Paint and Panel,
And I am told they do this new process called Spray Chrome, I am fairly sure it is the same process used on Alloy wheels, It does Look A lot like chrome and I Think would work on the 850 Grille
I must point out That there is in My opinion no such thing as Spray Chrome
what I am suggesting is what ever Metal They spray on I am sure, is not truly CHROME

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" A Hundred Years From Now It will not Matter what my Bank Acount Was,
The Sort Of House I Lived in, Or The Kind Of Car I drove ... But The World May Be A Better Place
Because I was Once Important In The Life Of A Child"

John, I think you're right. Something I read said that its actually silver.

This is worth a watch.

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/spray-on-chrome/1232328/

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

Yes Tim ,
That is what I am talking about It would be My guess that the metal used is Aluminium, judging by the colour
Back in the old days They Used to put an aluminium coating on plastic parts.
Like the speedo surround on the XP falcon etc
back then the process was done in a vacumme

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" A Hundred Years From Now It will not Matter what my Bank Acount Was,
The Sort Of House I Lived in, Or The Kind Of Car I drove ... But The World May Be A Better Place
Because I was Once Important In The Life Of A Child"

I received my sand blasted 850 grille back today from the brake and clutch place.
I have to say it looks amazing! No surface rust but the rust which has eaten into the metal is still there.
It looks so good i don't want to paint it..
Do you guys think i could get away with clear coating it? As it saves me buying more spray paint.

When i picked it up the owner of the brake and clutch place had a word to me..
He used to work at the BMC factory in Zetland back in the day and used to assemble the A series motors.





Total cost for that was $25

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http://www.flickr.com/by_dan
Current: 1970 Mini K 2014 Focus ST
Past: 93 Rover, 64 850, 97 Rover, 66 Deluxe, 66 Moke
81 Austin Estate, 2006 R53MCS, 66 Deluxe, 1978 Clubbie
2014 Land Rover Defender 90

My question would be - do you need an etch primer to make the clear coat stick ??????

I dont know the answer to that. - its a question.

Mike

Interesting...
I ordered some VHT etch primer for my sump guard and it's green :/ So if i wanted to put it on i would need to spray it in silver.

VHT make a pre prep product which cleans the surface and makes it sticky so the paint can stick, I don't know how this works...

_________________
http://www.flickr.com/by_dan
Current: 1970 Mini K 2014 Focus ST
Past: 93 Rover, 64 850, 97 Rover, 66 Deluxe, 66 Moke
81 Austin Estate, 2006 R53MCS, 66 Deluxe, 1978 Clubbie
2014 Land Rover Defender 90

That finish looks very similar to the original.

BTW.. Chroming is not expensive ..but the preparation is. 850 grilles don't really have a "polished" finish so would think you could get it chromed/ nickel plated for not tooo much money. However, you would have to assure the plater that you're not going to hang him when it doesn't come back with a mirror finish.

Its (probably) not that hard to do yourself. I haven't done it but a friend did a bunch of nickel plated bolts and bits for me and I would suggest it would just be a case of finding a big enough bucket. There are companies that will sell you a kit.

The problem is that the nickel/chrome is microns thick so the object has to have a mirror finish before being plated - that's the problem.....

Cheers, Ian

I watched a clip on a chrome painting process once, can't find it at the moment but here's a link to the same stuff. The original one I saw had Jay Leno in it with the creator of the process..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3kwkki0bMk

Try the link in my post at the top of the page.

Tim

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1951 Morris Commercial J Type Van
1955 BSA C11G
1961 Morris Mini Traveller
1969 Triumph TR6R
1977 Leyland Moke Californian

My thoughts after having used a shipload of Nyalic is that the grille is blasted and coated. Google Nyalic for this really good product. We have been using it to coat aluminium immersed in chlorinated water for a few years now with great success. Expensive but worthy.

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..still waiting for the Italian Job sequel to see if the bus went down

I just received an email from a company called enware that do chrome plating in Sydney, I was quoted $180 +gst for an 850 grille.

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http://www.flickr.com/by_dan
Current: 1970 Mini K 2014 Focus ST
Past: 93 Rover, 64 850, 97 Rover, 66 Deluxe, 66 Moke
81 Austin Estate, 2006 R53MCS, 66 Deluxe, 1978 Clubbie
2014 Land Rover Defender 90

Is there a reason why you want it chromed?

They weren't chrome originally..

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You're so square
Baby I don't care

A few very early cars had white painted grills, but then after that there were many thousands of chrome ones???

What are you proposing the finish was if not chrome?

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Sir Alec! we are not worthy!

They weren't chromed, they were painted.

Never come across a chromed 850 grille..

Unless i'm very wrong?

_________________
You're so square
Baby I don't care

Memory of my first 850 is very, very hazy but I didn't think the grille was chromed either.. too dull for that. Wouldn't like to guess at what it was, though, although it looked identical to the sandblasted photo above.