Can You Paint Chrome Bumpers? (Quick Answers)

Everyone loves to have their car shiny and good-looking. Bumpers are generally used for car or vehicle safety. But this bumper can increase the beauty of the vehicle as well. Almost all the vehicles have chrome bumpers. 

So, if you want, can you paint the chrome bumper? Let’s find out.

Can you paint chrome bumpers?

The standard color for the bumper is chrome color. Generally, it’s a finish on the top of a metal frame. Some metal frames are usually factory-made chrome plated. It’s okay to paint over chrome metals. But It’s not recommended to paint over chrome-plated bumpers. 

Stick to this section to know if you can paint on the following bumpers or not –

Metal chrome bumpers:

For heavy-duty vehicles, bumpers are generally made of steel. As steel gives ultimate protection against any accident or any sort of damage. Though titanium bumpers can provide more utility, titanium bumpers are more rigid than steel bumpers. 

Steel bumpers are less costly and have a proper value for money. So generally, people prefer to attach a metal bumper in front of their vehicle. In some regions, a rear bumper is also needed. Basically, a thin layer of chromium is plated over the steel. 

It keeps the rust away and keeps the steel shiny and sturdy. So, a chrome-plated bumper gives a polished and beautiful look. Sometimes the vehicle looks stronger with a chrome-plated bumper. 

Nowadays, bumpers can be painted as per the want of vehicle owners. When you paint over the chrome bumpers, you need to sand the chrome-plated portion and then paint color on the steel. Some paints stick with chrome properly. 

So, use them to coat a chrome cover. Before that, make sure to clean and sand the part perfectly. And paint the color with a good primer.

Factory chrome bumpers:

Factory chrome bumpers are generally made of polyurethane. Polyurethane belongs to the plastic family, but they are not like regular plastics. Instead, these plastics are more durable and can absorb a considerable amount of shock. 

Sometimes, polyurethane bumpers are more durable than metal bumpers. As metal bumpers adhere to rusts, metal bumpers need a rust coating. You can paint the factory chrome bumpers, and there is no rusting issue. 

So, painting on factory chrome bumpers is more likely to be effective.

Can you sand and paint chrome bumpers? Can you paint chrome bumpers black?

To have a good painting, one needs to recover old paints from the bumpers or any area. Because old paints will not give any room to the new paint jobs. 

After cleaning properly, sand the surface and fill the uneven surface area with body filler, smooth the surface again, and put the desired paintings. The procedure is almost the same, whether it is a bumper or any other metal surface. 

You can use a sprayer to paint every single corner of the bumper.
Remember to rough the surface when you are willing to cover over a chrome-plated area. And one can quickly put black paints over chrome bumpers. Just follow some rules, and one can easily paint with any color they want to paint over the chrome bumpers.

Can you spray paint chrome bumpers? Will paint stick to the chrome bumper?

Yes, you can spray paint chrome bumpers, it is more efficient than to stroke colors over the surface. A sprayer makes the paints more accurate to land on smaller portions of the bumper. The chrome-plated surface is shinier and with less friction. 

So, it is a little hard to set the paint on the chrome bumper. But, if one can paint self-etching primer over the chrome-plated surface, then there is a huge chance that the spray paint will stick to the chrome bumper. 

To ensure that, first clean the bumper and then spray two to three coats over the bumper with self-etching primer. Ensure the primer is fully dry before putting another layer of primer. Then after the last coat of primer, put the bumper in rest for the next three to four hours. 

After the resting period, start sanding over the self-etching primer. After sanding properly, use a regular primer on the surface. Sand the upper portion properly, wipe the dust and start spraying any color of paint the owner wants.

Can you permanently paint chrome? What kind of paint will stick to the Chrome bumper?

It is not a tough nut to permanently put paint over a chrome-plated surface. The thing is, chrome surfaces are slick. One needs to do some muscle work before putting paints over chrome. 

To make the paint stay permanently, one needs to sand the chrome bumper and use multiple layers of primer. There are varieties of primers available in the market. But self-etching primers is the solution to make the paint coat permanent. 

Also, after putting three to four layers of primers over the chrome cover, make sure to sand the surface using 180-grit sandpaper. Make sure to remove any rust from the bumper and clean it immensely. By doing so, the surface will be more prone to hold the paint coatings. 

Remove all the wax and grease, and after all the procedures, apply your desired paint.

How do you prep chrome bumpers for painting?

The following steps will help you to prepare your chrome bumpers for painting –

Remove the Bumper from the Vehicle:

Before you want to do anything with your bumper, you need to detach the bumper from the vehicle. So that you can have more flexibility to paint your car bumper. When you do some crucial work with your car, you need to detach the part to work perfectly. 

Wash and Clean the Bumper Properly:

The bumper might have some dirt, sand and other things attached. After washing it out, the bumper will be cleaned thoroughly. Then use a cloth to wipe the bumper and rest it for some time to properly dry the bumper.

Remove Rust from the Bumper:

Bumpers are more prone to rust than any other part exposed to water and dirt. So, before anyone wants to paint the bumper, they must remove all sorts of rust. Or the bumper will not properly prepare to take any sort of paint over it.

How much does it cost to get chrome bumpers painted?

Getting a chrome bumper paint costs around 150 dollars to 500 dollars. The price starts from 150 to 500 dollars because you want to get your bumper painted and the professionals who will paint your vehicle. Generally, it took two hours to change the bumper color. 

Instead of the time, you only need to pay for the painting ingredients. The painting ingredients are the sanding paper, different types of primer, sprayer, and color. Also, the professional painter will make sure to give you the right color for your vehicle. 

So, to maintain the beauty of one’s car and your wants, one should go to a professional to paint their vehicles. If the owner can paint by themselves, they can buy all the needed things for around 50 to 100 dollars and do it yourself.

How to paint over chrome bumpers?

After preparing your bumper to paint, there are other works such as sanding, grease or wax removal. Then some procedures must have to be maintained. The procedures are as follows.

Proper Sanding Is Needed:

Sanding is needed before you want to put any sort of paint. Wherever you want to put any paint, you need to do some muscle work using sandpaper. Sandpaper of 60 to 120 grit is required primarily. Then use 320 grit sandpapers to finish the job.

Grease and Wax Remover:

After washing and cleaning your bumper, there is still an eminent chance that some dirt and some oil or greases are still there. So, using a grease or wax remover will be handy. Spray some of the grease and wax removers, then wipe it out.

Hide the Areas Where the Owner don’t want any paint job:

You might not want the paint to touch every surface. So, hide the areas where you don’t want any sort of paint job.

Proper Primer is Needed:

After taking proper safety measures, spray 2-3 layers of self-etching primer. It will ensure the paint stays on the chrome-plated bumper. After using the primer and drying It for hours, start the paint job. 

Paint:

Painting is the last procedure. You can use the spray to paint. But spraying is the most convenient and most effective in this case. So, spray two-three layers of paint and dry the bumper for hours. Then respray 2-3 times. 

Then let the paint dry and then attach it to your vehicle.

Final Thoughts

Chrome bumpers and grills were famous back in the 70s and 80s. Nowadays, people’s taste in vehicle colors has changed a bit. But still, some people love to keep their vehicles chrome as it is. It is not too costly to paint your chrome bumpers, and it is perfectly possible to paint the chrome bumper.