Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
-----
How to gold plate plastic car emblems
Q. Hi everyone!
I'm the proud owner of a shiny new to me Del Sol. The previous owner gold plated emblems and other small trim pieces.
Ok, I know this may not be the question you guys like to hear... but how do I remove gold plating from my car emblems and trim pieces? Not to insult anyone... I really like the silver look and would like to see it again.
Thanks for all your help...
James Rossie- Austin, Texas, USA
2001
A. James,
To remove the Gold you can simply use a polish and rub until its gone. Be warned you will not be happy - under the gold is nickel and nickel passivates quickly and will turn dull. Your best bet is to either have the pieces chrome plated or simply buy new ones at the dealer and replace them.
David Crocker- Valencia, California USA
2001
|
Q. Today's automobile emblems are going into various materials due to weight and cost. Much of the material is a rubberized plastic and/or aluminium based material which will not conduct electricity. Is there a paint/material that can be obtained that will SPRAY on the emblem, while on the vehicle (so that it does not have to be removed) that will permit electroplating either gold or silver? Jerry W GrahamAutomobile & motorcycle emblem gold plating - Brier, Washington, USA 2004 February 2016
adv.
Gold Touch [a finishing.com supporting advertiser], G.J. Nikolas [a finishing.com supporting advertiser] A. Hi Jerry. Gold plating a fairly new chrome plated car emblem is the world's easiest plating job -- it's like plinking out Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star because the OEM has presented you with a super quality nickel plated base, and all you do is strip a few millionths of chrome off and replace it with a few millionths of gold. But properly plating a non-conductive auto emblem is like offering a recital of Franz Lizst works :-( I would suggest trying to spray it with "chrome-look" paint instead of even thinking about trying to electroplate it ... and only guaranteeing it for a short while. The suppliers of the chrome-look paint will have gold-tone lacquers you can apply over it if you wish. Robust plating on plastic (as OEMs do for emblems and most auto grills) is a very big undertaking, done in multi-million dollar plating plants. Regards,  Ted Mooney, P.E. Striving to live Aloha finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey |
Q. I am new in gold plating business. I have just bought a kit and make exercises on gold plating on car emblems. But as I see cars like the Audi etc. some of them have plastic emblems on wheel and outside of the car. What can I do if my customer ask it to be plated? Should I buy metal emblem and plate it and glue it there?
Leyz Cohenplating shop owner - Germany
April 27, 2010
A. Leyz,
You can purchase a brush plating kit to plate the gold on the emblem without removing it from the car. The steps involved are as follows.
1) Back strip the chrome plate, rinse.
2) Activate the nickel that was under the chrome, rinse.
3) Brush plate the gold, rinse and pat dry with a soft cloth.
I'm sure there are brush plating suppliers in Germany, I just don't know what company would be closest to you.
process engineer - Malone, New York
April 29, 2010
A. You can search for jewelry supply stores in the USA and they sell pen plating equipment that will do plastic. thanks, marion
marion wood- thomasville, Georgia
May 27, 2010
A. I think your question relates to the conductivity of the emblem. Don't worry, as long as you don't strip all the metallic layers on top of the plastic, you are OK, the emblem IS conductive.
Guillermo MarrufoMonterrey, NL, Mexico
May 31, 2010
What kit to get to gold plate car emblems and aluminum wheels?
Q. I'm pretty new to this plating stuff. I run a detail business and was interested in plating gold/copper to wheels (aluminum) and emblems. Which kit would be the best?
allan sum- new york
November 24, 2015
November 2015
A. Hi Allan. I think you'd have little difficulty in gold plating existing auto emblems from late model cars because it involves only removing the chrome flash, activating the beautiful OEM-quality nickel plating underneath it, and "brush plating" a thin plating of gold. We appended your inquiry to a thread on that subject to introduce it to you, and there are another half-dozen threads on the same topic on this site.
Copper plating emblems would be a bit more problematic because copper is not inert like gold is, and it will quickly tarnish, and turn brown or greenish unless you can do a really good clearcoat on it.
Plating large objects like wheels is a somewhat different subject, and plating onto raw aluminum wheels is something you build a factory for, not buy a kit for. Please consider buying a kit, and doing some emblems to get a feel for it ... and you'll learn pretty quick for yourself why aluminum wheels are a very different subject. But you can read our "Introduction to Chrome Plating" for the 'book knowledge'. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Q. You mentioned LEAVING the nickel substrate-which is exactly what I'm trying to do? I'll be electroplating gold over ABS auto emblems while still on the vehicle.
steve powers- niceville, Florida
February 5, 2016
A. Hi Steve. Good luck with it. I think you'll find it's not hard.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
February 2016
Q, A, or Comment on THIS thread -or- Start a NEW Thread