Help Me Rust Chrome Fenders???!!!

[kingfish254]

Hey guys, the front fender on my 53 Columbia has the perfect runsty patina that I want. The problem is the rear fender only has that rusty patina down the center of it. Both sides of the rear fender still have their chrome for about 1.5 inches from the lip.

I want to rust up the chrome. Today I sanded up the chrome pretty good and tried the salt water and vinegar bath trick. I left it for a few hours and nothing. I tried over cleaner,,,,,nothing. I tried battery terminal cleaner,,,,,,,nothing.

Are there any other tricks that work on CHROME?????
I heard that Muriatic acid and Hydrogen Peroxide work on steel. Does it work on chrome?

Any help is appreciated. THANKS!

 

[B607]

Rust is oxidation. You need oxygen to oxidize. If you do a bath, the part is submersed and there is little oxygen. If you put muriatic acid in a container, then suspend a steel part just above the level of the acid, the acid fumes combined with the oxygen will rust it real quick. I've done small parts like this with a jar of acid. I've never done something as large as a fender. Doing a large fender would present some problems like a suitable container but I think you could do it. The container would have to completely surround the suspended fender to keep the fumes in, except at the top. You need to do it somewhere like a garage where there is very little air current. My 2-cents. Gary

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Guessing there must be still some chrome on there...
Need to get rid of all of it before the rust can work...
Hope you get it sorted KingFish!

Luke.

 

[MiniMe]

the way I made my bike rust ( super easil in rusting the fenders) is I made my own spray:
1. windex bottle (so it can spray)
2. fill 3/4 full water
3. 1/2 cup iodize salt
4. shake well
5. apply 2 coats (once in the morning and once in the evening) a day until wanted amount of rust
I have made my whole bike rust in 2 months and one spray gives the fenders a light goldish color and after a month will rust very well. You will start to notice the rust a lot after 3 or 4 days of spraying. You must have had a hard time when using the vinegar (sorry if I spelt it wrong) because i researched aquick way to rust and found that people use it to get rid of rust. When using salt water, baths wont do the job, like posted in previous comments, it needs oxygen

 

[kingfish254]

Thanks for all of the good tips guys. Some of these I think are meant for steel and not chrome. I didn't get a chance to try others. After mocking the bike back up with painted skirts and seat brace, I decided that I am going to paint the fenders black. I just feel it will flow better with the rest of the bike and the frame color.