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    Might have to strip all the paint..

    Picked this 80s Norco magnum ST touring bike up for $25 and the paint is awful and chipping everywhere, but it looks like there be nice chrome everywhere! What are the odds this thing was fully chromed before painting back in the day??

    It also has nitto rando bars, and suntour cyclone m2 front n rear, 2nd bottle cage under the frame n mid fork mounts.. this bad boy is destined for racks!

    by lg-DANGERweasel

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    10 Comments

    2. Zacupunk on

      I don’t know, but you might be right. I had a vintage fork with chrome at the bottom so I stripped the whole fork and it was completely chromed.

    3. owlpellet on

      Go for it. Be aware that chrome dust is Seriously Bad Stuff so if you’re sanding near it go full PPE, do it over a tarp you fold up and throw away and not in a location you care about. Big cartridge respirator costs $30 and makes you sound like Darth Vader.

    4. gregn8r1 on

      Oh, that’s sick. Yes, there’s a fair chance it’s been totally chromed, but be aware that sections intended to be painted would not have been polished or finished with the intent of looking good, so the underlying chrome may not look all that great. Also, I think often the frame would have had to be held and suspended in one area out of the chemical solution while being chrome plated, so there may be an area that isn’t chromed, and it would look weird to leave one patch painted.

      Personally, I’d leave it and just consider this a very cool form of “patina”, one that shows the bike has seen use, but is way cooler and doesn’t harm the bikes structure versus the more common form of patina- AKA rust.

    5. Vivid_Professional74 on

      It does look to be chrome finished before painting. I don’t see any rust where the paint has chipped. Chrome by nature does not provide a good surface for paint to bond to. That is likely why you see so many paint chips. Definitely use a chemical stripper to get back to bare chrome. As others mentioned, prepare your workspace for proper containment and use PPE diligently. Mechanical stripping will damage the chrome and you’ll have terrible time to remedy that. Looking forward to seeing it done though. Good luck.

    6. Twig_Scampi on

      I think it looks fine as is, but if you are going to do a professional paint job with spray guns it’s a good candidate. 

    8. delicate10drills on

      I ‘d expect the paint will be nearly completely gone in 10k miles of enthusiastic riding, but also that you could use a guitar pick or old debit card to remove 99.9% of the paint.

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