Originally Posted by
rickpaulos
I wanted to get the Varsity gold plated* but I could not find anyone to do an object as large as the bike frame so I settled for powder coat. I told them I wanted gold, they did a super chrome with a gold overlay of some sort. Like any color there are many versions. Even on this bike the gold spokes, the gold tape, the gold housing, the gold seat and the gold frame are all not the same.
Thank you for the detailed reply, I really appreciate it. As for gold plating a large item, custom car hobbyists use a vinyl wrap that looks like gold. I guess it would be tricky wrapping a bike frame but not impossible. This stuff is not very durable, so it's not practical on a bike that you'd actually want to ride, and hiding the seems wouldn't be easy. Here is an example of
gold colored vinyl wrap. Hover the mouse over the product to see a car wrapped in that particular shade.
In 1955 GM built a gold Chevrolet to mark the milestone of its 50 millionth car. The gold 55 Chevy had hundreds of small parts plated in 24 carat gold. The paint used on the body panels contained actual gold flake in the mix.
Of course there is always gold leaf, but leaf is incredibly fragile.
It is possible to electroplate gold at home. I've done DIY nickel, but never gold because gold plating solution is incredibly expensive. You would need thousands of dollars worth a solution to have enough to immerse a bike frame. The place where I buy my plating supplies sells gallon jugs of 24 carat gold plating solution. The stuff costs $800/gal. It technically would be possible to brush plate gold onto a bike frame, but that that would be very tedious and it would take a lot of skill to get an even, streak-free plate.
Brush plating. BTW, I've done both bath and brush plating at home.
I have a Schwinn EF frame that I want to paint. I was thinking about a burnt orange color. Nissan offers a color called 'monarch orange'. Think I'll go down to the auto body supply and get them to mix up a pint.
