Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Niagara Region, Canada
Posts: 1,455
Bikes: 1970s Alex Singer, 1960s Peugeot PX 10, 1960s Bertin C37, 1973 Carre Bertin C 37, 1972 Carlton Kermesse, 1981 Peugeot PX 14 Super Competition
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Dannyboy21-
Typically, the to be visible areas are high polished before getting coppered, nickeled and then chromed. The other areas are not finished to the same standard. For example, on my Tange fork, the high chrome area was high polish, high shine but when the upper fork blades were stripped, the metal had been chrome but not pre-polished so the chrome looked dull and flat. No amount of subsequent polishing could match the fork lowers and a chrome strip followed by full re-polish/re-plating would have been necessary to get uniformity. It's currently unknown what prep went into the original chroming and then what prep was done before over painting. To now paint over current paint over chrome plating could be dicey since you are investing time, effort and money into something that may have questionable adhesion.