Chroming An Engine... Just Thinking Aloud

[masstch]

I've seen Fully chromed engines in show bikes. I've often wondered about how difficult it is to do and whether there are 'side effects' to this that make it a bad idea for actual daily or touring use(?)
I know not near enough about chroming. My understanding is limited to full immersion plating, where everything is plated. Is there a way to 'selectively' chrome something? Can you chrome a cylinder head without chroming the ports, guides, etc? Does chroming soften or damage the metal? On aluminum, is triple plating (Cu/Ni/Cr) needed?
Would a chromed "show engine" live just as long as a 'normal' engine in daily use?
Would it run hotter or colder normal?
Also, How well would it age? Are Flaking and corrosion issues after a while?
I've been thinking....about bling.

[PC_Hater]

Chrome plating the barrels and heads will make the engine run hotter.
A really good oil cooler might be enough to get rid of the heat?
As a permanent reminder of this one of the radiators in the school physics lab had two sections painted matte black, two sections painted the standard school green, and two sections painted silver.
The silver section was hottest - unable to dump as much heat into the air, then the green, the matte black was very noticeably cooler! Doing its job shoving heat into the air.
(google Black Body Radiation for the full story)

You would need to talk to the chrome-plating people, but my guess is that chrome-plating the edges of the cylinder and head fins would look really good without compromising the ability of the engine to get rid of heat - the fins do the work...
And as it is the fins that do the work, can the space between the fins be chrome-plated too?

The 'Diamond Finish' that assorted companies advertise for cylinders and heads might be enough for you?

For another take on bling, google Tom Metty's Quad-Cam 88" Sportster. He wrapped gold chain between the bottom 3 or 4 fins on each cylinder! And that bike was really fast.

[HD/Wrench]

A guy back in the 2004 had a fatboy that was 100% chrome.  Rubber lines where all braided. etc sheet metal tank you name it . If it could be chrome it was
One shiny MOFO in the sun of AZ you could not look at if the glare hit you..  He rode it all over the place. He was local so I saw it often never saw any chrome come off the engine.. Not my bag of cats but if you like the look go for it .

[tmwmoose]

If the fully chromed motor doesn't blow your mind enough the cost sure will

[smoserx1]

In the decorative triple plating process, the copper acts as a "primer" for the nickel.  The nickel is what you see shine.  The chrome is just there to protect the nickel, and is thin enough so the nickel shows through.  Thick chrome is not pretty.  That is what is used on hydraulic cylinders etc.

As PC_Hater said a chromed engine will run hotter than a dark colored one, especially one that is flat black.  Flat black absorbs heat and light where shiny surfaces reflect it.  The same principle that makes your black car get hotter in the summer also makes your black engine run cooler.  Seems contradictory until you remember heat flows from hot to cold.

[masstch]

For background, the one I'm thinking of is a CVO Ultra, granite color with the factory oil cooler. It's a 113 now, lots of stuff done but I've been thinking of making the cylinders look better. My attempts at fin polishing have been disappointing. I have no aversion to tearing it all down just do something if the results are awesome.  What I would LOVE would be for the fin edges to be chrome.... I have no idea if that is even possible. It would seem to me that it would be.


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[tmwmoose]

I think it certainly can be done and perhaps something in your favor on the heat issue is that the plating won't throw down into the deep fins anyways .In fact polishing only the outer fins and leaving the factory powdercoat on will provide masking to keep any plating from adhering were you don't want it  anyways and just the fin edge in chrome

[koko3052]

If you aren't apt at even polishing the fins....why would you EVEN attempt at tearing it down?

[masstch]

If you aren't apt at even polishing the fins....why would you EVEN attempt at tearing it down?

Ok that's funny, right there!  Yes, I do my own work, all of it. Plenty of my threads on here and I might be considered 'adept'. No, I should explain. My attempts at polishing the fin edges *withOUT pulling it all apart* leave me unsatisfied with the result... because I'm rather picky. To really satisfactorily get the detail I want will require doing it the next time I take it apart... likely for 117 jugs (or maybe a 124 build).
Chrome inner primary case I will likely install next week. That just got me thinking more about the shiny stuff.


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[mr. pitts]

Take a look at the Kuryakyn website. If it's possible to bling it then they have the answer!

[masstch]

I think it certainly can be done and perhaps something in your favor on the heat issue is that the plating won't throw down into the deep fins anyways .In fact polishing only the outer fins and leaving the factory powdercoat on will provide masking to keep any plating from adhering were you don't want it  anyways and just the fin edge in chrome

That's interesting to consider. That might be the ideal approach... but I'm wondering (if it's that easy) why I don't recall seeing one done that way. I need to research some more...


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[rigidthumper]

This would be way cheaper than chroming the entire engine...
http://www.diamond-heads.com/

[dirty jim]

I had a fully polished shovel head a long time ago, looked real good. I too wanted a chromed engine, engine builder talked me out of it. Reasons: Heads and cylinders would turn "blue" like chrome drag pipes, the heat issue as mentioned earlier, and what to do about the mating surfaces? Think about how many threaded holes that need to be chased, and gasket surfaces that need  something done to them to return everything to stock dimensions. And no matter what is done to them the edges will surely start to flake. Or maybe my engine builder just didn't like chrome!

[masstch]

This would be way cheaper than chroming the entire engine...
http://www.diamond-heads.com/

These do look good. A friend of mine has this done on a show-build FatBoy. It looked awesome ten years ago but I really need to go look at it now as it's been sitting in his garage for ages. I know that the Diamond cut is essentially a bunch of cross cuts in the fins providing a bunch of angles for reflection and they do sparkle. But what do they do to protect the surface from eventually tarnishing, and then how do you freshen it up? Their website claims that the look "lasts forever" but I don't know. They don't claim to put any kind of special finish on it. I need to go look at that FatBoy.

[masstch]

I had a fully polished shovel head a long time ago, looked real good. I too wanted a chromed engine, engine builder talked me out of it. Reasons: Heads and cylinders would turn "blue" like chrome drag pipes, the heat issue as mentioned earlier, and what to do about the mating surfaces? Think about how many threaded holes that need to be chased, and gasket surfaces that need  something done to them to return everything to stock dimensions. And no matter what is done to them the edges will surely start to flake. Or maybe my engine builder just didn't like chrome!

I wonder about that as well. I've only seen a couple of fully-chromed engines on the street and I didn't see those issues, but then I have no idea how much they had been on the road.

[kd]

Anything properly masked will not get chrome. Had lots of fasteners and things chromed with the threads masked of. As far as the heads turning blue, I don't think so.    The temp that is required IMO to discolor chrome is WAY too high  for that to occur.

[Ohio HD]

I knew a guy years ago that had a solid chrome Shovel motor, now that was a hot tamale!

[02roadcling]

Before you waste all of that money try this first to make sure you really like it.

   cling

[jmorton10]

A buddy of mine fully chromed a Panhead motor years ago.

Then, he had taken the motor to this grumpy old builder (who has been dead for years) to be rebuilt.  The guy went nuts when he saw all the chrome LOL.  He had the motor for over a year & meticulously scraped all the chrome off every single gasket surface & grumbled & bitched about it the entire time HaHa

It did run fine however, the chrome didn't seem to affect how it ran back in those days.

~John