Citroën BX – Chrome Badge Detailing
My Citroën BX is some 29 years old now, generally, the pink paint isn’t too awful. One bit of exterior trim that has really faded is the chrome badge on the rear. It was recently suggested to me that there might be a simple and cheap solution, in the form of a chrome paint pen.
I ordered a Molotow Liquid Chrome Pen from Amazon for £11.20. It took a little time to arrive from Switzerland. I think you’ll agree from the picture above, it was worth the wait. This ‘Citroen’ badge was actually on one of my toolboxes, so it made the ideal practice piece.
Preparing the old Citroën BX badge
First, the remains of the factory white paint were sanded off with a 120 grit flexible pad. This both cleaned and primed the surface for the liquid chrome. The paint was so faded it didn’t take much effort to get it all off.
Cleaning the Citroën badge
Next was a good clean with “panel wipe”. The cleaning wasn’t just to remove the sanded paint. The nooks and crannies around the lettering of the badges make fantastic dirt traps when attached to the car.
Painting, or maybe drawing?
Finally the painting, or is it drawing? I wasn’t sure if the flow would be too fast, but in this case, it was just right. Draw along the edges of the letters first, then infill. I found on infilling the liquid chrome would initially look ‘cloudy’. But after a few seconds, it flowed and gave a uniform appearance.
One word of warning, especially if you are using it on a car. The liquid chrome takes 8 hours to fully set. I wish I had read the instructions. An hour after painting I picked up the chrome badge and promptly left fingerprints in it. Practice over, I guess I have to do the badge on my Citroën BX next!
M