Brushed Chrome install on Raw Aluminum

Not sure if this is the right spot for this post, but here goes. I have been making gauge faces for a restorer. He is having trouble getting the printed/lam'ed brushed chrome "faces" to stick to the smaller raw aluminum blanks. The large(6"dia) faces work great.

He is dropping everything off for me to work on. My first thought is to see if something contaminated the small blanks. Then I will clean and prep as I would for vehicle install and see what happens. Worst case I will have blanks cut from powder coated material.

Failure is not an option.

 

Thanks Chip.

I have the blanks and it seems like something is on the surface of a couple of them. They are laser cut, but they may have used coolant contaminated drops form another process. Going to try the usual prep methods and test. If that doesn't work I am going to glass bead then clean and apply.

 

Your idea had crossed my mind but I took another route. The faces went into my glass bead cabinet to knock the "mill" finish off. Cleaned with IPA then installed. Looks good so far on the comps.