thanks j.. i solved the immediate issue by changing the diffuse color.. and then adding a chrome reflection map as the diffuse texture.. then put my truck in a cube.. light on the front.. light on the side.. all my chrome is showing up.. i've got the gloss cranked tho and it's still sort of matte-ish.. but i'm liking the results so far.. will post the render in the morning when it's done baking.. only getting 32k s/s and it's a 1920x1080 render