has anyone actually sprayed clear on bare steel?

[ari666]

hi all.

has anyone ever sprayed clear straight onto steel? does it stick? in theory it would just peel off but stranger things may have happened.

am thinking of polishing my block, and just coating it with a liberal amount of 2k clear. even if someone has sprayed clear on their brake calipers, did it stick?

thanks

[nemesis_adrasteia]

i remember years ago i made a coffee table out of mild steel pipe and some flat bar with a glass top, i used the sanding disc on the grinder to give it a clean up mostly just to get the rust off and cleared it over, it still looks pretty good. but it just sits inside, being on car bits it might flake off or something.

[Aussiecv8]

Have you thought about clear over gun metal grey or a pewter? If you played around with the shades, it might get close to a bare metal look. Obviously not shinny as bare metal, but saves having to pull the motor and do it again when the "clear only" peels.

[The pig]

Hey mate i sprayed and powder coated harley davidson and buell wheels for six years and i used to clear coat a lot of them we used to machine the castings run em through the wash tanks then through the ovens to dry and heat them then shoot a sh*t load of clear coat straight onto the alloy and never had problems so it works with aluminium (hot) guess it should work with steel too. The clear we used to spray was very thick almost like oil

[ari666]

sweet as. i might actually give it a 'test run' on the b lock in the car atm. just grind a bit of block then hit it with clear and see how it lasts. i know 2k can take quite a bit of temperature, and people spray their blocks all the time and it lasts ok, so i am hoping for good result

watch this space

[Bellicose]

In my opinion i wouldn't bother.

The tiniest bit of moisture in the air and it will start the oxidization process in seconds, you would have to have 0% humidity and that aint likely to happen in Melbourne is it lol.

Then you have the issue of the clear turning yellow due to heat, and it'll get worse as time goes by.
The heat will be trapped in the block by the paint, the hotter the block gets the yellower the clear will get.


Have done a few projects where i've cleared or candied / cleared bare metal and the look a million bucks....................for awhile, maybe a a couple of months or even a year but end results is ALWAYS the same...................rust.

I try to talk customers out of the idea but if they insist then i don't guaranty (sp?) the job and explain to them why i won't.






Just my 2c mate. 27 years in the refinish / airbrush industry gives me a little insight lol.

[ari666]

you bastard. sif give me words of wisdom


damn. back to the drawing board. maybe i will look at heavy fleck silver or something (as suggested).


i mean, i dont hate chevy orange. in fact it looks really good with the green engine bay. just thinking of something unusual.

[Bellicose]

Haha.


What i'd do.


Silver dollar metallic (Extra high sparkle) basecoat tinter - 1/64 silver metalflake - candy colour of your choice = job done.

[VKCOMMO]

What about HPC coating it?

[ari666]

lol, i love you vkc. you always have the best ideas.

[SP00KSTER]

ari, just an idea got no idea if it would work but on our monaro we have a clear primer over the metal, why not try get some clear primer for the engine?

[ari666]

clear primer?? what is this thing you speak of?

[SP00KSTER]

well it's what the guy has sprayed on our car after he soda blasted the body, it seems to be good stuff as the body hasn't started rusting and we live pretty much next to a bay

EDIT: just remembered it was a clear etch primer.

[showbags]

Hey Ari, POR 15 make a clear coat designed for polished alloy & chrome wheels. it sticks to them I think it will stick to bare metal and it has a rust inhibitor in it as well. I've used their paints on calipers and rotors before without any problems at all.

[ari666]

and we have a winner!!

Clearcoats - Por-15 retailers, clear coat protectant, rust preventive paint, fuel tank sealer

thanks for the info mate that stuff looks perfect

[Bellicose]

and we have a winner!!

Clearcoats - Por-15 retailers, clear coat protectant, rust preventive paint, fuel tank sealer

thanks for the info mate that stuff looks perfect

That looks like the go mate.

BUT (yes there's always a 'but')................DO NOT get it on anything you DON'T want painted lol.

A mate used black POR 15 in his EH engine bay, after a few months you could not budge it, even a good hit with a hammer did nothing lol.


Oh, and DO NOT get it on your skin............it aint coming off in a hurry lol.

[showbags]

Sorry, forgot to add it actually sets harder than powder coating, and if it dries on your skin only time will remove it. Or 40 grit sand paper and take a few layers of skin with it.