a few years ago there was a pic floating around with someones roof that had been sanded with a DA (I think) and had a flame pattern spun right into the metal, and then it was cleared over with a light green tint. Looked awesome. Anyone know who that was? I wonder how that held up?
clear turns yellow over bare metal, this came up last year sometime might be able to find more info using the search. I too wondered abotu the car with the flames ground into the roof and what appeared to be candied over...... Think powder coating is the only way to go clear on it and have it last....
I saw a Harley-Davidson last year at the local dealership that had one of their "factory" custom paint jobs that looked like the bare metal (aluminum I think;it was a VRod)on the tank and fenders had a flame design ground into the metal and then a flame design painted over it in transparent yellow.The space around the flames was then painted black with the appropriate shading where the flames crossed over.Really nice work(it should have been;the price tag was about 3 grand over a standard bike!)
Clear doesnt stick to well to raw metal. Powder coat is real hard on sheet metal. I have seen a powdercoated offroad truck body, and it was all warpedfrom the powdercoat oven. Im not saying it cant be done, but the body I seen was pretty much ruined from distorsion.
Well, I've done it a bit and here's what I've learned.... *Any metal etch stuff turns it gray and ruins the look. *36-40 grit scratches will give better adhesion but I got away with 80 grit. *DO NOT EVER touch it with your bare hands while grinding it, prepping it or clearing it. As soon as it gets moist outside your finger prints will show up in rust clear enough for the F.B.I. to use. *Grind it, prep it with wax and grease, warm it up, tack it and spray the first coat pretty wet. I used Imron because someone told me it had etching properties. *I sand the Imron clear with 320, then topcoat it with candy, pearl etc. then bury it with high build clear. It's cool, but it'll delaminate on ya if you wack it hard enough. It's holding up pretty good on my rigid, but then I've never been a rain rider. I have some straight out of the can clear just for coating metal I got from the local welding supply store. It supposed to work great but haven't tried it yet...Hope that helps.
check out how kirk! painted his new harley "my little pony". it was done in clear with some stripes & stars for good luck, realy turned out neat.
years ago i painted a Kawasaki Ninja for a friend of mine. i sanded the tank down with 80 grit where the lettering would be, then i masked off the tank with high quality masking tape and cut out the "NINJA" script and left it on the bare metal. i prepped the rest of the tank for paint, painted it black, then pulledoff the tape to reveal the "NINJA" script in bare metal. then i simply cleared over it. i laid on a couple good coats, let it dry, then wet sanded it, laid on a couple more good coats and wet sanded and rubbed it out. you could'nt feel the lines of the letters and it looked GREAT. it held up just fine for about a year till he was run off the road by some redneck in a jacked up 4x4 drivin like an asshole. i realy did'nt have a clue what i was doing at the time but i could'nt have asked for better results. not sure how it would have held up in the long run. i definatley knew that i did'nt want to touch the bare metal before clearing and i cleaned the hell out of it with wax and grease remover right before i cleared it. i don't remember what kind of paint or clear it was either but they change that stuff so often even if you bought the same stuff it would prolly be (chemicaly) different anyway.
"it held up just fine for about a year till he was run off the road by some redneck in a jacked up 4x4 drivin like an asshole." So, He WACKED it.
Did you ever give thought to just putting "Gibbs" oil on it? You can always use clear on it, if the oil doesn't work out. If "Gibbs" oil protects magnesium from oxidation, it should work on bare metal, with a little up keep. It should be easier to deal with than clear coat gone bad!!! LOOK AT INFO ON " ROADSTERS.COM "
A few bikes locally have had clear over bare metal in the last few years. A local builder ran his in just cheap aresol clear for about a year. It started to yellow towards the end. The other I know of had proper spray gun automotive style clear used. It's been on there awhile- maybe a year and a half plus? They had issues getting the clear to stick. At first they tried using the PPG prep stuff, but it made it looked etched. So no dice. I'm pretty sure they ended up using laquer thinner to clean the surface. It might be worth noting that these were near-polished surfaces, ie no intentional sand marks. it did change the finish a bit though- it kind of dulls it from a bright silver to a more grey looking color. This has more noticable on the frame. I think the tank and rear fender stayed pretty bright though.
I still dont get it haha when you say "delaminate" do you mean if you get a ding in it, it will cause the clear to not shine?
I'm not sure if you are really joking or not, but delaminate is when the clear just peels off, like on some newer factory paint jobs. You know, when it looks like you could just peel off a big piece of it.
Here are a couple pics of my current bike. It's clear over bare metal with metalflake white and a metallic black. It's a tricky deal. I painted my last chopper clear over bare metal too about 8 years ago. It is STILL not yellow. Frank Kozik owns the bike now and I see it every so often. The tricky part is moisture. On my last bike I payed no attention to how much I touched the bare metal before I cleared it. I'd taken it to bare metal and went into the house for the night. The next morning it had flash rusted everywhere I touched it. I liked it and just cleared over it. What's cool is that even though Kozik claims to have built the bike (he did make some changes) it's my finger and hand prints under the clear. Now, to the current bike. I was very careful this time around. I wore rubber gloves when I was grinding and touching the bare metal. Then when mixing the clear, I added some third part to the mix. It was recommended to me by the paint store guy who said it would help flow the paint better. DO NOT ADD this shit. I'll tell you why in a minute. My plan was to spray a few light coats of clear to seal up the parts from moisture invasion. The plan was sound but when I went to tape off the stripe for the metalflake, the clear PEELED OFF with it, thanks to that shit I added. How do I know? Because I got pissed and was not careful, peeled off all of the clear, carefully leaving the wite stripe and sprayed clear again but without the extra crap. This time there was moisture under there as it has been rusting under the clear ever since. I don't mind though. I think it adds character. I also have an old metal detective style desk in my home office that has been ground and cleared in the same way for a few years with no rust or yellowing. Anyway, my point is that it's kind of a crap shoot, but if you're willing to live with some "character" it's pretty cool. It is more fragile than a paint over primer. A painter friend of mine has since suggested using a clear basecoat. I guess that there is such a thing.
House of color has a clear sealer called AP-01 its good for over bare metal Its very thin and you need to use VERY little then you use a little SG-100 (Clear basecoat) then clear with a good clear UC-35. A cheap clear will yellow over paint or bare metal, well not all cheap clears will but you will be taking a chance. If you want kandy color over the bare metal do that after the SG-100
Kirk,that is exactly what im looking for. I want to the same style like you did on your bike kinda. Thanks for all the suggestions.. Nate
I have the pic of the green candy roof, I will post it tonight when I get home. Dupont also makes a clear now that is designed to go straight over bare metal but I can't remember what the part number on it is.
That bike looks bitchen kirk I'm really interested in the technique used to ground the designs into the metal. I got a set of harley fenders I can try that out on....
I used a flapdisk to take it to bare metal. Then used a brand new one that was 60 grit to do the texture in swirls, trying make the pattern as irregular as possible. Also the grittier disk gives the clear more tooth to stick to. That's it! No secrets here.
I have heard that clear coat yellows on metal also. I had one guy I worked with tell me that a clear sealer is available? Or perhaps a clear etching primer?
When paint dries it actually breathes. Breathing leaves little, teeny-tiny passages that allow moisture in. Pores. If it's a bike, go w/ a clear powdercoating. No pores for moisture to get in. If it's a car, use Gibbs. The stuff really works. Just look at the 36 Cole is building for proof. Granted, I doubt the car sees a lot of rain...but will yours?
Hey Tony, Gibbs has been suggested before. Is it sprayed on? Does it dry, or is it an oily substance?
hey dave, im just trying to find something different to do on a pickup im painting... Gotta be different. you know. How are things goin down there? Any new progress pics of the merc?? Nate
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