Sequence of abrasives for the bare metal guys? whats COLE's SECret

Thanks for the info!

 

I had been seriously thinking about picking up some Gibbs and using it on a set of headers to keep them in bare metal.

My questions are as follows,....

In the rust belt of Pennsylvania, and using Gibbs on a set of headers that will see a lot of heat, what will be the effects?

Will it hold up on the heateed metal surface of the headers and header flange?

What are the effects of road salt on Gibbs treated bare metal from the salt that now and then that can kick up off the road after a good rain in the late winter or early spring?

Personally I dont much like the idea that you need to keep it "wet",....that sounds more than a little tedious, not to mention, messy. How can you posibly enjoy a bare metal car of any sort if you have to constantly keep it in a "wet" state?
I'm genuinely interested in the product, but there are a lot of unanswered questions both here and on the roadsters.com web page concerning Gibbs.

 

I'll tell you from the experience I've had with Gibbs penetrant, it's not much good for an outside vehicle. I've read on the Gibbs site that Cole used it vs. WD-40. The benefit to using Gibbs is that you only need to prep the same way as you would normally for paint. WD-40 is a pain in the *** to get it off completely.

Back to my use of Gibbs. I drive my truck every day and over the last winter was stripping the piant. I used the 3M wheels, which work amazingly; just be prepared to buy a few. The metal shines nicely, however on large panels it's difficult to get it uniform. We got a lot of weather this winter for it being the desert. Each time it rained or snowed, immediately after I would have to take rust off it. The Gibbs seemed to help, but not as much as I was hoping. Now I'm spending a lot of time trying to take the surface rust off just to coat it in primer, when I was planning on leaving it bare metal until I finished the body work.

Bottom line... If your car isn't going to be in the garage during bad weather, don't bother with Gibbs. I even used multiple coats, and it didn't work.

 

The gibbs wont hold up to the heat. It is just a penetrating oil so the high heat will just burn it off. I know this because I accidentally got some on my manifold and it smoked off as soon as it got hot. It would be ok if you just want to keep it from rusting while it's laying on a shelf but not if its seeing any use. Well I gues it might be ok if you want to keep putting it on constantly but at $20 a can that could get expensive. As far as using it in your climate, I live in in upstate New York which is a somewhat similar climate as you and the gibbs works great. I put it on all my unpolished aluminum on my motor, plus I have two NOS 97s on the car when I took them out of the box I noticed the bases where bare metal, I didn't want to take them all apart to paint them so I just coated them with gibbs... no problem with rust even when the carbs get soaked with condensation from driving when it's cool out. I just apply it about 3 times a year no big process just spray it and leave it I don't wipe it or anything. As far as after a good rain you would have to reapply especially if you have salt on the roads.

 

Yeah and see that's the problem,...I visited the Roadsters.com and read about Gibbs, at no point is there any mention of how it holds up in east coast weather, or anythng, only that its the greatest thing since ice cream,..VERY misleading!
Details need to be shared openly before people spend their hard earned money.
Thank you very much for your answers to my questions. Much appreciated.

 

thank you also for your input. it seems that to use it on aluminum would be fine,..IF its not exposed to heat. from what i read on roadsters.com i was under the impression it soaken into the pores and dried, leaving it protected. never thought it would liquify it and cause it to burn off or out of the pores of the metal. thank you.