Topic: best clear coat for aluminum/steel

[paulages]

anyone have good tips for protecting polished aliminum and steel? i've read where some people just use a hard wax on everything polished, and i read lloyd's article in the tech library about cleaning aluminum and using a  clear coat, but listing no specific products. i may just anodize many parts (upper triple tree for example), but after polishing the steel hubs to a nice shine, i want to know they'll stay that way.

it doesn't help that i live in the pacific NW...

[cb(r)]

If you are going to anodize the aluminum, then ask about hard anodizing.  if memory serves me, you get a slightly darker aluminum finish.  you have a soft aluminum core and you get a hard finished outer shell.  like an m&m. !  Also, I do not believe that you can have colored hard coat aluminum though.  check with your local anodizer for more info. just a idea.

[eldar]

You can anodize in colors but I am not sure if they are able to hard anodize in color yet. Probably so but I bet it is still expensive.

[paulages]

i have a really cheap local anodizer ($35 for a bucket of parts), so i'm not quite as worried about the aluminum as i am the steel in the hubs.

[TwoTired]

Paint needs a bit of surface porosity or roughness so it can "hook"onto it and remain adhered.
Highly polished surfaces don't have the bite that paint needs.  Clearcoats applied to mirror polished surfaces often come off later in sheets as the two materials have a different coefficient of expansion.  The original Honda clearcoated engine cover were a "brushed" surface for this reason.  This made them shiny but not mirrored.

Wax is very thin and not very durable, requiring frequent renewall.

If the surface prep leaves a surface bite. Then a two part polyurethene with UV blockers will work well.  Other epoxy type paint should work also.   The UV blocker is essential, or the paint will yellow.

Many years ago I refinished my front Forks and applied Automotive lacquer clear.  Looked great, I thought. A couple years later was getting compliments on how the front fork color matched the gold pin stripping in the fairing.  Er, thanks, but the clear coat had yellowed.  Nowdays, you can flick the opaque yellow paint "dust" off the forks with your thumbnail. (sigh)