Topic: Clear coat over bare metal gas tank - any success?

[johnny]

An idea for my next project: I'm thinking of stripping the exterior of a gas tank down to the bare metal and clear coating it. Anyone had any success with this? Pictures? Any products you can recommend that will effectively prevent rust and hold up over time?
Thanks in advance.

[Bankerdanny]

Johnny, get Skonnie Boy to show you the rat tank on his ride. He let it artfully rust and then clear coated it.

[johnny]

Johnny, get Skonnie Boy to show you the rat tank on his ride. He let it artfully rust and then clear coated it.

From what I've been told, even if you clear coat it immediately, it will "artfully rust" eventually - which is what I want to avoid. :-)

[nokrome]

forum member "paulages" cleared his bare metal tank, still looked really nice the last time i saw it

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Clear powder coat

[ColinMc]

I did an 86 FZ750 that way, stripped the steel tank down to bare metal, polished the heck out of it. Then cleared it. I used a good fast 2 part urethane clear coat, and never had any problems. Rode the bike for 6 years, sold it, repainted it for the new owner and it was JUST starting to get little tiny rust spiders showing by the rear tank mounting bolt...

The trick is if you do polish it, you have to CLEAN the tank with prepsol to get all the polish off before clearing it. But you need to clearcoat it RIGHT AWAY! Don't give it time to oxidize. Plus if your tank isn't perfect...you can't use filler on a bare metal tank or you'll see it obviously.

[scottly]

I read about a protective coating in a car magazine, called "Sharkhide". It caught my eye, as I thought it might help preserve the nickle plating on my Seeley frame. I haven't tried it myself, but it might be just what you are looking for.

[Hannibal Smith]

Hate to say it, but you might be a "day late, and a dollar short", this is like putting Eddie VanHalen racing stripes on your T-bucket................looks cool in 1985, but doesn't age well at all.
This is just my opinion of course!

[Silverback]

Any clear is porous and will rust over time. How long? Dunno? A number of factors can play in. If you leave your bike outside the heat expands the paint. If it happens to rain during very hot days, rust will form faster. Ding it, rust. Scratch it, rust. Looks cool, but there are some very cool paints out now that mimic metals very well that might be an option.

Polished metals prolong the oxidation process so polished aluminum (not as susceptible to oxidation as steel) tanks retain their shine for a long time under clear.

[Hinomaru]

To protect paint, clear coat, polished aluminum and chrome ... Meguiars #20 works very well and lasts for quite a while as compared to automotive type waxes. I use it on the CB750 and was first sold on this product when applying it to freshly polished brass to retard oxidation / tarnish. It's hard to find so I order it from Meguiars.  http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/

Click on photo for a larger view:

[ColinMc]

Any clear is porous and will rust over time. How long? Dunno? A number of factors can play in. If you leave your bike outside the heat expands the paint. If it happens to rain during very hot days, rust will form faster. Ding it, rust. Scratch it, rust. Looks cool, but there are some very cool paints out now that mimic metals very well that might be an option.

Polished metals prolong the oxidation process so polished aluminum (not as susceptible to oxidation as steel) tanks retain their shine for a long time under clear.

Well there are a lot more factors they come into play as well...using a high end clearcoat and making sure you use enough of it will make a HUGE difference. Again I did a tank that lasted 6 years with no problems...and would have lasted longer. This was a bike I had when I didn't have a garage and rode it all year long in upstate NY...not in the snow though lol.

It's all in the preparation and making sure there is as little time as possible between cleaning the tank off and getting the clearcoat on it. I've had great luck with clearcoating both polished steel and aluminum on car and bike stuff.

If you do go through with this use a HIGH END speed clear coat. I can't stress that enough. Spraymaxx and Duplicolor stuff won't cut it here...I'm talking about stuff that costs over 100 bucks for a quart of clear with all the fixins....

[Silverback]

I agree! Prep is always king in painting. High quality clear for sure and a quick spray after prep. Fingerprints trapped under the clear would be a bad thing. I'm sure that, if done properly, it can last a good bit especially with a polished surface. I really like the look of toaster tanks. Dunno, for not too much more than painting a painter for supplies and time, chroming might not be a bad option, but just like everything it can get damaged or begin to degrade without proper maintenance.