CLEAR COATING ALUMINUM GRILL TRIM ???

[DAVEN1256]

I am looking for suggestions on what to use to clear coat the exposed aluminum edges of my '68  grill trim (standard, not rally sport). I took my upper and lower grill moldings and the headlight bezels to a shop to have the exposed aluminum edges polished out. The anodized coating was removed in the process.

My job now is to protect the polished exposed edges and repaint the black area in between. Everything I have read says that the anodizing process will destroy iron so I cannot re-anodize the upper and lower moldings without having to pry loose the mounting brackets and studs on the back. I really don't want to attempt this for fear of screwing them up.

I have researched clear coatings for polished aluminum and seem to strike out with everyone I come across for one reason or another. For example........
VHT Clear Coat - Spoke with VHT tech support and they recomended not applying to polished aluminum.

Permalac - Seems to be good stuff but only comes in matte or satin finish.....after having these pieces polished nice and bright, I don't want to dull them back to a satin finish.

Eastwood Diamond Clear - some reviews say it doesn't stick well to polished surfaces and some say that the "clear" also dries to a satin finish instead of clear.

I hope to put something on there that won't reduce the shine.............Also, whatever I put on there, I have to be able to put masking tape over it so I can repaint the black in the center and not have the clear lift when I pull up the tape.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.....Dave

[Ramjett54]

A friend of mine buffs his aluminum and uses this:
http://www.cerakoteguncoatings.com/finishes/MC-160FQ/high-gloss-ceramic-clear/
According to the label It is used by a major wheel manufacturer 

[firstgenaddict]

Have it clear anodized the cost is not as much as you would probably expect.

[DAVEN1256]

I would love to have it anodized but are reluctant to do so for the reasons I stated above.......

"Everything I have read says that the anodizing process will destroy iron so I cannot re-anodize the upper and lower moldings without having to pry loose the mounting brackets and studs on the back. I really don't want to attempt this for fear of screwing them up."

[cook_dw]

I too use Cerakote coatings.  I love the product.

Titanium is the color I used on the intake and headers.





Intake before.



Intake after.





I also used the micro slick coat on the pistons & bearings.  Along with the piston coat on the pistons & combustion chambers.

[Ramjett54]

Hey Cookdw you are a professional
what equipment  do you use to spay with?
Got any tricks of the trade for rookies?

[firstgenaddict]

BTW I would probably tape over the polished part shoot the black then tape the black up and shoot the clear. Reason being you can slightly scuff the aluminum then wipe with isopropyl alcohol in order to assist with the adhesion of the black paint, whereas you will have a polished surface on the exposed AL trim, which would be more likely to allow the paint to release.  Allowing the black to dry for a couple of days  or baking it and using a tape that is for applying over delicate surfaces to mask the black would serve to limit potential problems.

[cook_dw]

Far from a professional.  I just use a HPLV gun (got a little 4oz job from Harbor Freight).  I turn down my compressor to 60psi and hold the gun to 25psi.  If you go to the website they give you the basics on how to spray their coatings.  I had the headers blasted and then just wiped them down with mineral spirits and let dry then sprayed the coating.  Intake I just pressure washed and cleaned really well then sprayed.  Bearings I hit with a scothbrite pad then cleaned with alcohol then sprayed.  You can buy their tester bottles and it will go a long way.  The bearings and piston skirts I used about 6 oz of coating and around 2 oz on the piston tops and cc.  I bought a pint of the titanium color for the intake and headers and I still have half a bottle.

Also do several test passes until you get the pattern you want down.  I usually hit the entire part with a light coat then wait a few minutes and start hitting the hard to reach spots and then go from there.  Mostly like painting a car or anything else with a HPLV spray gun.

[Ramjett54]

Thanks Darrel
Good Info, that intake looks super

[cook_dw]

If it were my parts I would tape off (just James mentioned) the polished areas and get either glacier black or black velvet.  Unless you are doing something more along the lines of custom then you could do another color to accent the body color..  I also only use air cure coatings.  Unless you have an extra oven; you do not want to use your home oven for curing.  If you are married..   

[cook_dw]

Thanks Darrel
Good Info, that intake looks super

thanks.

[69Z28-RS]

If it were my parts I would tape off (just James mentioned) the polished areas and get either glacier black or black velvet.  Unless you are doing something more along the lines of custom then you could do another color to accent the body color..  I also only use air cure coatings.  Unless you have an extra oven; you do not want to use your home oven for curing.  If you are married..   

..   not if you want to STAY married...  *G*