Clear coating bare metal?

So I'm thinking about sanding the Z all the way back down to bare metal and then clear coating it. Has anyone ever done this before? Any tips or pointers? I'm building the Z for the challenge and I'd rather put the money for a nice paint job into the motor/suspension/brakes

Thanks, Shane

I've done it to motorcycle parts. Any specific questions? It's like painting, except you can't see where you've sprayed very well. Use very, very light coats and wetsand when you're done.

Be warned that small scratches can lead to rust. Luckily, if you clearcoat over rust it looks pretty cool.

I was just curious as to how long it would last, and if there were any certain things I would have to do before clearing the metal.

Sure you can.Just use a clear adhesion promotor first(it acts like a clear sealer).Use a fast drying clear so it doesn't have time to pull oils out of the paint and make it fish eye.The best would be a spot panal clear with a medium reducer.Make sure you don't light coat any areas or it will be prone to rust.I'll even give you a cool tip, get some stensils cut and use a small hand held sand blaster and etch the metal so when you clear it it looks like graphics in the paint but its really just the different tectures in the metal.If your painting it in a booth start painting from the bottom so you can see the paint line as it rises that way you can see where you have and have not painted.Your welcome to call me if your really going to do it.

I REALLY want to do it because it costs a lot less than a paint job and it looks cooler IMO. Tom Suddard is going to help with the body work and spraying of the car. I think I'll do the rising sun on the hood and the rest in bare metal. I did a little research and people say the clear won'y "stick" to the metal. Will the promoter you mentioned make it last longer?

No reason that clear won't stick to the metal, its just paint without color.

Somewhere I have photos of a clear-coated, bare-metal VW Bug. Yes, it looks cool.

Know a guy that did that to his motorcycle. Looks cool but it's only a small peanut gas tank and bobber fenders on a Harley chopper. I don't think it would be a good idea to do a whole car. Think of the reflection, blinding both driver and traffic. I think certain parts would be very cool left bare and clear coated. Maybe a bare metal and clear coated wide stripe down the length of the painted car.

The adhesion promotor will keep it bonded to the car.As for the durability that depends on your choice of clear.Theres good clears out there that cost about 100 bucks(per gal.) including hardner.I'll look at my spot clear tomorrow and tell you the name its a great clear at a great price.I have even tinted the clear to give it a candy color over bare metal.

Perhaps a dumb question - do you know what's under your paint?

What do the kids use nowadays to rust their hoods? I just got some evil ideas.

David: I've seen a VW bug that was bare metal and it looked like they let the hood get surface rust and then made flames out of the rust, it was pretty awesome.

Speedbiu: We need to talk a little more, you sound like you know what you're doing.

wlkelley3: I don't think that it will be that reflective, if it is, I could do a tint to it like speedbiu said.

oldtin: As in bondo and stuff like that? There was bondo but my friend/previous owner removed most of it because the person who had it before him failed at shaving the turn signals. If there is anything left, it will be scraped/sanded off and the metal will be remolded back to where it needs to be.

They use clorox, or red devil lye.You can get creative and use different chemicals and make the rust different colors and if you happen to have an aluminum car the skys the limit on acid wash colors.NOW if possable remove the panel you wish to rust because chemicals dont stop rusting the metal if its not removed or if it gets somewhere you dont want rusted it could be bad.lol

I saw a "build a chopper" episode on the idiot box once where they did that. They clear powder coated it. The underlying metal has to be in pretty good shape, like excellent, I would think. Unless you want the beat to crap look. The builders complained how much more work there was to it to get the metal to look good without any fillers at all.

You priced clear coat? I don't see how this is going to be cheaper than paint. My Locost cost me about ten bucks to paint with Rustoleum Professional in a ten dollar HF HVLP gun (now $15).

I remember a Hot Rod article about a fiberglass bodied hotrod with rust accents. I dont remember if they used powerded iron or something like that. It was cool.

Rusted car + diesel oil rub = win.

Some of the hot rodders who have bare metal bodies on their cars use Gibbs Brand protectant, instead of a clear coat. It's supposed to work really well, http://www.roadsters.com/gibbs/

I don't mind doing a little body work to get the panels to look decent.

Just keep in mind that the metal will have to be slightly rough - paint won't adhere to polished metal for very long.