Clearcoat over bare steel with gold leaf

I like it, less is more! Let's see it on the bike now.

Looks good but scares me a little about the clear sticking to the bare metal ? If it was prepped good not a problem. what the hell do i know i do wood !! lol

Like.
Not worried about scratches rusting?

Believe me, I am concerned about the clearcoat sticking real solid and not oxidizing underneath. However, I have talked to guys who have done this method with inferior products to what I used and had success. the client is always right, and this what he wants... and it looks so bare-bones that I truly love it.

i sprayed the hood of a '54 chebby that had silver leafed scallops & pinstriping, clear over bare metal. i used Southern Polyurethanes for that one. this was in so-cal, but it held up fine for the few years it was like that. there was some minor rust crazing under the clear coat (truly under; clear coat was in perfect condition)... but nothing major.

here in damp portland, i've got a tank that was stripped, glass beaded, then sprayed with HOK clear. it's in my not terribly weatherproof garage & has quite a bit of crazed rust in areas. it's been about 3 years on that one.

That is basically what I told my client/buddy... but he changes up his bikes like I change socks, so in a few years he'll likely change it up anyhow. And his bikes remain in his climate-controlled shop in Indiana... he is a pro fabricator by trade.

didn't harley have a paint job with bare engine turned steel as stripes in the design? iv'e seen one,just wasn't sure if it was factory or not. others said it was.bike was a couple of years old,with no issues.

FlameThrower said:

Believe me, I am concerned about the clearcoat sticking real solid and not oxidizing underneath. However, I have talked to guys who have done this method with inferior products to what I used and had success. the client is always right, and this what he wants... and it looks so bare-bones that I truly love it.

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I got to say,I like the look of that tank alot and was wondering if you did any extra pre treating.im about to do something a bit similar with 70,s running stripes.ive only laid down gold leaf about ten times for practice but never on bare metal.ive asked several people about this clear coat thing and got mixed responses.(does anyone have a pic of a tank after oxidation? Tank is awesome flamethrower..pik on the bike would be cool.

That's fuckin' badass.

redrabbit said:

I got to say,I like the look of that tank alot and was wondering if you did any extra pre treating.im about to do something a bit similar with 70,s running stripes.ive only laid down gold leaf about ten times for practice but never on bare metal.ive asked several people about this clear coat thing and got mixed responses.(does anyone have a pic of a tank after oxidation? Tank is awesome flamethrower..pik on the bike would be cool.

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The owner throoughly scoth-brited (Medium) it before shipping. Imeediately before I painted it, I thoroughly cleaned the tank surface with alcohol-based 901, them scotch-brited it again, then wiped it down a couple more times with 901. I was concerned about "marring" the fabricted surface of the tank with gold leaf adhesive or tape residue, so I clearcoated the entire tank first... that way the tank's surface was locked-up in a pristine "post-fabrication" condition and any residue or such would be on top of the clearcoat and thus easily removed using chemicals or wet-sanding. That idea worked really well. I did the gold leaf, the p-striping and then cleared the etire tank, let it cure a couple days, wet0sanded with 1000-grit, then sprayed two more over-reduced "flow coats" on the entire tank and it is done.

www.flamethrowercustoms.com

Great work as usual Steve.

I love the look. It will be interesting to see how it holds up, but even if you had to re-clear it every few years, its not the end of the world. Great work.

It WILL chip and rust underneath... it kinda looks cool when it does though.

nice looking tank!

Tank looks cool and when it needs it, it can be redone or changed to something completely different. Simple !!

Trent said:

It WILL chip and rust underneath... it kinda looks cool when it does though.

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That's exactly what I was thinking.

Why would it rust under the clear but not under a base coat? If it's sealed with clear which wont absorb moisture,(unlike primer) it's sealed! Unless there was moisture trapped during the spraying process you shouldent have a problem.

We have painted at least a dozen bare metal tanks and fenders in last 5 or 6 years (We sent them out to be dipped first to remove any oil etc) some were detailed with a grinder or wire brush first to get an interesting pattern then kandied or just cleared! So far, no rust!

I was going to ask the same thing, but I figured primer was what made the difference.

I've also heard guys say that about clear powdercoat over raw steel; that it would also rust...now that one I don't understand.
Is it just that you can just see it through clear, and it's going on under all powdercoat, even opaque colors?

BigNick1959 said:

Why would it rust under the clear but not under a base coat? If it's sealed with clear which wont absorb moisture,(unlike primer) it's sealed! Unless there was moisture trapped during the spraying process you shouldent have a problem.

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I am guessing it's due to chipping. Typically, stone chips break the clearcoat and basecoat but often do not break the primer, simply because today's two-part and epoxy primers are super tough. In this case, if a stone chips the clearcoat the elements are right into the bare steel.