I wanted to clear coat my ride with just bare metal, no paint or primer. Has any one ever done this before?

I don't know if that's ever been done, but have you seen this car?



maybe you can email them and ask them how they did it.

http://www.salinasboys.com/projects.html

That is Kirk Hammets(sp?)car. It was built by the salinas boys, and is now in paint. I dont think that this was ever clear coated. I would suggest cleaning it off with a tack cloth and spraying it like normal paint. Try it on a small panel first.

The "clear coat" is the second half of 'two stage paint' that's used on modern cars/trucks.

This will not adhere to bare metal just as paint will not.

Don't waste your time/money.

Good luck.

Greetings . . .

All I can offer is ideas - no experience here. Many primers are epoxy based. One can get clear epoxy.

How about clear epoxy as a 'primer' prepped just like normal primer for a clear coat finish?

But I am hearing John's posting echo - $$

And how you get the metal to be 'defect free' is another issue. What's your plan here?

In my mind it's like the centerfold in last month's gentlemans magazine - without an airbrush retouch on the photos she has blemishes and zits just like the rest of the population . . .

regards,
stock49

That's just it, you can't.

Often new body parts from the factory are damaged etc.

One could 'work the metal' & then polish it, but to what end?? It's done on aircraft sometimes with 'bare skins' but they don't get "parkling lot dings" etc.

I'm sure the question was theoretical.

Old thread I know but I will answer this for you as well... It wont work. Need primer or some kind of epoxy over bare metal then your paint and then your clear. It will peel off, yellow and not work... Would be cool if they did make some kind of clear primer and paint or such but I doubt they do.

I have done this.I just sprayed clear.Spray a few real light coats first.I would say 4 or 5,then you can coat it normally.Make sure the metal is beyond clean.You should go through about 20 gallons of,I use virgin lacquer thinner,to make sure it is super clean.DO NOT USE TACK RAGS!!!They leave a residue.If you do this,the clear will not last as long as if it were painted and cleared.

you could try 2003 jaguar platinum pearl mitalic from dupont I painted my 53 chevy truck and it looks like bare alluminum

I know you can get clear epoxy coatings they make sever stages of epoxy coatings for surf boards. and most of them look white its becuase they use ep foam which is white for the "structural suport" of the board.

Dear Steve;

If you were to do that over bare metal on a complete car body, you would destroy it forever.

How could it ever be removed?

Clear coatings are to protect the color coat of "two stage" paint operations. It saves polishing (after application) as it stops the sun from fadeing etc.

It also makes it easyer to match the color later if involved in a collision etc.

Get it straight and sanded in a uniform pattern then do it like Jimmy Shine, Steel wool and WD40 ever so often. Then when you get tired of it you can wash it down with solvent and spray on primer and color.

Tom