Body left in bare metal ?

[54blackhornet]

Do you clear over it to stop flash rusting ?

[Redline novdog]

if you go to the trouble of clear. why not spray a self etching primer???

[Valarius_Starchaser]

self etching primer is not clear and would not make sense if one wanted to do a bare metal build clear has no way to stick to bare metal the "best" way if you can even call it that is to simply oil the body with linseed oil and keep a can of WD-40 in the glovebox

[Boyd67]

There was a truck that had all the metal showing at the cruise in this weekend. Looked pretty sick.

[Redline novdog]

ya sorry! wrong thread if your going bare metal

[54blackhornet]

Could someone chime in that has real experience doing this....thanks

[In The Ten Ring]

It would probably save a lot in paint costs.

[Rich916]

I know some Harley friends that love Ballistol... Applied over bare metal tanks, fenders etc...It holds up very well but requires some re-application on occasion.



http://www.ballistol.com/

[turp mcspray]

If you clear over bare metal, it will turn brown (rust), under the clear.

[toolboxchev]

Originally Posted by 54blackhornet

Could someone chime in that has real experience doing this....thanks

Raw, Detroit Iron, love it!

[ElKotze]

http://www.eastwood.com/exoarmour.html

[projectking]

A friend of a friend has been doing them for quite some time, even does designs/flames with sanding discs beforehand. I'll try to get in touch with him to pick his brain and post back if successful.

[franken]

Originally Posted by ElKotze

http://www.eastwood.com/exoarmour.html

I don't trust a company that can't even spellcheck their web page filenames.
Besides Eastwood often sells stuff at 5x the price that you can get from HF. Same exact made in Asia piece.

[old Chevy guy]

Personally this would not appeal to me but it acures to me that you would have to have a truck that was arrow straight to pull this off. Nothing to hide here. I bet there's not to many like that around that could stand completely naked.

[StingRay]

I've never seen one that didn't rust somewhere under the clear sooner or later. I guess if you never get it wet or let it sit in the sun you might get away with it. Clear does not have the corrosion inhibiting properties a proper foundation coat does.

[54blackhornet]

The only reason I'm curious about doing a bare metal is I do have a really straight 71 GMC. The front clip is already down to bare metal naturally from being parked behind its first owners store for over twenty years. The bed and tailgate are mint as it was never used much as a truck. Secondly I just can't justify the stupid money people want to paint a vehicle today ! I saw some cool hot rods bare last weekend and was impressed how much attention they brought over mega $ painted ones......

[Gromit]

You could try the owner of Southernpolyurethanes.com out of Blairsville GA

He is a hot rod guy with experience galore with paint (and clear coat)..

I don't know them personally but I have spoken to the owner on the phone and he always seems happy to hear what people are looking for - especially if they are not finding it from other sellers..

706-781-2220 M-F 8-5 EST

[Overdriven]

Bare metal does look cool, when it's straight. And it's nice to know how perfect it is and not wondering whether it's all filler making it look that straight. I wouldn't want a bare metal vehicle for very long though, no way it's going to last that way. Plus after awhile everyone, including you, is going to wonder when you're going to actually finish it by painting it. Polished aluminum and Delorean's are the only vehicles that can get away with having bare metal finishes indefinitely.

Paint can be stupid money, stupid money to do it right anyway. My father and I always did all out own bodywork including primers leaving only the final paint to the pros. Last one we did was around 10yrs ago that cost about $1k from Maaco to do a color change (door jams, underside of hood and decklod) in a single stage. We took off everything, no bezels or emblems to mask around just Windows. That was cheap, and that's what we got. Bad orange peel and so much crap in the paint (did they leave the booth door open or was someone jumping on top of it?) that our buddy who wet sands and polishes stuff for a case of beer wanted $ on top of the beer. Don't go cheap, you can do a better job yourself.

In fact if you have a capable air compressor that's what I'd recommend and what I'm going to do with my c10. The way I figure it, if it's still going to need to be wet sanded and polished after a pro paints it why not do it myself. Wet sand and polish takes care of orange peel and all but the worst runs so it can be fixed even if I mess up. After all the primers I've laid down I'm comfy in my skills but I'll watch some videos when the time comes anyway. I might be able to borrow a finishing paint gun so I may not have to buy one. The guys at the paint supply shop are super helpful so I can always pick their brains. Don't buy online, support the local guys and they'll be way more helpful than a computer screen.

[Gromit]

I like this bare metal look too - ever since seeing a Masi road bike with clear over bare metal in the window of a bike shop in Italy way back when... seeing that gorgeous bike left an impression but I think the maker's point was the beautiful brazing and sanding and hand-filed brazed cast lugs on that frame and not necessarily weatherproof longevity..

Anyway I just remembered that I use regular old aerosol (Bullseye brand?)shellac (natural extract from the Lac bug) which has the advantage of being soluble in regular grain alcohol. As a solvent, alcohol (I don't think) is not quite as bad as some of the other paint solvent you can be exposed to - with for example urethane or acrylic lacquer paints.

On my garden tools such as shovels I spray that shellac on the bare metal and it seems to hold up alright and prevents rust - when the clear coat needs to be renewed I just give the metal a light sanding again and put new shellac right over the old and the layers seem to melt together reasonably.

If you want to strip the shellac completely then in my experience grain alcohol will remove it; so again not as bad in my opinion as aircraft paint remover or naptha or MEK or acetone..after all if they commonly sell it (grain alcohol) for human consumption how bad can it be?

[yuccales]

Originally Posted by old Chevy guy

I bet there's not to many like that around that could stand completely naked.

Yup, my body is best seen covered!