Clear coating Query?

[Guest]

Just finishing off a resto on a Katana tank and side covers.

I did the paint work myself but now need to see who can do the clear coating.

Any recommendations for the do it your selfer for clearcoating or should I just leave it to the professionals?

[Nessism]

What did you use for the color coat? Rattle cans or automotive base coat?

I'm not a professional painter by a far stretch, but can say that using modern auto paint and a spray gun make for pretty good results assuming all the materials are compatible. Worst case is you get some runs and/or too much orange peel in which case you can color sand and either polish or try a few more clear layers.

[Mercaholic]

Paint

Thanks, I did use the automotive base alkyd enamel paint in order to ensure that if I did not use a clear coat that it would be gas/oil proof.

[kdo58]

This what I did, A friend dumped gas all over it a week later and it had no effect on the paint 2k clear coat

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=163445

[crazypaint]

if ya want u can ship them to me and ill clear it all and buff her to a gloss to help ya out or just clear it. if interested pm me

[ukilme]

Double check and see if the paint you used is 2k compatible. It should be. You can shoot it yourself with a 1.2-1.4 tip spray gun.

However, it can be tricky. If you can fine a shop that is spraying clear, you can ask them to spray your parts as well and see if they will slip it in. You can save some money as they do not have to setup for your clear as it is done.

Then you can cut it if you want to do it your self. This is usually the hardest part as most of body on the Katana needs to be done by hand ( all the edges).

But be warned the most pro's won't give you a warranty for the clear as they did not do the whole job themselves.

There are several threads on this topic in the past few months.


PM if you have any questions.

[Nessism]

Thanks, I did use the automotive base alkyd enamel paint in order to ensure that if I did not use a clear coat that it would be gas/oil proof.

Did you check the material data sheet for this specific paint to see what kind of clear they allow? Some enamels are particular so you might want to do some research to make sure the top coat paint is compatible.

[ddaniels]

Why not clearcoat it yourself with a compatable rattle can clear? I've done that many times with nice results. Just as long as you put enough on to be able to wet sand out the imperfections, and then buff it out. It's labor intensive, but not difficult to achieve a very nice end result.

[Dave8338]

My experience with the rattle can clear coats is that their "hardened state" is anything but hard. Seems that they use loads of solvents in their mixture and has not been the most durable.

[duaneage]

I used engine clear with good results. I tested it on engine cases and found high temp engine clear held up to gasoline. Not sure if it would look OK over color though

[glstine]

I'm not an experienced painter by any means but I just painted a gas tank yesterday and used the aerosol 2K clear coat and it seems to be some high quality stuff.