Aluminum clear coat

[grannyknot]

I have tried just about every rattle can clear coat spray there is to try and seal up bare aluminum and keep it looking good, sofar all of them have turned yellow, sticky or flake off.

Power coat clear and anodizing are great but expensive and I hate to pay someone else to do my stuff.

I think I am getting close to a solution, these two products are what I'm testing at the moment,

http://www.por15.com/GLISTEN-PC_p_45.html

 

http://www.sharkhide.com/mpinfo.html

 

Both are very different but look very promising. I have made up some test pieces of cast aluminum, sheet aluminum and bare polished steel and over the next few months will throw a number of different environments and materials at these coatings to see how they hold up.

I'll start with the simple stuff and work my way up to oil, gasoline, battery acid and scratching.

The products were applied under ideal conditions with proper prep and I thought some here would be interested to see the results.

 

These coatings look so promising that I have also started applying them to my engine parts.

 

One of the members here, CARELESS was generous enough to give me an oz. of Sharkhide so I could do this comparison.

 

First impressions, Glisten like most POR15 coatings is pretty nasty on the lungs but thick, rock hard and very shiny, I have a feeling this coating is going sail through most of the tests.

It says it will not hold brushstokes but that was not the case when I applied it, I think it wouldn't have done it if it had been thinned a bit on the first coat or if it was sprayed.

Mix ONLY what you need, a little bit goes a long way, I made the mistake of mixing it all up and wasted 7/8th of the can.

 

Sharkhide is a very thin coating, leaves a semi gloss  finish but if the piece you are coating is shiny it will let that show through and is extremely easy to use. It takes at least 3 coats to start to build.

With this coating you notice the piece itself, not the coating which is not the case with Glisten.

Sharkhide also goes a long way, it will be years before I use up the whole can.

Some pics,

Edited September 26, 2015 by grannyknot

[siteunseen]

I used some stuff from Eastwood, Diamond Clear Satin.  I'm hopeful it won't yellow or peel off.  It doesn't lay on top, it soaks into the fresh aluminium I'd glass bead blasted.  It was my first attempt at sealing aluminium, I love that fresh look.  Thanks for doing this, I'll be interested in your findings.

 

The head on the bottom has been media blasted and sealed.  The one on top has been steam cleaned at a machine shop.

 

 

EDIT:

I'm pretty sure these are after the Diamond Clear, the one above was just after cleaning.

Edited September 26, 2015 by siteunseen

[S30Driver]

Thanks for taking the time to do the comparison.

I'll be looking forward to your take on the outcome.

 

May the best coating win....

[grannyknot]

I'm pretty sure there will be uses for both of these coatings in the engine bay, I have tie-wraped one of the test pieces to the radiator in my work truck, now I'll just watch and wait.

[RyanT67]

I used Glisten PC on my Mikuni carbs after I blasted them.  It's held up very well in the 6 weeks or so I have been driving the car with them on the engine, zero discolouring or flaking.  I also struggled with the brush marks though - I found it helps to lay it on as thinly as possible and build up multiple layers.  

Not easy to really show it, but this pic is the best I could find of the coated carbs.  

[grannyknot]

Ryan, that's good to hear, how is the new engine running?

Edited September 28, 2015 by grannyknot

[Dr. 240Z]

Sharkhide

 

For what it's worth, > two years ago I buffed up my wheels and valve cover then coated them with Sharkhide. They still look great and that's without any remedial work in the interim.....sounds a bit like I'm doing a commercial!! 

 

Also, a little amount goes an amazingly long way.

[rcb280z]

Sharkhide was previewed on "Gearz" I believe about 2 or 3 years ago as being the best stuff on the market for bare metal. Its self leveling too. Might be worth a shot. Been wanting to get my wheels professionally polished and as soon as I do I will more than likely be ordering Sharkhide myself.  

[grannyknot]

Good to hear other people reporting positive things about these coatings.

So I have had a couple of the test pieces out on the deck for the past two weeks with lots of dew and rain and some hot sun and one test piece strapped to the rad in my truck, all the aluminum pieces are doing very well, the steel rod not so good.

Maybe I didn't prep the steel well enough but there is the start of rust under both the sharkhide and Glisten coatings, mind you steel is pretty reactive.

I have started a new test piece of polished steel that was degreased, acid etched and cleaned multiple times before coating, I'll report back in a couple weeks.

Also, neither coatings show damage from battery acid and Glisten shows no damage from gasoline, unfortunately Sharkhide completely dissolves if gas is dripped on it.

However, let the gas evaporate, clean the area with soap and water and once dry apply Sharkhide again and it blends in pretty well, not perfect but most people would never notice the repair.

Chris

 

[siteunseen]

Have you ever tried the Diamond Clear from Eastwood? I'm in the middle of sandblasting parts and love the look of fresh aluminum. I hope I'm not wasting my time. It looks good on my bench but I don't know about real world results with the heat.

It does penetrate fresh aluminum and doesn't lay on top so I'm hoping it won't peel or flake. Turning yellow is my biggest concern.

Thanks,

Cliff

[siteunseen]

I'm going to spray something today and put it in a 200 degree oven and see what happens.  I'll take some pictures.

[Matthew Abate]

Whatever happened with this?

/M