Polished Aluminum Clear coating

[Kirk Jacobson]

What is the recommended coating to use on polished aluminum. I made the windshield frame for the bucket from CCR w/s frame material and have it polished. I painted the car with Eastwood paint and clearcoat. Can I use the left over clear to paint the windshield frame. Would like to keep it shiny with out having to continually polish. Also would not want it to discolor if coated with a clear coat.

[rbsWELDER]

Not sure about the clear coat, but there is a product called Zoopseal that will do what you want.

[Bill Darr]

I've used clear coat and also used clear powder coating with great sucess. The key is to keep it from yellowing. We have a powder coater close (Roswell) who does super great coating and it won't yellow. My wheels on 26 chopped coupe have it on them. Gone threw many car washs and never changer, still look great.

[Lugnut]

That's the key word...yellowing. I had my heads, manifold and valve covers clear coated with powder back in 2001....I ended up removing all the clear two years later because the clear yellowed. I was informed that the caoting would with stand the heat of the engine.

Talk to whom ever will do the powder coating, IF you go this route and ask them if they guarantee their work and find out for a FACT that it will/not yellow.

My suggestion to you would be this...and this is only MY suggestion...mainly because I plan on doing it myself....get the darn thing chromed! Then all you have to do is wipe it down with glass cleaner....I have so much shiny crap on my bucket that if it's aluminum, then this year it gets chromed...except for the engine parts...it's together and nothing leaks, so it ain't coming apart.

Lugnut

[Al Husa]

Hey Lugs!!! Who do you use for your chrome plating work? I have used Advanced Plating in Nashville --- Great work but $$$$$$$$$$

[Lugnut]

Al,

I use a fellow down the road from me. The old saying though "the more parts ya gots the less expensive it will be" holds true. I don't have much that needs "shiny" any longer...just a few little trinkets and the w/s frame.

I "thought" about Advanced Plating, but if ever an issue comes up, then I have to play phone tag and then ship the part out $$$$ where I can just jump in the truck/bucket and drive down 17 miles down the road and get the issue resolved.

Lugnut

[Kevin Seward]

Not sure about the clear coat, but there is a product called Zoopseal that will do what you want.

Just my 2 cents. I tried the Zoopseal product several years ago; as I recall it was a little pricy. I will admit it did hold up for a while longer than the standard polish and wax job did, but still it will need to be re-polished was my experience. As I recall it was pretty labor intense to get the application applied properly also.I agree that the best long term approach is to get it chrome plated. The alternate thought is to make it out of stainless and then polish and no chrome; eventually chrome will cloud, chip or peal and polished stainless only needs to be retouched every few years to maintain. Either way it will last much longer than polished aluminum.

Later,

HiTec