Aluminium(Thats Alooooominum MC)
 

I intend to make the rear tub ,bonnet and side panels out of aluminium and laquer it to keep the finish. If anyone has any experience of this could you please advise me what to ask for in the local stockholders. there seem to be so many variations in quality ,thickness etc .Also what size sheet do I need please.Any help here greatly appreciated.:)

Hi,

I believe it's 1050 H14 x 1.2mm you are after. That's what I used anyway and I was found it quite easy to work with, even for a numpy like me. You will need at least three sheets of 2500x1550x1.2mm

J

Thanks for that .Its always a bit awkward when they start firing numbers at you when you ask for something in these places:o

You may well find you need to use an adhesion promoter like plastic primer for car paint to get laquer to stick to it.

Thanks .Yep I'd imagined I would have to do something with it. I'm hoping it will keep the shine and stop it oxidising(or whatever makes it go dull)

the oxidizing gives it a patina that makes it look like a classic!

I'd end up polishing it every weekend:o

ATM sheet steel seems about as expensive as aluminium if not more expensive. Wierd!:confused:

For what its worth...
I used 1.2mm brushed aluminum for sides and rear tub. It looks fantastic and to keep the appearances up and to prevent dust settling in the "brushed" grooves, I sprayed the rear tub with 2 pack clear coat. Looked even more fabulous with the sheen over the brushed surface, but when I pulled off a piece of masking tape, the clear coat came off:eek:
I pulled this off in a big plastic sheet...:mad:

I did clean the surface with thinners before I applied the clearcoat. Perhaps I missed something or clearcoat have different adhesive properties than 2 pack paints since a lot of guys paint the panels:confused:

Lacquer will not adhere to aluminium on it's own. You need to use an etch primer to bite into the surface. It is possible to get a clear etch primer which can then be lacquered.

why not go for clear etch lacquer instead like this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-LITRE-1K...#ht_587wt_1063

That stuff looks the biz.

Cheers Kev

( Just about to get onto the side panels so will need to do something to it soon)

Or get it sprayed with this stuff

http://www.sprayonchrome.com/index2.html

perfect, see http://www.sprayonchrome.com/spectrachromebike.html

TK

Plastic primer is clear and will do exactly what you need to make the laquer stick.

and I thought the course surface of the brushed ally would make the clearcoat stick/grip:o

lots of paint dont like sticking to ally that is why etch prime is a must (no good for clear)

rule is if its a soft metal paint will not like sticking to it :mad:

Couldnt possibly use that chrome stuff I'd be setting the fields on fire on a sunny day:cool:

Mrs Vmax might be interested though ---probably the shiny pink:eek:

I like that look, like old airplanes, often wondered how they stop it from coroding. Once laquered any chip or scratch will allow water under the laquer and corosion that wont be easy to repair.

Look at the damage on water based paint when the laquer is chipped and water gets in,question answered.

It shouldn't if it is prepared properly. Water based paint is no different in that respect to solvent based.

Sod all the fancy paints. Nowt wrong with maintaining the finish polished or not with wd40 on a rag. I had big ali stone guards on a cobra kit for 15 years and thats all they ever got or needed. On smaller ali bits i would go for one of these kits http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2510536258... 4.m1423.l2649

Bob

bare ally is hard work but is a lot lot cheaper - like nowt but finger print removing with the constant cleaning... been there done it wit the dax rush.
finger prints are even hard to keep off - but it can be done. best way to polish it is one of those wet n dry pads - keep the strokes long from end to end and it will look great.
panels can be sealed with sealer in the joints like clear stuff is fine.. trim off excess so noone knows
does look good in bare - would recommend a compressor air blaster to THOROUGHLY DRY the hard to reach gaps you can dry.

you must dry it every time it gets wet