Paint sealant Question

Well, I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. I placed my bike in the garage for it's long winters nap, and some of the gas in the full tank spilled out and leaked from the gas cap onto my freshly painted tank. Plenty of clear coat on it, buffed and polished smooth, but it made no difference. That gas ate through the clear coat as if it wasn't there.

So, I plan to repaint my tank this spring and am curious if anyone knows of a sealant that I can use to protect the paint from gas spills. Preferably a spray on type (rattle cans?) but I am thinking of purchasing a spray gun since they are fairly affordable now. As for the tank, normally I use paper towel around the nozzle to protect it from drips, but it's too late now. HUGE runs in the clear coat...

Also, is there some sort of aftermarket gasket for the gas tank that will help keep gas in the tank where it belongs?

Irritating...

 

When I had my tank painted the painter told me to use a silicone based wax to protect it from gas spills. I used Turtle wax. I have spilled some fuel on it with no problems.

 

Its not really the spill of the gas on the paint or cc that does the damage its the spill that sits for a while, like when you fill your tank and put it on the side stand and not notice that the tank is a little too full. Turtle wax will definetly help for the tiny spills, but nothing but powder coat is completely impermeable to fuel

 

Been there, done that. Last time I resprayed with clear engine paint, Duplicolor. Supposed to be more gas/oil proof. Nope, wasn't.

I've adjusted. If you're not going to used 2 part/catalyzed paint, just top coat with the same old stuff and live with the orange peel. My obsessive side is slowly coming under control.

 

Luna is absolutely right.. Only solution is to use REAL paint as in 2 part catalysed .. Body shops know all about this.. anything less and you will continue to have the fuel dissolving the cheap ass paint... Sad but true.

 

I've been tinkering around with the cycle paint game for a while and have found that PPG's DCD35 clear with the DFX-11 hardner and a little DT11865 reducer ..to be the easiest to handle , spray, and buff as well as expect to be fuel safe...

Always fun to help others with DIY paint projects online too..
Heres some recent project threads for inspiration...
http://www.a2zautoforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=103

 

Once again, I went to my friend who has a body shop.
He put me a package together that was base coat/clear coat.
He included the recipie for mixing this so as to get the best results.

It looked awesome!!!

I had to rider' to soon though and spilled some gas on my tank before the clearcoat was fully cured.

Yup, it screwed it up.

I have since dripped gas on the paint (and had nothing to clean it with) and had no problems with the paint though.

There is a time factor (on the clear coat) even with hardners. OOOPs!

It seems that I used too little hardner in the clearcoat, my misunderstanding.

Next time I'm going to write the instructions/recepie myself so there can be no misunderstanding on my behallf.

There are those who are spray can advocates and I respect this... but I have never had this kind of finish with a rattle can and some did look pretty sharp.

I also never got so many compliments.
Even when parked next to other DIY paint jobs that were shot on with a gun.

I attribute this to my friends expertise with his product that he uses.

 

Here is exactly what will work..
PPG's -->DCD35 clear with PPG's--> DFX-11 mix one to one... then a tad of DT 1865 reducer to help it flow...
clicky->
http://www.a2zautoforums.com/showthread.php?t=3902

 

my bike is a rattle can job, and about a month or so ago, I topped of my tank with fuel and didnt realize that that fuel was seeping out of the cap and all over my paint job. Fuel must of been flowing out for about 10 minutes before I realized it. As soon as I saw it, I started dabbing it with my shirt and it looked like it was gonna leave a mark or stain. I turned around and retreated home, got some cold water and dabbed at stain with a clean rag. I dried it off and the stain was still there.I then put the "mothers" to it and buffed the shit right out of it. Luckily the stain vanished. I do think response time to a spill is key. If the fuel sits on your paint job too long, it gonna start eating it. My can job does have the dupli color clear engine paint as a clear coat, so I believe that helped a little. I do plan on repainting with good auto motive paint next year and believe that if mixed right and cured right the paint will me much more resistant to future spills.

 

My first posting...

My bike has a rattle can paint job as well...

Duplicolor green/purple "Mystify" with Duplicolor "anodized" purpole flames fading to silver tips...

The Duplicolor clear engine enamel helped a lot with any accidental fuel spills. I never had to deal with anything sitting on it long term though.

Note:

The "anodizing" paint doesn't stand up well to the outdoor elements...even when clear coated...gonna have to strip the whole works and do it over again...

 

I have found that a good two stage paint job. Base coat and a few coats of clearcoat that fuel stains buff right out with a good buff job. There is a product called machine polish that does an excellent job of buffing out those stains and also polishes the rest of the bike also. Leaves a nice polished surface when done. just need to finish up with some turtle wax and you are done. Hope this helps. By the way I got the polish from my local PPG.