gasoline melted my paintjob --

painted my tank the other day. Rattle canned it after some amateur stencil and pinstriping work. finished up with acrylic clear coat from home depot. let dry for two days.

then, swished around some gas inside to flush out any dust or anything that got in, before reinstalling it. some spilled and the gasoline melted the clear and paint right down to the primer. WTF?

I went out and got some Duplicolor Auto clear coat, also acrylic. Will this fix my problem >?

 

Man ! That sucks !!
There's a rattle can clear coat that has an inner can activator that you puncture- - that's supposed to be really good, but it may not be compatible with the paint you already have. It could wrinkle.
It's best to use all materials from the same company.

 

Most spray can paint will get melted by gas. Try using a spray can of high heat clear enamel for something like an exhaust or engine. that may hold up better. But most of all you just need to be careful not to spill gas on it.

 

There is another form in this section about the same thing with a link for the spray bomb clear coat with a hardener in it. But it's the hardener that saves you from the gas.

 

i am testing the aluminum / Mag wheel clear from duplicolor now... waiting for it to dry... its supposed to be fuel / chemical resistant, i'll post back with my findings tonight or tomorrow when its fully dry.

 

i just coated the tank of my cb750 with that duplicolor stuff its not gas resistant
i spilled gas and it made the paint cloudy
i polished with turtle wax and mothers now it doesnt look completely awful
i am going to try the spraymax 2 part clear coat
ive only heard good things about that

 

hmm. thanks for the replies. I guess this just means no spilling. I'll post some pics of the tank once I redo the clear.

 

Not only don't spill, but don't fill up to far either. Gas expands a good bit and it is cold in the in-ground tank and not so in your bike's tank. That is what got my POs paint. What I can't figure out is why it eats top and clear, but not primer. I stripped the entire tank with gas down to the primer, then it stopped stripping. I then used stripper to get rid of the primer and re-primed and that seems impervious to the gas also..

 

Why don't you guys ever do a test piece, before you spend time & $ painting your bike, spray an old paint can with your colour & clear, then test it with fuel, oil & brake fluid.

 

I know i do... i had a bad learning expierence a couple years ago. probubly the best paint i had done at the time, every coat was flawless. I gave it time to dry and polished it. it was beautiful. i got some cleaner on it by accident that ruined it a few days later. it was almost enough to cry over. i now keep butter bowls as testers and i have 3' x 3' section of a truck door skin i use to test with for metal.

 

Naaah bro.. Check out what III just did to my tank...

 

You guys need to stop this thread before you make us all cry like little girls! You pour your heart and soul into a beautiful paint job and in the blink of an eye it's gone!

Sad. Very sad indeed.

 

Here's a link from the other forum for spray bomb clear coats with hardeners.
http://www.uschem.com/index.cfm?page=pr ... =141&pid=2

If some one has tested it against gas and break fluid please let us know.

Thanks and good luck.

 

Almost nothing will protect against brake fluid, so don't get your hopes up on that!

 

Your right on that one that one Chacal.
A mechanic friend of mine showed me one time that it will eat through any fast food cup you can put it in in very short order - Except a Tim Horton's Coffee cup. That will hold up for about an hour. :?

 

Oh Jeez !~! just clear coat that tank and say it's Black Beard the Pirate !!

 

HA HA!! Thanks TTR! Lol. I may jsut consider that. Pretty bad huh? Made me SO mad at myself. I think I'm going to paint her Candy Midnight Blue or a Gloss Black. Whichever I choose, with Gold Trim, gold carb hats and gold side fenders. Whatya think?

 

I always liked the "Midnight Special" look- - black and gold!
But I thought up a "look" I'd like to try,
Start with black cherry, where as you walk around the bike, only one spot shows the "maroon" and that spot moves !
Add ghost flames using Color Shift paint- - the flames will change color as you move around the bike. Then sit back and watch people stare at your bike.
(this isnt black cherry)

 

I have always used base coat clear coat paint on my gas tanks. Its not cheap by any means. I would suggest finding someone who does body work out of thier garage and working out a deal. Clear coat only comes in gallons here. So by the time you get the hardener and reducers to make it all work its 400.00 bucks. If you do all the body work and it just needs a paint and clear coat most guys will do it with the extra materails they have around for a quick 100. Not cheap either but gas won't eat it.

 

I've had good luck with Duplicolor clear engine enamel.

 

If you have your own air powered spray gun (you can get some pretty cheap ones) Duplicolor makes a lacquer like paint that they sell at autozone. I think it's like 20 bucks a quart which would be more than enough to do a bike. they have primer, clear, and lots of colors.

 

I used Duplicolor clear, and gas definatly started melting the clear. I was able to clean it up quikly, and buffed it out with some compound. Doesn't look too bad. Fortunatly it was my back up tank (my good tank is getting epoxy coated). The good tank will be done with all the right stuff! It's annoying carry paper towel and rags around just so i can fill up!