gas tank painting

[red bandit]

last year i decided to paint my tank and side covers. i stopped by body shop for a approx. price. yeh to much. but he told me to use metal eching primer than regular primer then paint on the tank. to prevent the spilled gas from peeling the paint. so i went to parts store. he told me same thing. so i did JUST like they told me. i stripped both tank and side covers. 400 wet sanding between coats. but the spilled gas does peel the paint. i also reg. primed 400 wet sanded 2 coats on side covers. using sand paper and bare hand. still can see fine scratches. should i have used a sanding block? i used a sanding block on tank, looks good just peels. where did i go wrong? all was done with western brand auto finishes. it wasnt the most expensive, but it fit my buget. i wasnt working at the time. thanks for all you past and future help.

red bandit

[red bandit]

i would also like to paint the side bags and truck this spring. the trunk is badly stress cracked on the top from weather i guess, not a crash. any suggestions on repairing/preparing the trunk. thanks again.

red bandit

[LoserShoes]

400's a bit coarse for the final wet sand before color, goto at least 600 next time, and do the two color primer thing to elimniate the scratches. That is, spray a coat of primer of one color, then a coat of primer of a different color on top of it. Then sand all the top coat off and leave just the pimer of the bottom coat. Repeat until no more scratchs show. I use grey for the bottom coat and red for the top, makes the scratches really stand out.

Steve

[TopCatGr58]

Gas tank doesn't have a good A'peel'!

Red,

As for the peeling affect, I believe that comes from the wrong type of paint. An acrylic base paint can easily be removed thru chemical solvents. An Enamel goes thru an actual chemical change as it cures, and onced it's HARDENED, it is very resistant to chemicals, and solvents...ie. gasoline, will just roll off.

So....that's why even though the PPG paint "BASE" that I was suggested to use is an acrylic base, the CLEAR COAT is an enamel that you mix a hardener chemical into, and then after it's sprayed on and cures, usually a few days, then the base coat is sealed and protected by the HARD clear coat.

SO...once you repaint, just make sure you use a good enamel with hardener top or clear coat, and you should then be able to eliminate the peeling affect!
T.C.

[skids]

Re: Gas tank doesn't have a good A'peel'!

"Peeling" is not due to gasoline. Peeling is usually due to incompatability of substrate with topcoat. If it is peeling down to bare metal, there was some contaminant residue on the metal (stripper?).

[red bandit]

it was an enamel with hardener paint. only the paint is peeling/wrinkling off the primer, were the gas spilled.

[TopCatGr58]

Well, that's a new wrinkle!

Well,

I remember a long time ago when I was even more ignorant than I am now , and I had painted my tank with some rattle can crap, and didn't allow enough time for it to cure, and when I tried to put gas in it, and then parked it on it's sidestand, some dribbled out from around the filler spout, and the paint wrinkled. Once the paint cured, then it didn't wrinkle anymore! I've heard and read somewhere that it can take several days for it to cure properly. IF it was properly cured, then perhaps there wasn't enough hardener in it?

Or perhaps the fuel oozed inbetween the lip of the filler spout where the top coat may not have fully sealed around the spout?
T.C.