paintwork versus bare aluminium
Discussion
My Caterham has had re paneling one side / the back and is in the original BRG down the other side. I am considering what I should do next with regards the paneling and colour. Strip all the green and have bare aluminium all over or repaint the whole car in BRG with yellow nose.
what does the team think?? Any pitfalls to bare ali all over, does it take more or less looking after??
what does the team think?? Any pitfalls to bare ali all over, does it take more or less looking after??
My first post was a hint that no one added to so I'll elaborate ....
When the paint was applied to the original aluminium the surface will have been flatted to create a key for the paint, this will need a massive amount of work to get it to look like new aluminium and even then the finish may not be the same as the newly panelled sections. Also there have been comments in the past that a chassis would be finished differently at the manufacturing stage if being left bare, ie. any faults could not be corrected in the paint shop. Also don't even think about clear-coating polished ally, you'll get areas lifting quite soon .... think about the old Minator wheels with polished & lacquered edges.
Choose your colour and get it painted!
When the paint was applied to the original aluminium the surface will have been flatted to create a key for the paint, this will need a massive amount of work to get it to look like new aluminium and even then the finish may not be the same as the newly panelled sections. Also there have been comments in the past that a chassis would be finished differently at the manufacturing stage if being left bare, ie. any faults could not be corrected in the paint shop. Also don't even think about clear-coating polished ally, you'll get areas lifting quite soon .... think about the old Minator wheels with polished & lacquered edges.
Choose your colour and get it painted!
I quite like the bare ali look. (I have to say that, because I've got one). I din't think it takes too much looking after. Once a year give it a once over with a metal polish and once in a while wipe it over with a little WD40. Keeps it from getting too oxidised.
Edited by Gaspowered on Wednesday 4th December 09:08
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