Mercury lower gearbox clear or not to clear coat

[Solent Bombard]

Started today repainting my gearbox lower after it's rebuild so got the self etching primer on and going to give that some time to cure properly.

Then got some lovely phantom black to cover it and hopefully make it all shiny.

But have just read the quicksilver paint instructions and it says to apply the quicksilver clear coat 30 mins after the colour coat.

So my question is should I clear coat the gearbox paint or is it just meant to have the colour coat.

As I would of thought the clear coat is for more like cowling painting and not for the bottom end

Thanks

[nugent]

Originally Posted by Solent Bombard

Started today repainting my gearbox lower after it's rebuild so got the self etching primer on and going to give that some time to cure properly.

Then got some lovely phantom black to cover it and hopefully make it all shiny.

But have just read the quicksilver paint instructions and it says to apply the quicksilver clear coat 30 mins after the colour coat.

So my question is should I clear coat the gearbox paint or is it just meant to have the colour coat.

As I would of thought the clear coat is for more like cowling painting and not for the bottom end

Thanks

Just painting a merc engine again today ,
I never clear coat any thin to be honest,, plenty of paint works for me,, if applied correctly it will be fine ,,,
Not sure what etch you are using but zinc chromate (Ali etch) should be over coated once dry , ie 30 mins max to gain the correct adhesion /migration to primers

[Jizm]

Did mine a while ago, didn't bother with clear coat and still looks fine.

[Festinghouse]

isnt clear mainly for metalics where the tiny flakes of aluminium need to be protected from oxidizing in order for the paint to stay shiny?

[nugent]

Mercury black is a straight colour, not metallic


Just spent all this morning polishing a mercury turd my self,,


There after polishing sprinkles some glitter on it.

[paintman]

Originally Posted by Festinghouse

isnt clear mainly for metalics where the tiny flakes of aluminium need to be protected from oxidizing in order for the paint to stay shiny?

Metallics, pearlescents & other 'effects' paints need to be clearcoated to give the shine. Applied as a basecoat & are matt in finish.
Solids can be applied either as a topcoat - shiny from the gun & need no clearcoat - or as a basecoat which dries matt & then needs clearcoat.

[Solent Bombard]

Originally Posted by nugent

Just painting a merc engine again today ,
I never clear coat any thin to be honest,, plenty of paint works for me,, if applied correctly it will be fine ,,,
Not sure what etch you are using but zinc chromate (Ali etch) should be over coated once dry , ie 30 mins max to gain the correct adhesion /migration to primers

Iv'e used some Indasa etch primer from the local paint supplier in southampton but is only rattle can.

I put on 3 coats with about 20 mins between each but the can has no information on when to apply the top coat.

And googling curing times on etch primer it seems to be between 24 hours to a week.

But should I of applied the colour coat after 30 mins.

And seeing as I haven't should I give the primer a scotchbrite rub down and apply the colour today.

[Jizm]

Originally Posted by nugent

Mercury black is a straight colour, not metallic Just spent all this morning polishing a mercury turd my self,, There after polishing sprinkles some glitter on it.

I recognise that hood....
Had a look for those bits mate, no luck I'm afraid.

[paintman]

Ask the paint supplier for the Technical Data Sheets for the paint. Drying & overcoating times should be contained in those.
After you've primed & its had the appropriate time to harden you can apply a guide coat - I use cheap black acrylic aerosols with just a quick pass to give a speckled effect - & then sand to get a smooth surface. I use 1000 wet&dry used wet. The point of the guide coat is that any low spots, pinholes etc will be visible for you to deal with so they aren't visible in the finished job.