Metalflake: what to do?

[croSSed]

I'm going to be restoring a Cee Bee Avenger, BUT it has metalflake, and - you guessed it - the gelcoat is all but gone on the metalflaked parts. I tried buffing out a small part of the hull and the white gelcoat came out really nice. The dark grey pin-stripe metal-flake looks good too, but the red got shiny and the color was not restored. I had read that if you put a drop of oil on a gelcoat-less metal flake, and the color comes back and looks 3D again, you can simply clear coat and it will look nice. So, I put a drop of oil on the part of the buffed out area and it looked good. So, I'm thinking of clearcoating the whole boat above the chines. One of the other options I was thinking about was to mask off the whole boat and ONLY clear coat the red metal-flake OR, paint over the red metal flake with a solid color like dark red. What are your thoughts on this? Thanks for any help.

TG

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Metalflake: what to do?

Putting a clear over the metalflake "might "work, but it may still look blotchy and uneven, painting over it with red "will" work. You can try the clear and if it still looks bad you can go over it with red, but the clear isn't cheap, so you will be spending some cash.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Metalflake: what to do?

The Oil Trick works,.... But you Can't Clearcoat or Paint over an Oily Surface......

 

[croSSed]

Re: Metalflake: what to do?

"The Oil Trick works,.... But you Can't Clearcoat or Paint over an Oily Surface......"

Correct, so you start with a clean, oil free surface. Doesn't the clear coat make it look like what the oil made it look like with the addition of being high-gloss?

TG

 

[Bondo]

Re: Metalflake: what to do?

"The Oil Trick works,.... But you Can't Clearcoat or Paint over an Oily Surface......"

Correct, so you start with a clean, oil free surface. Doesn't the clear coat make it look like what the oil made it look like with the addition of being high-gloss?

TG

Putting a clear over the metalflake "might "work, but it may still look blotchy and uneven, painting over it with red "will" work. You can try the clear and if it still looks bad you can go over it with red, but the clear isn't cheap, so you will be spending some cash.

 

[A Fn Noob]

Re: Metalflake: what to do?


Wet sanding with 800, then 1000, then buffing compound, then waxing will likely resolve the problem.

 

[croSSed]

Re: Metalflake: what to do?

Wet sanding with 800, then 1000, then buffing compound, then waxing will likely resolve the problem.

Hmm. My understanding is if you start to sand into metalflake that you'll ruin it. You'll remove the color and all that will be left is silver, blotchy metalflake. Also, if I paint over the metalflake I'm worried that the metalflake chips underneath the paint will come loose and start to chip the paint. Is this an unfounded worry?

TG

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Metalflake: what to do?

Blanche, I painted my Avenger solid white, and used some teal accent tape and teal carpeting and white seats. Looks very good. If you cannot restore the metalflake (which may be paint), you can update it's look with paint.