Here's another pic of the reflective metallic coating I put on the tire cover, but it's hard to see the affect in a picture:

 

Hey Mikey...Now that you got your coat of black on..perserve it longer with either the High Gloss clear enamal or a satin finsh...whichever spins your prop..

 

WOW!!! Mike, looks pretty SWEET Actually!!!

 

Funny you say that, because in my other paint post I said I'm going to do that next weekend once the 7-day cure period of the paint is over with. Thanks for the info though!

Do you think adding a glossy clear-coat will enhance the reflective properties? I'm going to clear-coat the bars once the chrome is on the steps so I can do it all in one shot.

 

Good job Mike!

 

Looking good forsure!

 

Here are a few pics that are better that kinda show the effect a little better:





And, I painted the second side step nerf bar this morning. I think it turned out pretty good considering what I'm working with:



The other one has been drying for 24 hours and it seems it's smoother and a little more reflective. We'll see what happens whey they are cured for 7 days as recommended by the directions.

If anybody has a recomendation for a nice high-gloss clear coat, please let me know. Thanks!


















p.s. the light bar is no more..........

 

Well, I was contemplating painting the plastic steps chrome, and realized, that isn't going to go very well with my whole blacked-out look. I keep thinking I can add some chrome body molding, pin striping, etc. but then it's going to look like it did before. I'm just going to leave the nerf bars black and put a nice glossy coat of clear coat on the entire bar(s).

The light bar is GONE. I'm going to use that power hookup for something else, but I took it off. I like it better that way.



Anyway, how many coats of clearcoat does one typically put on a body panel/part to make it somewhat chip/mark resistant? That's what the purpose of it is correct? Do I put just one, or two, and how long do I wait before I re-apply? I'd rather hear from personal experience then what the back of the can says.

 

Two tothree coats would be adequate..Anymore will be over kill..

Clear Coat is "clear paint" - The primary purpose of painting a vehicle has always been to protect it from corrosion. The paint on a vehicle actually is a complex set of layers of different materials working together as a system to protect the body.

Today most all passenger vehicles sold in the United States are finished with a paint process called base coat/clear coat. This means the top layer of paint is without pigment. It is clear paint. It has to be taken care of in the very same manner as the old style " single step" enamel or lacquer paint systems.
The three paint systems:
Conventional or single stage, which is multiple coatings of pigmented (colored) paint. The word "conventional" is used because all vehicles were painted this way before the 1980s.
Base coat/clear coat or two stage; which consists of a thin layer of pigmented paint over which a layer of clear paint is applied. Most modern vehicles are painted this way, although single stage is still used for some solid colors such as red, white, and black.
Tri-coat, pearl coat or three stage; which differs from the two stage system only in that there is a middle layer between the color and clear layers. This middle layer contains colored mica or metallic flakes. The combination of color, mica, and clear layers gives this paint system a pearlescent or iridescent effect. Treat this type of paint system like two-stage system.
[font=arial][size=2]The total thickness of the new clear coat paints i.e. undercoats, primers, etc. is just 4.5 mils.(one mil equals 1/1000th of and inch) about the thickness of a couple layers of cellophane on a pack of cigarettes!

Clear Coat is softer than paint.
Clear coat is free of pigment, and will often be softer (less damage resistant) than other paint systems. Therefore the waxes and cleaners are different than those made for enamel or lacquer paints.

Clear Coat is very thin.
Clear coat top coat is just two-thousandth (.002) of an inch thick. This coating will not tolerate a lot of repetitive removal of oxidation or other pollutants. The clear coat is placed on top of the base coat or color coat, a flat (non-shine) paint. Once the clear coat has deteriorated the surface will no longer shine, and it can not be restored except via a new clear coat application.

Clear Coat - Is not magic and does oxidize.
Clear paint will and does oxidize just as any other paint. It is somewhat more difficult to see the early effects and therefore most people only notice oxidation once the finish has dulled and they can feel the roughness of the oxidation build up on the surface.

Clear Coat - requires regular care to protect it.
Often people are told that clear coats do not need to be waxed or polished to protect them from the damaging effects of the environment. Clear coats will scratch, will oxidize, will spot due to "hard water" (sprinkler) or acid rain, will stain (tree sap or bird dropping) and it will dull. Regular maintenance of the clear coat is needed to protect it.

Clear Coat - Special Protection Systems
There exists no known single step application that will "seal" or "protect" or "enhance" or eliminate regular periodic care. We need to buff or polish and wax our vehicle's paint

 

Thanks Dennis. I'm going to pick some up this week and put a coat on this weekend. I won't put them back on until we come back from off-roading though. The MUD apparently dried up and fused with the black paint on my exhaust, but I can't get it off [:@]I'll have to scrub it down.