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I just got done with my second complete restoration—a CD10. I painted the whole thing with rattle cans from vintage outboard paint and then cleared it with Auto Parts store clear. I put on A WHOLE BUNCH of clear, wet sanding with 1000 to 1500 and finally 2000 grit sandpaper in between each coat. The cowl came out awesome, but the midsection spider cracked after a couple of weeks. I put the decals over top of the clear and I like how it turned out. It’s not perfect, far from it, but it’s only my second time doing this. I’ll say that it runs a lot better than it looks! The poor thing had been severely overheated and the pistons were junk, as were the cylinders so I had to cheat and buy a 75 dollar power head off of Fleabay.
Was the clear coat worth it? To me it was, but I like shiny paint jobs. Some will argue that these motors weren’t clear coated from the factory, which may detract from the value / authenticity, etc. I guess it all comes down to preference.
If you’re concerned about the durability of the paint with gasoline, well, I don’t think too many paints can hold up to constant exposure to gasoline. Maybe powder coating is more resistant to gasoline spills, I don’t know. I did spill some gasoline on my mine right below the fuel connector, and it didn’t seem to hurt it, but I cleaned it up right away.
I’m on to my next project (QD16) and I’m taking the paint VERY VERY slowly. Three coats of metal etching primer with wet sanding in between each coat. Then I waited a week before I applied sandable primer. With the sandible primer, also did three coats over the course of a weekend, with wet sanding in between each coat. Now I’m going to let that dry for two weeks before applying color, repeating the same process of wet sanding. Sure, it takes forever, but why rush it? It’s a hobby and meant to be enjoyed 🙂
Rob
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A couple pros of using clearcoat is it protects the underlying color coat and also makes the motor nice and shiny.
A con is the purists will hate it because it isn’t an original finish.
I’m not sure about the durability of rattle can clear but if if you can spray automotive base/clear you’ll end up with a bullet proof finish on your motor. The clear requires an activator mixed in with it to kick it off instead of air drying like spray can paint does. A bit pricy but worth every penny IMHO.
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