Do i have to paint the bays?

[Robbbyg]

After a long absence from here after my second car (long story) ive finally just taken possession of my third, last and final porsche and im not selling it

Anyway im restoring it and although slow im happy with my results, however my wife mentioned to me tonight why paint over all the beautiful polished metal that ive stripped back?

Im talking about under the bonnet where everything that isnt stock painted ive cleaned, buffed and sanded with fine grit, ending with an almost chrome look.

Do i need to paint over it to stop rust?
Can i keep the metal the natural colour of well whatever colour you call bare metal?
Does anyone know of a treatment or spray or even oil i can put on the bare metal to keep rust at bay for another 37 years?
i cleaned and rubbed these parts with a wire wheel and gumption, the finish you see is the finish i want to keep with no paint or primer..
is there a way?

[Iciclehead]

Only thing I can think of is a matte clear....you will need something as every piece of exposed steel will rust, maybe not structurally but certainly cosmetically.

Dennis

[Robbbyg]

Originally Posted by Iciclehead

Only thing I can think of is a matte clear....you will need something as every piece of exposed steel will rust, maybe not structurally but certainly cosmetically.

Dennis

Thanks for the info ill look into that

As half of my bays both front and rear are bare metal until i am ready to do clear coats does anyone know if it is ok to spray with a lubricant type aerosol to keep rust away in the meantime?

Which leads to another question re; engine.. does a coat of clear need to be used on parts that heat up as im thinking moisture wouldnt settle long enough to rust on the engine...or is cancer pretrty quick and can estasblish itself while car is parked in garage during the evening?

Happy driving
Rob

[962porsche]

there is no real way to get a automotive clear to bite into bare ferrous metals they are not in any way designed for that . then there is the fact that you have sanded the metal to a high gloss so even if it would want to bite into the sand scratch now there is not enough of one for the clear to do so .
using a clear for nonferrous metals don't work very well on ferrous metals so that is also out if you want it the last for more than a year or so .
you could coat it with a product like WD40 but that to does not stop rust for any amount of time .
the best thing to do is use a coating just like it was done from the factory .
when i was part owner in a powder coating business we tried just coating bare ferrous metal for the fun of it with clear powder coat to see what would happen and to see how long it would last . it doesn't last or stick any better than a automotive clear does .

[Robbbyg]

Thanks for the advice,
until i decide on what type of paint ive just sprayed the bare metal with fish oil, says on the can it will hold off rust when readying for paint etc

It Smells a bit fishy
(pardon the pun)

[drcoastline]

Originally Posted by Robbbyg

Thanks for the advice,
until i decide on what type of paint ive just sprayed the bare metal with fish oil, says on the can it will hold off rust when readying for paint etc

It Smells a bit fishy
(pardon the pun)

Funny.

Those parts do look nice all cleaned up. Nice work.

[tharbert]

If you truely want a metal look, you could paint with self etching or epoxy primer then go with a chrome or high silver topcoat. As 962 says, you need something that will bite into the surface and seal it or it will fairly quickly look like the "before" photo again.