New here, couple of quick ones (yes I read the manual! :-)

[tomg552001]

Anyone care to donate a polished piece of flat metal...one aluminum, one steel, one stainless and maybe someone out there chrome a piece of steel? That way the test pieces are "neutral" if you will. I strongly believe it has to do with the porosity of aluminum somehow affecting the way it looks once clear coated. If you think about it....Polished aluminum can be ruined very easy where as a polished piece of stainless or chrome can keep its shine with less maintenence...i'm willing to experiemtn though.

[tomg552001]

Or caswell could donate a chrome plate kit lol :P

[non-stick]

ok.... it looks like he's getting interested,folks. So I'll add in to make it all the more fair. If donating something, there has to be two pieces of the same to make it all equal. Either that or the one piece has to be cut in half so that we may see the "just polished" and "coated" examples. That sounds reasonable enough to me. See (and document,natrually) what it all looks like on aluminum,steel,brass,etc.... all the same to me. Just give me until the new year to get things done that I have to do or somebody will have my head for sure. So far.... I'm game.

What's this about a chrome kit? Wanna see what it looks like on copy-chrome? I'm not skeered one bit. Bring it on.

[tomg552001]

I'm game....as far as the chrome kit...i think that the chrome will clear coat MUCH better than a polished aluminum piece would. Isnt chrome much less pourous since its "sealed" Thats my school of thought on it.....so if someone doanted 2 pieces we might as well test it while we're at it

[Stryder]

Speaking as the newest guy I've seen here so far, I think this type of "head to head' would be excellent.

If I were to set it up (you listening Caswell? ) I would compare the following:

• Polished Aluminum (naked, waxed or zooped)
  Polished Aluminum with Clear Powder
  Chromed Aluminum
  ... and just to spice it up a chrome powder with clear

Comparing those different methods always seems more fact than fiction to my not-in-the-business-ears.

If I had a website that sold gear for each of those options I'd be interested in a true depiction of the differences.

[tomg552001]

Well i think here, the big issue is ANY clear coat over polished parts. I have been hanging around here for about a year and this constantly comes up, and i dont think there has ever been a clear cut answer or any good pictures/documentation of how it turns out. Whether its VHT liquid clear, or powder applied clear i'm willing to do some more testing. I just figured having a polished piece of steel and a piece of chrome plated material would offer a comparison and show how and if it acts differently on different finishings.

[Fireblade]

Just to add some fuel for thought or sway the media here a bit. Just a few days ago, a guy at a Harley shop I do PCing and polishing for asked me to do some polishing on a aluminum headlight shell. He also wanted to possibly PC it, but wasn't sure how it would look on it. I leave some color chips there at the shop for people to look at, and we checke out the clear coat sample. This sample was a piece of polished aluminum that I taped off half and cleared half. This way it would give you a "real" idea of what the clear would do to the aluminum. We actually had to look at it and figure out which side was cleared and which was not, as I did this piece months before and did not remember. It was really hard to tell, and to be honest with you, nearly impossible to tell by look. So that is my experience, but I still wanna see the WAR take place!

[tomg552001]

Hmm, interesting. Was this piece steel or aluminum?

[Fireblade]

It was aluminum.

[non-stick]

lol@war. We're hardly to that level and I doubt we ever will. We both have great respect for each other, other moderators and of course.... all of you. This is just a friendly little "oh yeah? I says I can" type of deal. The true winners of the whole shooting match are you, the members and customers and I seriously don't see anybody losing,truth be known. Tom and I have a little side bet consisting of a delivered coffee for me and a 20-ounce bottle of coke for him. As you can see... the stakes here are already spiraling out of control,lol. I have no doubt it will happen and even less of a doubt that it will be fun and informative. I also have no doubt I'll have a large regular delivered to my doorstep when it's all over either . We'll see what we see after the holidays.... so far so good.