Spray painting metal tanks?

[dman10]

I have a BR tank I need to paint, I've already stripped the tank. Do I just prime, paint, and clear? Or will the gas screw with the paint?

[OKSTATE#1]

I did one with primer and enamel Sunrise Red Rustoleum....196572196573

You can see when I finished and what it looks like next to an original 85. It turned out just fine and I didn't use clear coat, that enamel is pretty stout. I have had a few drops of gas on it with no problems, but I use a huge funnel and try really hard not to get gas on it at all.

[Flyingw]

Like OK said, nothing wrong with spray paint. Prime, paint, and clear. After its cured for about a week, put a good coat of carnauba wax on it.

[OKSTATE#1]

Just make sure the clear you use matches your color paint...by that I mean enamel clear for enamel and acrylic for acrylic.

Um....I didn't pay attention and wound up stripping new paint and doing it all twice lol. I didn't use clear the second time. I had a good experience with the enamel without clear before so I just left it out, but it's just a personal choice really.

If you want to see a neat reaction, try throwing acrylic clear onto an enamel paint....it's impressive :(

[dougspcs]

I took mine to a local shop..media blasted and powder coated for $60.

[Chopsaw]

OK , I geuss thats what happened to me . Tank looked great . then the clear bubbled up the finish . Second time no clear . Really need to have the sunrise red in a can with the fan spray . I have used the Rustoleum white and black that has a trigger and the primer / paint mixed in one can . Wish they would do the red that way .

[El Camexican]

One other tip when spraying clear is to not apply it in a humid environment or it will turn cloudy. You can save a small part like a tank with a hair drier, or heat gun, but it's better to avoid it.

[dman10]

I've been using Rustoleum Safety Red, lighter in color, but not bad.
I've learned the hard way about clear too.

[Poco Loco]

Color sand (wet sand) your enamel before you apply clear. Dont just spray it over glossy enamel. (bubbles and peeling)
Make sure your enamel is fully cured before you sand. You need the enamel to "powder" on the sandpaper. If its sticking to the paper in clumps or patches, its not cured enough to be sanding on. Make a cardboard bake box to bake using a hair drier. This will greatly speed up the process and also make the finish more durable.

[OKSTATE#1]

I was about the mention the wet sand Poco. It's imperative that the clear has something to stick to, enamel dries to a hard smooth surface when it does cure. And I don't know about everyone else's experience, but where I live in the humidity, enamel takes a few days to fully cure. I had some front forks that I could still dig my fingernail into after about 3-4 days lol. But when it does fully cure it's diamond tough.

[cap]

You've got it about right.
Sand, fill the dings with glazing compound, sand, glaze, sand.
When you think you got it, spray it with primer and see more dings! Wash-rinse-repeat.
After final primer wet sand with 400 grit.
Spray paint, use several coats. Caution with Rustoleum it can react badly if you don't second coat right away, otherwise wait 48hrs I think it says on the can.
I you like it great! If not wet sand after it dries with 400 grit and spray again.

The time and effort you put into it the better it will look.

Rustoleum Sunrise red is probably the best match in a spray can.
Fusion Red pepper would be second best match, slightly more orange tint.



The bare Rustoleum will pretty fuel safe after 30 days as long as you wipe off any spills promptly.

Use spray max 2K (2 part in a spray can) if want to clear over it, but wait a min of 2 weeks if you use Rustoleum because it takes a while to fully cure.