i-am-iron-man
Senior Retro Guru
My GT Edge has cost me in many ways. It is a posh titanium frame, and cost me a lot of money; the previous owner had given it an expensive paint-job, and it took eight hours for me callously strip it; I had to drive from Hull to Northampton to get to a specialist motorsports works that did an excellent job of glass-bead blasting it to make it look pretty, which took all day and cost a fair bit in fuel.
Unfortunately, this also cost me the other love of my life. Thirty miles left of a 200+ mile round-trip and I turned the stereo off because I was thinking: is that the road surface making that noise? The usual rasp from the Supersprint exhaust fitted to my immaculate Alfa 145 Cloverleaf sounded (and felt) all wrong. I wound down the window to see if I could hear anything untoward, but instead was greeted by a terrible smell of burning oil. I was next alerted to problems when the speedo decided I was standing still and the rev counter went bezerk, followed by a forced outing into the hard shoulder when the engine died.
Things take a turn for the worse at this point: the cabin filled with smoke, and when I got out of the car it was apparent that it was already ablaze. A call to the emergency services summoned two fire engines, the rozzers and the highways agency. I got to sit in a lot of emergency vehicles and the roadsigns lit up slowing everyone to fifty.
The insurance assessor would later send me a report detailing the components that would need replacing. This list included diverse items such as: bumper (it had vanished completely). Headlights (these had also vanished completely). Gearbox. Interior. Engine. Bodyshell. Wings. Wheels. Radiator. Windscreen. Airbags. Paint. And so on.
Which brings me to the titanium GT frame that I rescued from the car before bravely running away: the finish is very nice, but also very receptive to scratches. I know that titanium won't oxidise in the air, but will cheerfully react with anything I bolt to the frame, doubtless egged on by salt from the road and the tip of my nose. I would like to clear coat the frame. However, I took it to a decent paint shop that gave it a try, but their lacquer simply fell off. I called Bob Jackson, but they immediately said no in their own inimitable style.
Does anyone have any experience of clear-coating a titanium frame? Can anyone recommend anywhere? The closer to Hull the better, as I am no longer mobile, obviously. Clear powder coat maybe?
Unfortunately, this also cost me the other love of my life. Thirty miles left of a 200+ mile round-trip and I turned the stereo off because I was thinking: is that the road surface making that noise? The usual rasp from the Supersprint exhaust fitted to my immaculate Alfa 145 Cloverleaf sounded (and felt) all wrong. I wound down the window to see if I could hear anything untoward, but instead was greeted by a terrible smell of burning oil. I was next alerted to problems when the speedo decided I was standing still and the rev counter went bezerk, followed by a forced outing into the hard shoulder when the engine died.
Things take a turn for the worse at this point: the cabin filled with smoke, and when I got out of the car it was apparent that it was already ablaze. A call to the emergency services summoned two fire engines, the rozzers and the highways agency. I got to sit in a lot of emergency vehicles and the roadsigns lit up slowing everyone to fifty.
The insurance assessor would later send me a report detailing the components that would need replacing. This list included diverse items such as: bumper (it had vanished completely). Headlights (these had also vanished completely). Gearbox. Interior. Engine. Bodyshell. Wings. Wheels. Radiator. Windscreen. Airbags. Paint. And so on.
Which brings me to the titanium GT frame that I rescued from the car before bravely running away: the finish is very nice, but also very receptive to scratches. I know that titanium won't oxidise in the air, but will cheerfully react with anything I bolt to the frame, doubtless egged on by salt from the road and the tip of my nose. I would like to clear coat the frame. However, I took it to a decent paint shop that gave it a try, but their lacquer simply fell off. I called Bob Jackson, but they immediately said no in their own inimitable style.
Does anyone have any experience of clear-coating a titanium frame? Can anyone recommend anywhere? The closer to Hull the better, as I am no longer mobile, obviously. Clear powder coat maybe?
