Could Not Resist


 
I used steel wool and soap. To confess, I was scrubbing away during an hourlong conference call I wasn't really necessary on!

So I've got all the wood slats stained and polyurethaned. I am having a crazy idea and would like some input from the group:

Do you think it would be either Good or Bad if I now put a couple of coats of automotive clear coat on the wood slats?

I have a bunch of old K2 clear coat (real stuff, not the stuff you get in a can at Autozone) sitting in the garage, and I am seriously thinking of trying it on the wood. With two or three coats, that wood would be under about a millimeter or two of clear. The only thing I'm thinking could go wrong is if the wood seriously warps, but even when your car gets dented the clear coat doesn't just automatically crack and flake off. Hence paintless repair guys. So the clear has to have some give to it. Plus, if the oak warps, I'll just have to redo the slats a la Bob anyway.

Any thoughts?

Anybody ever tried this before?

Thanks all!

Tim
 
I'm still very curious about the automotive clear coat idea. Anybody tried it? I may have to be the guinea pig ....

In any event here are a couple pictures of some progress. Trying to force patience on myself!

Slats stained and polyurethaned:

005_1.jpg


These rule!

007_1.jpg
 
And here's a little before / after of the inside.

Before:

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Now, with flavorizer bars and cast iron grates. Yes, I've been using it!

010_1.jpg


So I have two questions for all of you Weber Gurus:

1. Anybody tried painting the wood slats with automotive clear coat?
2. I want to replace all the frame bolts; are they easily sourced at a local hardware store?

Thanks all, slainte!

Tim
 
I painted mine with first a sealant primer (Kilz IIRC), than I used Farm & Fleet tractor enamel in red since it exactly matches the red head lid. That was like maybe 10 years ago and they look and clean up just fine yet. I thinned it with appropriate thinner and sprayed them with my touch up gun. I don't think clear coat on bare wood (even stained wood) will work. You need to actually seal it. I'd use spar varnish if I were you and you want the wood to show.
 
I've stained them and applied one coat of polyurethane already. Perhaps another coat of poly and then clear coat?

Wow, 10 years that's really great!
 
Forget the clear coat it's not made for that application. I think you'll just get peeling and blistering and nothing but headaches
 
LMichaels, thank you for the advice.

KellyMc: very interesting.

It looks like a typical case of there being different opinions out there.

The slats currently are stained and coated with polyurethane, AND they are oak which BobW says may warp over time.

For these reasons, I think I may just try the clear coat on them and see what happens. L, I'm not trying to defy your advice, I really appreciate it, but then we have KellyMc's very interesting link. Since it's probably about 50% likely I'll have to re-do the slats with another kind of wood anyway, I'm thinking I don't really have much to lose trying the clear coat. Plus, there is an off chance that it will work beautifully, and if that happens, then it'll be a big win!

I'm going to coat them in automotive clear and see what happens.

Pictures soon; I have my 5 year old twins this upcoming weekend, and it's rainy and humid today which is suboptimal conditions for spray painting at all, so it could take some time before I can get to this.

Thank you very much for the opinions!
 
Hey T....stupid question but have to ask...will your grill be in direct sunlite quite a bit? the reason i ask is that poly is a great finish but its not real UV friendly. i had some trouble with it flaking after some exposure. ive used spar varnish on my outdoor stuff ever since. the clear coat may help with this..if it was me at this point, i would try it.
 
Hey Bob,

That's not a stupid question at all, in fact it's a really good one!

Yes, the grill is on the corner of the deck, exposed to the sun for good portions of the day.

I'm toying with the idea of covering the grill, especially in the winter when it gets really cold / icy / snowy here, but ideally it wouldn't be covered. It's just more convenient to have it uncovered since I use it so much.

So, yes, I think I'm going to try clearcoating the wood and just see what happens. Based on your previous advice, I'm up against potential warping no matter what finish I put on this oak, so it's going to be a multivariate experiment!

The line of thinking I'm using is, if I get enough clear on the slats, the wood will be effectively sealed up inside the clear coat. This should help the wood avoid being exposed to any water at all, and should help with warping. Also, since cars get pretty hot especially on the motorhood, I'm hopeful that the clear coat won't suffer from the hot temperatures of the grill itself, as the wood won't be under direct heat but will heat a little from proximity to the cookbox. Finally, automotive clearcoat is really bulletproof stuff; my car is 15 years old and the clear coat is perfect. My Jeep is 21 years old, and although I did repaint the Jeep (which is why I have a few cans of clear lying around) its original clearcoat was in incredible condition.

If the link that KellyMc put up holds true, this could potentially be a big win!
 
So I said "Duck It" and started spraying the clear coat on the slats today. The weather cleared a bit (lower humidity) and this is my last chance to spray poisonous clear in the garage until next week. Of course, I use a respirator when I spray clear, as recommended, I just don't want my kids in the garage with those fumes around. It's funny, I never wear sunscreen, but put it on my kids constantly. And stuff like dangerous fumes, I'm just heck-bent on keeping those guys away from stuff like that.

In any event, the slats look incredible. The clear is still wet and all, and I won't be able to finish the job completely until next week, but from what I see so far, they are shining and brilliant. I really hope there's no warping, no cracking and peeling and that this works like I hope it does. I keep thinking even if the wood warps a little bit, how does automotive clearcoat stick on flexible plastic bumpers, etc.? It's gotta have plenty of give.

More to come, and pictures when we're in a position to put them up of course!

Slainte!

Tim
 
Wow, even I can see what a mistake it was to sand with steel wool! Let's see how this turns out in the end ...
 
OK, here are the slats back in, and the metal brackets for the slats were repainted too.

The only thing left is some attention to the frame, which I'm not sure when I'll get around to.

Here are a couple shots of the finished product:

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The table and bottom wood looks good for now, let's see how this 2K clearcoat holds up. It's supposed to have UV protection, so let the experiment begin!

004_1.jpg


The handle I'm not totally thrilled with, but I am thrilled by how well those logos come out with some paint and wet sanding!

006_1.jpg


Replaced the stainless cover on the side burner, along with both igniter buttons. The details make a difference I think.

003_1.jpg


Finally, I did dress up the inside with a scrubbed hood interior, a new warming rack, new flavorizer bars (this grill was missing them altogether when I picked it up) and cast iron grates. I've cooked a few meals on the cast iron, and love it!

005_2.jpg


I'll make one more posting with a before and after.
 
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