TOPIC: Clear coat polished aluminum?

Help! Does anybody have pros and cons of clear coating aluminum after polishing?
Does anyone know from experience if it eliminates maintenance repolishing periodically?
Thanks in advance. Tony

I'm wondering the same thing....all my Google searches on the issue seem to conclude that shark hide is the only answer to our questions.....

Think I'll try a little test panel and see.

what is shark hide

It's a metal protectant (clear), been featured on Ship Shape TV, Speed Channel, etc..
www.sharkhide.com/sharkhide_metal_protectant.htm

I have been an automotive painter for many years. Clear coat would never stick to polished....well....anything. Has to be roughed up to have a mechanical adhesion.

After polishing my fiberglass over aluminum 58 Cadillac Constellation I tried a experiment with clear coat. I clear coated just the transom. After finishing it looked wonderful. However....after it had dried I was pulling the blue painters tape off and the clear coat came off in large sheets. Like stated above clear coat will not adhere to a very smooth surface. I feel if I were to have clear coated the rest of the boat water would have sooner or later found a small imperfection and started work its way under only to rip it off in large sheets. I would definitely NOT clear coat my aluminum boat.

Greg Anderson
Wisconsin