y2ks2k

Question: Will the paint on the alum hood age differently then the paint on the rest of the car??? There has to be a chemical difference between the 2 different metals. In 10 years is our hood gonna look shinny while the rest is dull???

Nick Sandrof

Car manuf. have been using aluminum parts for years, Lincoln for example has aluminum hoods on some of their lines. I don't think you will ever see a difference in paint wear because of the aluminum. The factory uses an e-coat barrier over the whole car (they are probably dipped just as U.S. cars are), the e-coat protects from corrorsion and chemicals that would harm the paint. We will experience paint breakdowns way before we have to worry about the hood. The only problem that could happen is delamination in the e-coat, in other words peeling. History has taught us that keeping paint on aluminum is more difficult than steel. But Honda has had their act together on paint tech. for at least the last 20 years. (not including cobalt blue accords that is, they had a clear coat problem in the early 90's)

Utah S2K

There shouldn't be any problem as long as you take care of the external finish. The principal pre-paint finish is called Chem-Film conversion and provides a strong bond between the aluminum and the primer. As the previous poster stated the only concern is the bond between the paint and the aluminum panel, not the "luster" of the paint. Honda uses a process similar to that defiined in Mil-C-5541 to prep aluminum for paint. This shouldn't be an issue.