Originally Posted by
Falanx
Clearcoats contain no anticorrosive pigments, have a very short diffusion path to substrate and piss-awful surface adhesion energies to metals. It's hard enough keeping reactive metals intact under leaching, semisoluble anticorrosive pigment loaded three-layer paint systems, let alone under none of the above.
As the only reason stainless steels remain stainless is ready access to atmospheric oxygen, I'd be inclined not to clearcoat them. It tends to defeat that behaviour
As is so frequently the case, you include more information than we can easily absorb so some clarification will be needed.
I understand that a coherent oxide layer is important for the function of "stainless" steel and that access to oxygen is important for the establishment of this layer, yet KVA recommend the use of Boeshield T9 on any frame constructed from their MS2 steel. I'm not sure why.