So I bought some paint and some metal.

The metal is galvanized aluminum. To my chagrin, the paint says not to put it on galvanized aluminum.

I plan to find out the reason for the warning through direct violation, but if anyone knows what I am in for, I certainly wouldn't mind hearing it.

Remember the Tin Man in Wizard of Id? That's what happens.

Why would they have galvanized aluminum? Aluminum doesn't corrode just by itself.

See it makes no sense:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanization

Galvan was famous for electroshocking frogs.

So electroplating became known as galvinization.

Then, dipping iron in hot zinc to prevent corrosion became known as galvanization.

And that's the state today.

Galzanizing aluminum is completely nonsensical.

By the way, if you want to paint metal, you need a primer.

Are you sure you don't mean Anodized?

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodising

Two possibilities:
1) It'll cause a chemical reaction and give off some nasty fumes (unlikely but possible)
2) The paint won't stick.

It's 2) paint won't stick.

I worked at a rigging shop a couple summers, and the masts that were painted had to be washed with a mild acid, then primed, then painted.

Yeah, I tested on a small square and it appears that it sticks, but any sort of scratching will remove it rather cleanly.

I was hoping that sanding it a little would fix that. Didn't have sandpaper for the test. I guess primer isn't super expensive anyway, just another trip to a store.

I have my rig coming along quite nicely. I built a box from a sheet of aluminum over the weekend. Got it mounted in my case, it came out nice. I ended up using black duct tape all around it and the radiator so I didn't have to paint it. It also made it air tight, plus it probably holds better structurally than just screws.

I have the water blocks all connected and the pump running. Bled all the air out of it last night. Now I just need to mount the blocks on the board.

I'm not super pleased with the dye I got for the system. It is sticking to the insides of my hose, and I'm thinking that means it is probably sticking some inside the blocks too. I'll see how it all performs and if it's crap I'll drain it, redo the plumbing, and use something different.

I still have to make some bay covers and mount this submarine window style reservoir through one of them. Can't wait to post some pics...