The goal of this research is to make, characterize and evaluate cerium conversion coatings which can serve as potential replacements for the chromated conversion coatings currently used for corrosion protection in the aircraft industry. UMR's cerium conversion coated panels survive the ASTM B-117 test of 336-hour salt fog exposure in our labs, which satisfies military requirements for a conversion coating system. In addition, cerium conversion panels coated with E-coat, and scribed down to bare metal, survive 2000 hours in the salt test which would satisfy the military requirements for the total coating system. Electrochemical testing procedures have been developed and the goal is to correlate all of the electrochemical characterization test data with salt fog test data.