Engine Painting...
- Thread starter aaron_hollis5
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Depends on how extreme you are going. If you are putting a lot of money into say, March pulleys, Chrome parts, polished intake and so on then You might want to have it done professionally. Otherwise, DIY. I mean how much of an engine is seen anyway?
Spray paint! I'm not sure what you have cookin for your engine project, but if you're buying just a bare block from somewhere, they will never have paint on them. Most crate engines come painted. If you're having a motor built than it's up to you. Once it's assembled, you can either paint it with a nice single stage paint, or you can just rattle can it. I've done both dozens of times. Single stage out of a spray guy turns out nicer and usually holds up a little better, but I've had some pretty good results with spray paint too.
Like any other paint job, the preperation will make all the difference.
If it is out of the car it will make it alot easier. I did my 73 Rocket 350
after I got it back from the shop. I cleaned up the rough parts of the casting with a die grinder, and then used the old spray on Easy-Off Oven
cleaner trick to clean it, but be sure to use lots of soap and water afterwards and try and keep it off any aluminum parts. Duplicolor and other have some really good ceramic High Temp paints in engine colors.
A couple of rattle cans from Autozone etc should do it. POR 15 and others
have brush on high quality engine paint and this might work better if the engine is already in the car. I painted my Rocket engine 10 years ago and it still looks great.
If it is out of the car it will make it alot easier. I did my 73 Rocket 350
after I got it back from the shop. I cleaned up the rough parts of the casting with a die grinder, and then used the old spray on Easy-Off Oven
cleaner trick to clean it, but be sure to use lots of soap and water afterwards and try and keep it off any aluminum parts. Duplicolor and other have some really good ceramic High Temp paints in engine colors.
A couple of rattle cans from Autozone etc should do it. POR 15 and others
have brush on high quality engine paint and this might work better if the engine is already in the car. I painted my Rocket engine 10 years ago and it still looks great.
If your looking for durability and great looks, powder coating is the way to go. This motor was done 4 years ago, and you cant hardly scratch or chip the paint on it.
if you do it right, a rattle can job will come out very nice. and unless it's a show car, no one will notice a rough spot. VHT paint is a good idea as it becomes much harder and also highly resistant to fuel and other fluid spills. you just have to be careful not to ding it before the engine is run in. small parts get thrown in the oven after spraying.
I think the heads, block, oil pan, and bell housing was 250 bucks. If you do powder coat, you have to be twice as careful than if you were painting it when you mask every thing off. If you get powder coat where you dont want it, good luck getting it off.
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