I am going to embark on painting my first engine this weekend and was looking for some advice.I have no experience the only thing i know is i have to mask off any hole that lead into the engine as to not get paint in the engine. i need help in the following:

1. I need to know what can't be painted and needs to come off the engine

2. Do i or should I use primer?

3. After power washing and letting dry should i Use some type of paint thinner or grease remover before priming?

4. Any good paint products or techniques anyone has used

I know these might be dumb questions but like I said this is my first time painting and engine so any help is greatly appreciated.

 

1. I need to know what can't be painted and needs to come off the engine
Assuming you have a blue 66-73 engine, remove the alternator brackets, PS and AC brackets, and pulleys. Remove the starter, distributor, and fuel pump. Remove the carburetor. Remove the spark plug holes and plug them.

2. Do i or should I use primer?
No.

3. After power washing and letting dry should i Use some type of paint thinner or grease remover before priming?
Absolutely. All trace of grease, dirt, and oil must be removed.

4. Any good paint products or techniques anyone has used
Many products will do, even rattle cans, although I prefer quarts sprayed from a gun. POR-15, best know for their rust treatment, has an absolutely excellent line of real engine enamel. Available in pints (enough for one engine) quarts and in engine painting kits, it flows on so smoothly (takes two hours to get tacky) that even if brushed on it flows out without brush marks. Dries slowly, you must wait nearly a week to run the engine, but the excellent appearance and durability are worth the wait.

 

As previously stated, there can't be any grease or dirt anywhere or the pain won't stick. Don't primer it. Any high temp engine enamel will work just fine, I've had great luck with rattle cans.

 

A little addition to this thread. After 4 years of engine being painted the paint on the oil pan paint is cracking and can be peeled off. Is there away to prevent this in the future?

 

I just painted mine, out of the car. after much research I decided to use epoxie primer on the block, one thin coat. I topcoated it with eastwoods 2 part engine paint in ford dark blue. The results are amazing, it looks better than anything detroit put out. You can see yourself in the machined surfaces of the head & block. This would be hard in the car & no rattle cans were used obviously. I bead blasted the aluminum intake & coated it with eastwoods diamond clear coat. It looks twice as good as my 06 GT motor. It was painted by the previous owner with cans & most of it fell off.

 

I ALWAYS use 2 part car paint, I have for over 20 years.









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