Like to match the block to the lacquer on the body but I want to know if lacquer will hold up. Can't get a good match with urethane. Terry
Well ,Thet didn't have enamels till the 60's ,So they probably painted there motors in laquer back in the day.You'll be fine......
Lacquers do crack and chip easily and gasoline will soften it,, I bet the metal expanding and contracting will shed the lacquer quickly.
<!-- / message --> Won't last 1000 miles....they did use it back in the day, but thats when nobody cared what the engine looked like...The engine was just a prime mover periode!
Lacquer is just about the only paint you SHOULDN'T use on an engine. Do a search...but I've used Centari (acrylic enamel), Imron, Single stage, base/clear, even HOK Urethane candy and pearl paints successfully.
Match the enamel as close as possible...at least it will last. The lacquer will chip off/discolor and look worse than the enamel ever will.
You should be able to have your lacquer color mixed in acrylic enamel or urethane with out any problems, Even if its a special mix color, the paint store you got it from can mix it in another line. Enamels have been in use for over 100 years and were a mainstay in the automotive business beginning in the '40s. As far a using lacquer on your engine... you can use it but it's not gas proof. As an alternative. you can clear over it with a urethane clear, but that kinda defeats the cost aspect of using lacquer...... I've painted more than a few engine engines with basecoat/clearcoat with good results. As long as you let the lacquer completely gas out, it'll work OK, although the best way is just have some a/e or urethane single stage mixed....
Don't use lacquer. It will not hold up to gasolene and the expansion and contraction of the block - cracks and chips too easily.
Ok looked into it and I was wrong Enamels have been around since the 20's and 30's Do not use laquer .Use enamel ................
Thanks. I had blinders on with this one. I was concerned about the heat and didn't consider the expansion/contraction of the metal. Terry
I remember....right before basecoat/clearcoat (DBU), Ditzler used to sell a polyurethane enamel clear that they recommended for use over laquer ( maybe Delthane?). Factory-pack colors were mostly sold in pints of laquer at the time, and it was an option for shops that didn't want to send repair jobs out the door with laquer clear, ...Anyhow- I remember using it one time on an engine block for a pretty nice '35 Humpback sedan. Seemed to hold up OK. Just a thought, but probably better to just go with a modern single stage urethane.
Your reply brought to mind something I had forgotten about. Back in the day I knew this stereotypical used car dealer in Texarkana, Texas. Nice guy, but a wheeler dealer and he knew all the tricks. When a car came in he'd prep it for resale. One of his tricks was to wash down the engine to get all the grease and dirt off. Then he would spray the entire engine compartment with clear lacquer. Everything - the motor, hoses, wires, fender panels, etc. The lacquer gave it all a really nice look. Used but clean. It made the engine compartment look 'trustworthy' and that was what he was after. Of course the lacquer did not hold up well and after a few weeks of driving the effect was gone. But sitting on the lot or for test drives, that motor looked good.
It won't hold up to the heat, and you did say engine right<? well it isn't that close to anything so match it up as close as possible and paint it w/ urethane, and stay light thin coats. unless you are going mono chromatic and painting everything the s'lame color, in which case you might be on the wrong board, LOL. don't overthink it just get close, it's not like you are painting a door and it has to match the fender and quarter.
As has been said by other guys as well as myself, lacquer is really at the bottom of thelist, but it will work. I forgot about the fathead in my sedan... It's painted wiith lacquer and Nason urethane clear. it has about 7500 miles on it with no problems at all. the trick is to let the lacquer dry thoroughly and completely before you clear it. The other trick is to make absolutely sure the engine is 100% clean and free from grease, oil, etc. The next trick is to use only enough color to do the job, same with the clear. Don't pile it on. I know I'm gonna get flamed for this one, but, Lacquer functions basically the same as basecoat..... the same prep rules apply and, as long as those rules are followed, you can get by with it. Now that all that's out of the way..... Enamel (or urethane)is still the way to go. My older brother painted an sbc with 1-shot striping enamel once and had it last for something like 15 years and still look good. Awful expensive way to go, but it was what he did..... !-shot is, esentially, synthetic enamel. As the engine went through a few heat/cool cycles the paint just baked more and more til fully cured, after that, it was pretty much bullitt proof. Delthane was intended to be used over lacquer.... I used a bunch of that **** in the 70's. It was really the first true urethane clear available that was water clear.
Terry O have you tried your local auto paint store? They should be able to tint and get you a good match in urethane. What color is your laq?
I've been playing with Lacquer a lot this last year and it's just not the way to go on anything. Maybe to get an aged ratrod look. In other words spray the lacquer and then rough polish it. I played around and found that the paint can look great and old at the same time but durability is nothing. I hate redoing anything,,lacquer even cracks over properly welded seams with no pinholes or defects. I made that batwing style air cleaner (in my avatar) and from the engine heat it's potatoe chippin' off properly prepared metal with acid primer and 2K. My sons had some of their friends come over and they played outside with those plastic bead guns,,they're harmless guns and way less powerful than a BB gun. Anyway,,the point is where the beads hit my car it chipped the paint off. Mechanical adheision is nothing with lacquer.
Color-coat on a traditional hot rod motor? Maybe on one that's being dolled up for pictures in a magazine..........
Like others have said, it won't hold up due to the heat of the engine. It will get soft and maybe sticky, then kind of cloudy looking and it will start to crack and fade. It also might give off an unpleasant sweet smell when the engine is running and it is getting soft. Been there, done that and won't do it again. It did look cool for a couple of weeks though.
Lacquer will work if you like the look of old peeling wrinkle paint Might be perfect for a rat rod my2c Any good auto paint supplier can make up a pint for you in some good single stage.
I worked in a vette shop in the 70s and did plenty of lacquer blends on engines. It worked great as long as you did'nt put it on to heavy. The only downfall is, if it gets to much gas on it it will stain and wrinkle.
As for the flexing, Dupont and others made a flex agent in the late 60s or early 70s when cars first started coming out with plastic and rubber painted pieces on them. That might take care of the flexing / cracking problem. You might try putting on just enough color to cover, allow it to dry thouroughly, then clear coat with a good urethane product. Lacquer never was the most durable paint but it produced the most beautiful results back in the day and lasted reasonably well if cared for. My vo-tech instructor was in the early Ford club where we lived and I used to use Nitrocellulose lacquer when working on early Fords for the early Ford club members and the you could get a finished job so nice that it was like having a black mirror.
The Jalopy Journal
