Is there any style of car that would benefit from painting the carb along with the rest of the motor? I'm sure it'd look nice.. if it was done in the right way.
Eastwood sells a special paint to shoot carbs in. The gold/bronze color, and silver. Looks good (for paint) and holds up pretty well. Regular paint won't.
Yeah...definately Eastwoods paint. If you follow the directions it comes out great and lasts. Some of the Pepboys carb paint is okay looking but dont get any gas or other fluids on it.
I used silver "Rust Bullet" on a pair of nasty W-1's while I had them apart for rebuild. Manufacturer says not effected by gas, we'll see. Right now they look good for a daily. Terry
Yeah light gas spills....and you have to let the paint cure. I used a heat gun and warmed up the crab and set the can in the sun to warm the paint. It gave kinda a matte finish but man its hard a a rock now. And they look pretty good.
I dunno if there is anything that will actually hold up real well. I had a carb on my hawg in the early '80s that was epoxyed black looked alright, but the first time we spilled methanol on it the paint peeled off in a sheet. Might hold up OK to gasoline OK. I'm sure the eastwood products hold up OK against gasoline, they make a pretty good product. But on a road trip you almost always run into gasahol, that might pose a problem if you had a little leak.
I don't think that any thing that sprays on out of a can will stand up. I think perhaps either powder painting or anodising are the only things that will last over time.
Here's a link to a thread started by a guy who used POR-15 to paint his carb:http://forums.performanceyears.com/forums/showthread.php?t=546989
I tried the Eastwood on my six carbs and it turned out pretty nice...doesn't scream out "old man in Hawaiian shirt with fiberglass hot rod" either!
I painted my 97,s with the Eastwood stuff and carb cleaner took the paint off so I had too take it all off. I like the old patina I have with polished pot metal. I used smooth hammerite black from a can for the throttle bodies
with most marine engines they paint EVERYTHING including the carb here is a web address. i get my paint here and it holds up to gas very well and dont go flat from spills. i use the black,white,lt blue and dark blue and the silver on my engines and headers and i have no complaints yet and its not expensive.\\ Deac. http://www.wholesalemarine.com/pc/MOE-025425/27000810/Spray+Paints/Moeller+Motor+Spray+Paint.html
Appliance Epoxy, or Polyurethane. 200 degrees for 2 hours as per HOLLEY. I BRAND all my center sections gloss black. clean and service mask spray air dry unmask bake at 200* for 2 hrs let cool assemble
I found that effort is reciprocal to the desired outcome most of the time. It also helps to see paint as a colorful protective layer to prevent oxidation of the metal surfaces underneath. Whenever I painted a carb just for looks, it never held up well. When I painted them to primarily keep the aluminum or ZAMAK bodies from eroding, it always worked well. Must be Murphy's Law reversed... here's one of my 4100, whole carb has been painted two years ago and seen 2k miles of duty since then. POR15 as base coat, fogged with regular acrylic enamel (cheap "wheel paint") after four hours, let dry in the sun for a day, then fog it again with a semi gloss or even flat clear (Gloss looks tacky):
I have used model airplane spray cans from hobby shop they are supposed to hold up to alcohol and fuel. I have even brushed cork floats with airplane dope to seal them.
Bloodyjack, I likes the looks of that setup! The bells are BA! We have done some of the cast iron bases with ceramic black, looks good!
I bought several cans of that eastwood paint, painted a carb for a buddy and one for myself, paint came right off. I threw out the rest of the paint. I am not a fan nor a happy customer of eastwood for that and other reasons.
The Jalopy Journal
