Has anybody out there ever painted an engine while its still in the car? Wanted to spruce it up under the hood, but I don't have the means to pull my engine out at the moment. My thoughts are I should cover what ever parts I don't want paint on (carb, distributor, belts/pulleys) with plastic and spray the engine, then cover the whole engine and paint the firewall and inner fenders.... but I'm completely open to to any tips or suggestions for doing this. Thanks in advance for the help guys. Its always appreciated.
I used a can of Por 15 brand "Por 20 High Heat Aluminum" color....applied with a two inch brush....... Took some pieces off to get to other stuff. Has held up pretty well over time.
It can be a real pain in the ass! Just take your time and cover EVERYTHING as best you can. Aluminum foil is your best friend on jobs like these. It works great on hoses, lines, and wiring. It holds its shape great without tape, and comes back off easily.
I like the way you guys think! Aluminum foil is brilliant! I woulda never thought that. I really like that silver color too. It's very classy. So would I use foil to cover up the carb and what not as well?
Y'know sometimes it is easier, faster, and you get a better outcome if you just take some of the stuff apart!
I advise taking off as much as possible, the end result will be cleaner. Do all the masking you can with tape and paper. There will be some problem areas, and thats where I like to use the aluminum foil. It wraps around any shape and holds there all on its own!
This thread came at a perfect time. This is what I am thinking. First of all, what it the best methode of removing any oil or grease, that will not damage any seals? Also, is primer needed first before that paint is applied? My engine was rebuilt a number of years ago, and the engine was never painted. Now that the car is in Florida, with all the rain and high humidity, there is a lot of surface rust forming. I know that this will need to be gone over with a wire brush, so is there a good engine was or rinse that can be used to get all the sanding/rust dust off before painting? BTW, the idea of tin foil is a great idea for some areas. Any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated! Jim
I like to use Purple Power, Greased Lightning, or something similar to degrease.Over cleaner works well too, if its really bad, but can damage paint/gaskets etc. For surface rust, I'd wire wheel as much off as you can, then shoot it with a rust convertor (Must for Rust is pretty good). Dishwashing liquid and a scrub brush work well for a final clean
Thank you for the feed-back. Will the Purple Power or Grease Lightning cause any damage to the seals of gaskets? Also, you mention to use a rust converter (turning the rust black I assume). so do I use it over the entire ehgine? Will that be adaquit to use instead of a primer coat? The generator only has a few spots of surface rust, because the original paint is more or less still intact. Should a primer be used on items like this before painting Jim?
What ever happened to good old detailed get er done work? Take off everything that you can that is easy to remove, cover or plug any thing that can get water damaged, take a good old fashioned bucket of super soapy water and a can of engine brite degreaser and wood handled brush and scrub that sucker like she was a show sow at the county fair. Let her dry over night, get a good tough heat resistant paint in a can from a farm fleet store and a good bristle brush and paint brush that engine to glory. Why are we such a aim and spray society? You may have to tape a little if you are a drip drip kind of painter but this will look great and no over spray.
The more you take off the engine, the better it will look. If you just cover the carb and start spray painting, it will look like you just covered the carb and started spray painting. Take your time and you'll have an engine compartment you are proud of.
Everytime Ive done an engine in the car paint job I wasnt hapy with it later Paint - this is one of the few times the spray cans that you can load with whatever paint come in handy, even with a detail gun its difficult to get into tight areas, buy a can you can preload and use good paint. Of course good paint takes better prep so its a tradeoff - how clean can you get it. If you cant get it really clean, go with a quality engine enamel, it will stick where others dont but wont wear as well or hold up as well since youre trying to jamb a spray can into tight areas you will get runs - go slow and make several passes. go semigloss or chassis color, gloss looks like crap if its done while the car is together, inconsistent shine and peeling. Tape - Foil - plastic, anything you can do to cover areas and not make it look like you are spray bombing it, get a compatible thinner to clean up overspray quickly I like toilet brushes and bottle brushes along with good old bristle brushes. the toilet brush and bottle brushes can fit into some tight places. wear some gloves, you will bash your knuckles a lot of times. plan to spend some time on it, if you rush, it will look like it
Bill Hirsch sells brush on engine paint, a little pricey, but worth it for high quality engine paint. That would be your best option IMO, having better control of the paint with a brush if your not going to take everything off the engine. I would soak the engine with a degreaser down at the local carwash than pressure wash it off.
Forgot the best trick, use a toilet paper or paper towel roll to spray thru in tight areas, you might shorten the tube, but it works well to get into tight spots. Car mags always used to recommend this tip, thought it was BS until I tried it.
Seems to me like a half-assed attempt, short of a complete detail, will look like shit, because after you're all done with (taping/masking/foiling), the grease you didn't get off in those hard to get places, the rusty joints, the slight overspray , the places you missed, etc. will look worse than if you hadn't touched a thing. Then you'll need to replace those perfectly good weathered hoses and belts and wiring, spending beer money on new parts just for bling. Where does it end? Reminds me of the guy that masked off the legend on the oil filter cannister, the original decal, and re-painted the rest with new orange paint. The result was faded and old/ contrasted with new paint around it, looked like shit, worse than if he hadn't done a thing. On the other hand another guy got some repop decals, stripped the cannister and had it powder-coated then put the repop decal on it. That looks like shit too, because it ain't real. No matter what is done, it's still an old car. Nothing done to an old car to spiffy it up don't change the fact that it's still............. an old car. That's what I like about old cars, I prefer the ones that retain the old look as opposed to 'new' look.
I worked in a detail shop back in the mid 70s. We did work for all the 'B' lots in town. I was on engines. I had a thing for good fresh looking stuff back then and also hated having to take so much shit off. There were hoses and wires and tubes, all a pain in my ass to make em look 'right' and the owner was on my ass because it took too long. I cheated. I ended up removing less and painting more and speeding up the overall process. The paints they used were rattle can and the tips were the same as penetrant with the lil plastic straw. I was able to get under and around things easily, faster and better than what they had in mind. I started buggin for more to do instead of having em stack up on me, so now the boss is back on my ass telling me to slow down!! Fast forward to many years later and the detail shop a distant memory. But there still to remind me when I upgraded the engine in my Shelby KR. I removed all I could, painted everything I could out of and off of the engine, then went back to the aerosol straw trick. Very handy against the frame, around the back sides of things, under the manifolds. Once done and the fresh parts and new belts and gaskets all placed back on the motor it looked as close to a pulled-it-out-to-dteail job as one could ever ask. I spent 2 days under the hood (OK hood was off but you know) and couldn't have been more satisfied. Where ever regular spray was easy I did that, the straw was for hard to get spots. Take your time and walk away as you go. When you come back to look at it you'll see things you missed or want better. Even in the most simple engine bays it's a busy area.
I hate to admit it, but on a car I was doing for myself....one I didn't want to spend WAYYYY too much time on... I cleaned up the engine (an original low miler) as best I could and wire wheeled as much rust off as possible. I then used regular POR-15 as a primer on the engine...one coat one day, another the next day, and immediately after the second coat tacked up...hit it with Imrom paint. when I sold the car about 5 year later (AND about 30,000 miles!) it still looked fresh. Wasn't a show car, so some shortcuts DO work out well! As for the answer to some other questions....if you break into bare metal on parts, you really need to put some spot primer on them. I always like to let it dry well, and lightly sand the primer spots before painting. Rust converter works "OK" as a shortcut, but it's always better to remove the rust completely for the best job. I like Picklex-20 as a converter. Some are latex based, and won't work under automotive paint. Picklex is a chemical that removes most rust and converts whatever is left. Leaves no bad residue behind, either..they tested it and using it before welding makes the welds stronger. If you work it long enough, it will completely remove all rust, even in pits. So does Dupont's Metal-Prep 5715S. If using converter, or acid based rust cleaners, be sure your primer/paint is compatible with it. Most epoxies do not like an acid cleaning underneath, or etch primer, either. Eastwood's Chassis black paint doesn't like etch primer under it either. When in doubt, READ the directions!
I have done a couple engine comps with the engine "IN" On the example below-I took out the rad,took off the fan&pulley,took off the alternator and bracket. -since I had the rad out,I took off the heater hoses and fuel lines -I shampooed everything,scrubbed with rags,brushes,what ever with engine shampoo,simple green,mineral spirits,etc -Then I went over everything with laundry detergant to clean off any solvents that might screw up the paint adhesion. -I painted the engine with rustoleum type paint with a brush on the cast surfaces and a spray bomb where I couldn't reach with the brush -I painted the exhaust manifold with high temp brake caliper paint-didn't work too good-I would use the stuff Eastwood sells next time -The rad had a broken bracket so I took it to the rad shop to get flushed and repaired and it came back with a coat of fresh black on it. -Then I wrapped the engine with masking paper- -I scuffed the inner fenders and rad saddle with a scotchbrite. -masked off the firewall,fenders,grille -painted the inner fenders with low gloss trim enamel shot with an HVLP gun-I could have used a spray bomb-but I already have a spray gun and the stuffs shoots right out of the can -I painted the fan pulley with silver/gray spray bomb -I had the valve cover and breather top chrome plated -I installed a new chrome alternator -I cleaned up the hoses with some cleaner and tire dressing and re-installed them -I rubbed the old fuel lines with fine steel wool and also installed a new fuel filter -I put on a new dist cap and wires-and put a chrome coil cover (wrap)on Doing the job in the car is not a clean fun convenient job-But if you are not afraid to get a little dirty and you can take the car off the road for a few days -you can do a decent job that will last for quite a while -Just remember-preparation is the key-just like any paint job-good prep nets good results Jim
Thanks a lot guys for your suggestions. I really appreciate that! I know that I have an old car, and believe me, I'm not trying to get it to look like new. Its just that the rust has really appeared over the last several months, so I need to do something to protct it best I can. I'll be sure and post some before and after photos when I get the job done. Jim, the job you did on your engine looks great! Jim
Here's a before pic for a little inspiration-you've already seen the after Just a little elbow grease and attention to detail.
Holy Shit!! Damn that looks good! What a difference! That might be just the inspiration I need for mne. Thank you!
Somewhere in the bowels of my archives I just might have 1 or 2. Yeah a KR. I got the car from a guy who had it "restored" and the genius had the engine done and in before paint. Where do you think all the primer/filler dust went? How easy does that come off of and engine once "cooked on"? So I removed everything I could and made it nice w/out pulling it. Now before you go all tingly thiniking I did this to a $100K car, this was in the mid 80s when it was only a $30K car
The Jalopy Journal
