Painting Engine Block

tchesney · Aug 4, 2006

Has anyone used anything besides HIGH HEAT engine paint to paint their blocks? I am wanting to paint my engine block the same color as the body, and I've seen Boyd and others on the TV shows painting engines and transmissions the same exact color as the body. I've researched all I can and according to some people, the engine block itself won't get hot enough to peel the paint, although the headers would, but I'm curious, does anyone know of a "high heat" additive for normal base coat/clear coat paint?

Thanks in advance.

RFMustangGT · Aug 4, 2006

I would ask your local paint shop if they could mix you a high heat version of your color. I think it's a ceramic base paint to give it the high heat tollerance. Always do things right the first time.

xoxbxfx · Aug 4, 2006

RFMustangGT said:
I would ask your local paint shop if they could mix you a high heat version of your color. I think it's a ceramic base paint to give it the high heat tollerance. Always do things right the first time.

usually its just an acrylic enamel. It should hold up for a good 4-5 years before it needs to be repainted. You can get the same color but its a single stage, nto a bc/cc setup. They can also put it in a spray can too.

1966_Mustang · Aug 5, 2006

sorry to hijack this thread, but I've been trying to paint my block like a really glossy black, Im talkin like as glossy as possible. I haven't been any kind of glossy black for an engine. Several people have told me just to get a universal black and put a clear coat over it.. any suggustions?

zookeeper · Aug 5, 2006

Painting engines is no different than painting fenders. You can use the same paint, the same primer and the same methods and have it last as long as the engine, provided you take care of it. Glossy engines require more prep, just like glossy cars. If you're painting an assembled engine, be very meticulous with your masking. File or grind off all the casting lines, then jih the whole engine with 100 grit on a DA to knock down the roughness of the block and heads as best you can. Then shoot three heavy coats of a good epoxy primer, letting it flash a bit longer than normal between coats. Once it's dry, get out the 180 grit and sand the whole thing by hand until you hit bare metal pretty much everywhere. Then wipe it down, shoot two more coats of primer and scuff it with 220 grit after it's dry. Then shoot it with a sealer and paint it. The more time you take to prep the engine, the better the results, it's that simple. High temp paint is not needed except around the exhaust ports on iron heads, and usually it discolors anyway, so bc/cc or single stage will work just fine.

1966_Mustang · Aug 5, 2006

zookeeper said:
Painting engines is no different than painting fenders. You can use the same paint, the same primer and the same methods and have it last as long as the engine, provided you take care of it. Glossy engines require more prep, just like glossy cars. If you're painting an assembled engine, be very meticulous with your masking. File or grind off all the casting lines, then jih the whole engine with 100 grit on a DA to knock down the roughness of the block and heads as best you can. Then shoot three heavy coats of a good epoxy primer, letting it flash a bit longer than normal between coats. Once it's dry, get out the 180 grit and sand the whole thing by hand until you hit bare metal pretty much everywhere. Then wipe it down, shoot two more coats of primer and scuff it with 220 grit after it's dry. Then shoot it with a sealer and paint it. The more time you take to prep the engine, the better the results, it's that simple. High temp paint is not needed except around the exhaust ports on iron heads, and usually it discolors anyway, so bc/cc or single stage will work just fine.

Should I just use a single coat of glossy black? Or should I paint it white underneath and put a clear coat after the whole thing?

xoxbxfx · Aug 5, 2006

1966_Mustang said:
Should I just use a single coat of glossy black? Or should I paint it white underneath and put a clear coat after the whole thing?

the key is prep.. sand it as smooth as possible then I personally would hit it up with a black acrylic enamel....I have seeen a few bc/cc paints go to crap due to to much heat.

zookeeper · Aug 6, 2006

I've never seen an engine painted with bc/cc fail, but I supposed it could happen. I would suspect poor prep more than high heat, in which case any paint system would fail. I've posted this before, but here it is again: engine blocks simply do not get all that hot, and with the exception of the exhaust port area, the paint will have no problem at all with heat. For some reason, everyone thinks their engine gets a bazillion degrees and would melt any paint that isn't certified to withstand extreme temps. Ask yourself this: ever paint an engine with plain old Krylon? We all have and the only thing that causes failure is oil, water and gas leaks that take the non-catalyzed paint off in a hurry. Other wise regular old cheap spray cans work fine. Your engine block is heated by the coolant which is heated to 180-200 or so degrees by combustion and regulated by the thermostat. So how could the block get much hotter than that? True, the headers and exhaust transfer a little heat, but if you think they heat the whole engine to 900+ degrees, think again. As far as how many coats of paint, and what color sealer you should use, just use the same basic techniques you would to paint a car body. The rule of thumb is to use a sealer that's as close as possible to the color your using and use as few coats as will give you complete coverage, typically 2-3 medium coats. Heavy coats cause all kinds of problems like cracking, solvent pop and delamination.

1966_Mustang · Aug 6, 2006

zookeeper said:
I've never seen an engine painted with bc/cc fail, but I supposed it could happen. I would suspect poor prep more than high heat, in which case any paint system would fail. I've posted this before, but here it is again: engine blocks simply do not get all that hot, and with the exception of the exhaust port area, the paint will have no problem at all with heat. For some reason, everyone thinks their engine gets a bazillion degrees and would melt any paint that isn't certified to withstand extreme temps. Ask yourself this: ever paint an engine with plain old Krylon? We all have and the only thing that causes failure is oil, water and gas leaks that take the non-catalyzed paint off in a hurry. Other wise regular old cheap spray cans work fine. Your engine block is heated by the coolant which is heated to 180-200 or so degrees by combustion and regulated by the thermostat. So how could the block get much hotter than that? True, the headers and exhaust transfer a little heat, but if you think they heat the whole engine to 900+ degrees, think again. As far as how many coats of paint, and what color sealer you should use, just use the same basic techniques you would to paint a car body. The rule of thumb is to use a sealer that's as close as possible to the color your using and use as few coats as will give you complete coverage, typically 2-3 medium coats. Heavy coats cause all kinds of problems like cracking, solvent pop and delamination.

props on the post

Painting Engine Block

tchesney

RFMustangGT

Member

xoxbxfx

1966_Mustang

New Member

zookeeper

1966_Mustang

New Member

xoxbxfx

zookeeper

1966_Mustang

New Member

Similar threads

Painting Engine Block

Member

New Member

New Member

New Member

Similar threads

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency