Painting Engine Compartment

As far as prepping goes I suggest you first clean the entire engine compartment with engine degreaser and a strong scrub brush. Then, VERY CAREFULLY AND GENTLY, run your hands along all the spot welds and the rest of the aprons and locate any sharp edges/barbs that result from the spot welding process and take a sanding disc/grinder and remove them FIRST. You can now sand all the sheetmetal by hand starting with 100 grit and working your way down to 400 to smooth out all the old paint. Make sure you completely remove all surface rust and corrosion.

You can strip the sheetmetal all the way to baremetal if you want but it is not totally necessary. If you do I suggest you go to the auto body supply store and get some metal cleaner (PPG DX 579 or equivalent) and metal conditioner (PPG DX 520 SG or equivalent) to clean/etch/protect the metal. This step is will promote adhesion of the paint but you can skip it.....I just prefer to take this precation when I an spending so much time to make something nice.

Once the sheetmetalis prepared (however you choose) then prime it with several full coats of sandable primer. I prefer Krylon (for all spray can paints) gray primner and it is cheap.....about $2.40 at WalMart. THen wet sand the primer with 400 to get it extra smooth....if you want that look, or you can just apply the paint after the primer dries if you are happy with the condition of the sheetmetal. For final coating I also like Krylon spray cans (when using them...I use a professional spray unit most of the time and mix my own paint). I think the black that is the best is Krylon Semi-Flat Black, once again available at WalMart for about $2.40. It has been a long time since I used this paint so if they have a Semi-Gloss and a Semi-Flat Black then you might want to buy a can of both and experiment to see which color suits your needs.....I just seem to remember Semi-Flat for some reason. I had this color on my first 66 for many years and it looked good and touched up easily. The DupliColor auto spray paints at your auto parts stores are 2X the price of Krylon and don't cover or look as well in my opinion....but you will have to be the judge.

Good Luck

What panels?

OH, BTW.....if Krylon makes a black primer then you can use that to hide any future scratches.

There are no removable panels in the engine compartment. If you are talking about the aprons...those are welded in.

Personally I always strip the engine compartment completely. I take out the steering column and all the steering components themselves. I also remove all wires and brake lines. It is the perfect time to clean up all these items too. The downside is you have to rebleed the brakes and get another front end alignment. You might even consider replacing the brake lines if they are original...I would.

The steering column is interior color. I usually paint the part that is in the engine compartment black regardless.....but I have seen them both ways.

To remove the steering column just remove the wheel with a steering whell puller and then take the nuts out of the saddle that holds the column to the dash and pull it out. Don't forget to unplug the wires.