Engine Bay Paint

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Captainkirk

Old School Mopar Warrior
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A question for you A-body paint experts...did the factory clear-coat the engine bay after painting with metallics, or just leave them with the color coat? The color in question is GA4, Winchester Gray metallic on a '72.
 
Metallic finishes back then from the factory did not have clearcoat. It was single stage baked acrylic enamel. Didnt matter if it was solid color or metallic.
 
Metallic finishes back then from the factory did not have clearcoat. It was single stage baked acrylic enamel. Didnt matter if it was solid color or metallic.

One of my pet peeves is the use of bc/cc to "restore" a car . The color and depth just isnt the same .
Hotrods and customs are fine but a true resto should use single stage . IMO
 
I have found that on light colored paints the heat of the engine bay will yellow the clear coat over time (years). If you want a good single stage in a spray can go to 66 Auto Color - they have great single stage paint with hardener in a pressurized module inside the can. You can get it in any stock body color. It ain't cheap, but I just did under the hood and in the trunk of my Plum Crazy Dart GT and it turned out great!
 
The OEM paint in my 67 dart's engine compartment looks teal. The OEM paint is DD1, LT blue metalic, in the trunk, it looks more silver.
 
I would clearcoat with the exception of a True correct Resto as said. That spray bomb sounds interesting.
 
It's very difficult to get a shop to paint single stage in California now, maybe the engine compartment, but they all want to clear coat the body.
 
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I could do single stage/no CC in the engine bay with no qualms...depending on how finances shake out, I may end up shooting the whole car myself again, this time around. I'd planned on getting a HVLP gun to shoot the engine bay, trunk, and (possibly) inside floor. I'll look into the spray bombs. Sound interesting.
 
The issue with single stage metallic is if you need to sand and buff you may mottle the metallic. I love single stage with solid colors. My black Ragtop looks blacker / deeper next to a clearcoat black car .
 
A question for you A-body paint experts...did the factory clear-coat the engine bay after painting with metallics, or just leave them with the color coat? The color in question is GA4, Winchester Gray metallic on a '72.

Chrysler used TSA (thermal set acrylic) single stage enamels up until the late 80's then experimented with various solvent based base /clear technologies until they got to the waterborne base / 2K urethane clear-coats of today.
 
I have found that on light colored paints the heat of the engine bay will yellow the clear coat over time (years). If you want a good single stage in a spray can go to 66 Auto Color - they have great single stage paint with hardener in a pressurized module inside the can. You can get it in any stock body color. It ain't cheap, but I just did under the hood and in the trunk of my Plum Crazy Dart GT and it turned out great!
Got any pics?
 
Got any pics?

The current short term tests for qualifying (approving) 2K clear coats are boiling water and Zenon Arc. Both will tell you very quickly if a clearcoat is going to discolor. Long term tests are weather exposure testing in a hot climate such as Florida or Arizon. (up to 5 years). The top tier refinish paint suppliers test their products to these specs. The cheaper brands may not so be careful.
 
I could do single stage/no CC in the engine bay with no qualms...depending on how finances shake out, I may end up shooting the whole car myself again, this time around. I'd planned on getting a HVLP gun to shoot the engine bay, trunk, and (possibly) inside floor. I'll look into the spray bombs. Sound interesting.
Buy a decent HVLP gun, they have so little overspray, and use alot less material.
Spray bombs run about $17 a can the last time I bought one, a waste of money vs spraying.
 
Buy a decent HVLP gun, they have so little overspray, and use alot less material.
Spray bombs run about $17 a can the last time I bought one, a waste of money vs spraying.
That was the plan. Thanks for the suggestion!
 
I have found that on light colored paints the heat of the engine bay will yellow the clear coat over time (years). If you want a good single stage in a spray can go to 66 Auto Color - they have great single stage paint with hardener in a pressurized module inside the can. You can get it in any stock body color. It ain't cheap, but I just did under the hood and in the trunk of my Plum Crazy Dart GT and it turned out great!
I don't see older mopar colors on their website. Its all new colors. I have EB3 color- its a light metalic blue-iris
 
That was the plan. Thanks for the suggestion!

I bought one of the purple HVLP spray guns from Harbor Freight a while back, just to have as a throw away gun to do simple projects with. First project was a cart I made to set our Weber Q220 BBQ grill on under our covered porch. I took no pains with it, and only scuffed it up and sprayed it with single stage black urethane enamel I had left over from a car project. That supposedly crappy little $29 spray gun layed that paint down just as nice as my $400 Devilbis Tekna Pro Lite gun would have! I would not hesitate to do underhood paint or jambs the Horrible Freight gun!
 
I bought one of the purple HVLP spray guns from Harbor Freight a while back, just to have as a throw away gun to do simple projects with. First project was a cart I made to set our Weber Q220 BBQ grill on under our covered porch. I took no pains with it, and only scuffed it up and sprayed it with single stage black urethane enamel I had left over from a car project. That supposedly crappy little $29 spray gun layed that paint down just as nice as my $400 Devilbis Tekna Pro Lite gun would have! I would not hesitate to do underhood paint or jambs the Horrible Freight gun!


The little purple guns are $10 on sale, I also use one for smaller areas.
Painted my cousins Jeep fender with one, they shoot good if you keep them clean.
For the cost of them, I spend that much thinner just to clean my $500 Iwata.

QOty6P.jpg
 
When I did bodywork for a living I had $30 Astro HVLP guns. 1 for Primer,1 for Base colors, and 1 just for clear. My buddy had 3 Sata guns Big bucks at the time and he **** at how well the cheap guns sprayed. I bought this kit years ago and painted both my cars and my boat and Harley with them. As said, keep them clean.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000M61KKG/?tag=fabo03-20

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Got any pics?
Here are some pics the outside of the body was painted by a professional restoration shop, The engine compartment I did myself out of 66 Auto Color spray cans:

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I also did the trunk and the inside of the car since it was a color change for this project. It saved quite a bit on the overall cost of the paint for the project.

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I don't see older mopar colors on their website. Its all new colors. I have EB3 color- its a light metalic blue-iris

I would suggest that you call them. They even asked me if I wanted the old Plum Crazy from the 1970s or the new color that is available now. I would bet if you supply them with the color code and the factory color name they would mix it for you.
 
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