What paint to use for engine bay?

[Sedanman]

I am going to have my engine bay blasted & primed. I had a friend use single stage & he isn't happy with it. What other recommendations do you have? I'm not sure base coat/clear coat is the way to go & would hate to have clear coat peeling issues since the engine would end up having to be pulled at that point. I have mine out already.

 

[Sedanman]

I don't want to put my fresh motor back in a nasty engine bay.

 

[HotLines]

The only way you will have clear coat issues is if the preparation for paint is done by a 5 year old toddler. Painting the engine bay any other color than the exterior of the car is showing how one's ability is to screw things up.

 

[Sedanman]

It will be done in body color. I know painting skills varies & I can only pray that I choose 1 who really knows what they are doing. I only want to do it once. If anyone who is a body man in the chicago area see's this PM me.

 

[AdamR]

paint it with what ever your going to paint the rest of the car with. I did my 71 Dart with Base/Clear because I repainted the entire car. My Scamp I did with single stage because it was original paint and in excellent shape.

 

[BrianT]

I had a friend use single stage & he isn't happy with it.

Have you seen it? If your friend isn't happy with it, YOU won't be happy with it. Any monkey should be able to shoot base coat/clear coat on an engine bay. If not, I would find someone else.

Make sure that everything is spotless under the hood. And when you think you're ready to spray, wipe it down again with Prepsol and a white lint free rag and see what you find.

Good luck.

 

[Dodge33]

If you don't like the look of it now, why don't they sand what's on there and re-shoot it with single stage? I personally, (just my opinion) would not spray any other kind of paint B/C, or the like, over it, even with today's sealer's, unless it was over the factory finish. Basecoat, really isn't formulated to be sprayed over any other paint, unless it's the factory OEM
finish. I do know that B/C is very tough, as we have put it on a custom car's engine, looked great, when it was done, look's the same today. It's your car
and you can do what you like, but with the price of material's, it only make's sense to do, only once......... cause you don't want it to come back, to haunt you. Good luck to you.

 

[rjsjea]

Paint it with the same material as the outside of the car

 

[z_daddy]

Well I painted my engine bay with black hammerd color from spray can bought at walmart looks cool !! I dnt see y it has to match body paint unless its a resto car

 

[Bulldozer]

Well I painted my engine bay with black hammerd color from spray can bought at walmart looks cool !! I dnt see y it has to match body paint unless its a resto car

it doesnt "have" to match, its your car, its just the way these cars came from the factory.... in my opinion ,99% of black spray bombed engine bays look like **** unless the whole car is black....but thats just what i think, and it really doesnt matter

i bet yours looks awesome

 

[dbphemi]

I would wash it down with dishsoap and water to get out the organic contaminants outa there. Then use wax and grease remover after it dries. If its not rusty or flaking u can then scuff it up and spray what ever u want over it . Not getting all the containments out of there is gonna give you the adhesion problems.

 

[clifftt]

I used good two stage paint (PPG) with a cheap Harbor Freight paint gun and small compressor. Didn't turn out perfect, but turned out pretty damn good! Its all in the prep!!!

 

[Abodybomber]

Base / clear.The cheapo Harbor Freight guns,spray decent,once you learn them.

 

[Bulldozer]

here is my charger with a single stage, tcp global medium electric blue metallic with wet look hardener. the pics dont do it justice.

 

[Abodybomber]

Love TCP Global! Bought some Sublime,from them.Asked where the solvents/pigments came from.Told me,old PPG formulas,shot it extremely happy with the results.

 

[Sedanman]

Thanks guys. I will not be using spray cans or black paint on my car. I want it to look like it's factory. I'm not very hip on body work & paint so I have no clue. I will eventually be painting the whole car so I will be buying enough for the whole car. If you look on my inner fenders you can see where they painted both with rustoleum & a brush.

 

[memike]

JMO, enamel single stage ask for hardener and correct temp reducer
They now have a prep whipe in a spray can.
I fold the blue shop paper towels two times for my last cleaning/prep for tape
Then mask it of and prep whip one last time.
Fog a coat of enamel on and let it get tacky (sticky on the masking tap).
Then Paint..
I would base coat clear your car, just tell them to mix
you a Quart of it in enamel. Get the right Temp reducer or it will have runs in it or not shine, mix the hardener in the last couple coats :supz:
or heat the paint booth.. I get the floor wet under my paint work, it keeps and grabs the dust that can build up as you paint.. I miss painting.. but that was back in the day :glasses7:

Enjoying this will make it easy :cheers:

 

[daliant]

To do the job properly everything has to has to be removed from the firewall, fenders and core support, the steering box, master cyl, brake lines, wiring harness, etc... Dont let a bodyshop try and talk you into just taping everything, you wont be happy with the results. Media blasting will remove the paint and blow off most of the grease and grime but it will still need a really good wipe down to get any leftover oils, use mineral spirits on a rag (it's cheap) followed up by prep-all or lacquer thinner. Peeling paint is usually a direct result of poor prep work or mixing incompatible materials. There isn't enough heat under the hood to affect automotive style paint so don't worry about that.

As for the type/brand of paint and primer to use let your painter use whatever brand they are most familiar with. Use the same paint under the hood that you are going to use on the rest of the car that way there won't be any variation in color.

It's hard to paint an engine bay without getting runs and drips because of the all the irregular surfaces, most factory paint jobs are horrendous under the hood, but by the time you put the engine back in and put everything else back where it belongs any little imperfections usually disappear. A base/clear paint job is easier to fix if the painter gets a run or two, single stage w/metallic usually has to be repainted if there are major runs.

 

[67Dart440GT]

Bodyman and Painter about an hour away from ya... been to my house before I do believe

 

[Rice Nuker]

Over the blasted metal, I would put epoxy etching primer. Then shoot single stage urethane two part paint in the color your car will be.

From what I have experienced TCP global single stage urethane is great.

I put SPI epoxy over blasted metal and the TCP over the epoxy within the time frame where the epoxy is still "hot".

My experience with SPI epoxy it outstanding and I have heard the same from others. Rock solid. I use it on all kinds of stuff that I want to protect long term.

 

[memike]

Oop's a Primmer is a must do I like the yellow or drab green epoxy sealer/build primer from Dupont, but!! This was back well over 8 years ago.. Yes primmer indeed .

 

[Johnny Dart]

Make sure the primer is correct for the paint you chose. Just ask the guy where you buy your paint,which primer you should use.
We've all seen what can happen if the paint an primer don't jive.

 

[Sedanman]

I spoke to the body shop by my house & they are going to do it with base coat/clear for $300-400. Thanks for all of the input!

 

[Rice Nuker]

Well, post some pics of the process and the results if you can

A freshly painted engine bay is a wonderful thing.

My bay, before I decided shortly thereafter to make the car blue instead of army green:

 

[pishta]

The only way you will have clear coat issues is if the preparation for paint is done by a 5 year old toddler. .....

Ha, tell that to Plymouth when they built/painted my car in '96.....