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shooter
11-28-2005, 06:03 PM
I'm in the process of building a new engine, and have decided that the standard alloy looks great when new but give it a few miles and it looks dirty, so I thought about painting the casings.

Well over here engine paint is only available in a few colors and they all look crap, I wanted something different and classy looking, so getting my hands on some old heads and cam covers I decided to try different auto paints (sorry don't know what you lot have available), I tested cellulose, and 2 pack (2k).

Tests were paint part, let it dry, then put in the cooker (preferably with wife's consent ;) ) Cooking time was 1 hour at each temp (sorry we use centigrade over here) 100 degrees, 150 degrees, 175 degrees, 200 degrees and 250 degrees.

Cellulose bubbles at between 100 and 150, however 2k was good all the way to 250 degrees, no bubbles, burning, blistering etc. so it seems that now I can pick a color from all the available body colors out there for my engine.

One thing I did find out, I painted a head casing (it was damaged so wasn't worried) however I put it in the cooker cams facing down, at 175 degrees the valve guides started to drop out, in fact after 25 Min's I had 8 guides sitting in the bottom of the cooker :p so going by this the head casings shouldn't get as hot as this in use.

Wiscon_Mark
11-28-2005, 06:26 PM
when you say cellulose, do you mean powder coating them?

shooter
11-28-2005, 06:50 PM
Nope not powder coating, its a spray paint finish.

Easiest way to describe I guess is Cellulose is mixed only with thinners, 2 Pack paint is a paint mixed with a hardener (and may be thinned slightly)

Sorry I don't know what the different paint types that are available in the US.

Huffer
11-29-2005, 10:50 AM
Have you considered using brake caliper paint? Those are supposed to be pretty good too.

You've given me an idea - I'm in the process of building a hybrid DOHC, and the casing could do with a clean up.

shooter
11-29-2005, 12:20 PM
The reason I didn't want to go down the normal engine or brake paint is that the available colors are a waste of space in my mind, however with what I have found I now can paint almost anything in the engine bay and also now brake parts in any auto color out there.

How's about Scooby STi Blue Mica engine, or maybe metalic red :) As I said unfortunately I don't know what the paints are called over in the US however I'm 99% sure you have the same types available just you call them something different, just look for the paint which needs activator/hardener and thats what I call 2 Pack or 2k.

Wiscon_Mark
11-29-2005, 04:33 PM
so you've prepped the engine bay in a way that allows you to use any old paint you want without worrying about heat destroying it? Cool 8)

Huffer
11-29-2005, 04:45 PM
No - it's the type of paint he's using.

shooter
11-29-2005, 06:54 PM
This paint finding is for if you want to paint the engine casings with something different to regular engine enamel.

The only prep work I did on the engine casings, was to wash/clean them with thinners and allow them to dry. I have also tested some valve covers with and without some aluminium etch primer and both methods work just as well as each other, however the etch primer is partly acid so it attaches better to alloy, or so the manufacturer states.

sheepdog
11-29-2005, 10:06 PM
Could you maybe give us a link/picture of the kind of paint you used? It would help me distinguish it in a store. Thanks for the idea!

NewGenSTi
02-07-2006, 11:37 AM
Powdercoat will hold up to about 500-550

heres some subaru parts I did for a friend of mine
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/newgensti/redintake.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/newgensti/rflbovredwrinkle.jpg
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2006/02/100_0570-1.jpg

Huffer
02-07-2006, 12:19 PM
Looks real nice!

Wiscon_Mark
02-07-2006, 11:53 PM
very nice!

Reason
02-08-2006, 03:07 AM
Looking at the pics makes me no want to wait to get my house. I'm looking to do the same thing that Jeremy did to his garage. A powder coating cabinet is a MUST! Nice job on the parts.

NewGenSTi
02-08-2006, 12:46 PM
Looking at the pics makes me no want to wait to get my house. I'm looking to do the same thing that Jeremy did to his garage. A powder coating cabinet is a MUST! Nice job on the parts.
Yea I am working on a larger oven now I used to have one that was big enough to do rims and things in and the thing caught on fire one day and that was the end of that. so now i just have a house oven in my garage set up for small parts.