Engine Bay Painting Question

[rbartongrimley]

I am about to pull the m20 out of my car and I want to paint the entire engine bay black. I have not really come up with any options yet as to what paint to use, so I had some questions that I wanted to get answered. (I am planning on power washing, priming, then spray painting).

1) Do you think I should use a high heat resistant paint?
2) What brands would you recommend (VHT, Krylon, Rust-Oleum etc)?

I guess these questions are more aimed towards people who have spray painted their engine bays before. I am just trying to get a general idea of what people think about what combos they used. Thanks.

[White325is]

Do you have a spray gun and air compressor?

[george graves]

Roll on truck bed liner works well - super heavy duty, and hides flaws like nobody's business.

[rbartongrimley]

Do you have a spray gun and air compressor?

I do have an air compressor, but no spray gun. Would you recommend going that route instead?

[White325is]

you can get a spray gun from harbor freight. Its nothing special but it works. If you can spray with a can, you can spray with a gun. Its simple math to mix the paint. If you have a local NAPA they sell paint and from what I know it is pretty good.
There is a forum called www.autobody101.com
Check that site out for some tips and tricks.

[blueapplesoda]

Just cause I like clean paintmatching bays, i think it looks funny, but we spray painted my buddies bay in his red e34 with satin black oven/bbq paint and wrapped everything in foil for masking. turned out nice, till he dripped some oil on it, then it became glossy when he wiped it.

[325ix]

Just cause I like clean paintmatching bays, i think it looks funny, but we spray painted my buddies bay in his red e34 with satin black oven/bbq paint and wrapped everything in foil for masking. turned out nice, till he dripped some oil on it, then it became glossy when he wiped it.

I definitely agree on the paint matched look, but a black could look good, I think a high heat would be best

[rbartongrimley]

you can get a spray gun from harbor freight. Its nothing special but it works. If you can spray with a can, you can spray with a gun. Its simple math to mix the paint. If you have a local NAPA they sell paint and from what I know it is pretty good.
There is a forum called www.autobody101.com
Check that site out for some tips and tricks.

Yea, I was thinking about going by Harbor Freight and checking out a gravity feed gun. Like you said, I cannot imagine it being to much harder to spray with a gun as opposed to a can. I will also check into the NAPA paints, I had no idea that they even sold paint. Thanks a lot.

Just cause I like clean paintmatching bays, i think it looks funny, but we spray painted my buddies bay in his red e34 with satin black oven/bbq paint and wrapped everything in foil for masking. turned out nice, till he dripped some oil on it, then it became glossy when he wiped it.

I like the idea of repainting the engine bay black, but I am not really a fan of the satin black (one reason being what you stated). I was thinking of doing a glossy black. The engine bay will not be the same color as the rest of the car, because I want it to be somewhat of a neutral color. The reason behind this, is if I decided to change the color again. I am at the moment on doing a satin army green on the exterior, and I do think black will flow pretty well that color exterior.

[koole30]

I am about to pull the m20 out of my car and I want to paint the entire engine bay black. I have not really come up with any options yet as to what paint to use, so I had some questions that I wanted to get answered. (I am planning on power washing, priming, then spray painting).

1) Do you think I should use a high heat resistant paint?
2) What brands would you recommend (VHT, Krylon, Rust-Oleum etc)?

I guess these questions are more aimed towards people who have spray painted their engine bays before. I am just trying to get a general idea of what people think about what combos they used. Thanks.

You do not need heat resistant paint. Make sure the entire bay is clean of any grease or dirt (use a wax and and grease remover from your local body shop supply store) then scuff the entire engine bay surface with 600 grit wet and dry sandpaper, they make sponge type of sanding pads to get in all the nooks & crannys. Then go back again with wax and grease remover, mask, then paint.
Good luck & PM me if you have any questions.

[koole30]

You might want to get the color code (usually oh the strut tower) and take it to the paint supply house and order 1 pint (base coat) and 1 Qt (clear). You do not need a high end clear like PPG or Dupont, just use Omni or Nason and start squirting.

[White325is]

^^^ Your actually better off sanding the whole bay with a red 3m scuff pad.
Here is some photos when we did my red 318.

Before.





Pressure washer, purple power and alot of scrubbing.




Sanded the whole bay with 320 and then a red scotch pad. pressure washed and masked.


primer.


then paint.




Then clear.




Final product.


Went through all the same steps with my 90..

[Adrian_Visser]

Agghhh now that I've seen how good your engine bay looks I don't think I can stand not repainting the bay for my swap... grrr

btw +1 on the scotch brite scuff pads

[mightywhitey]

Thanks for that. I think Ill do it just like you did. Any tips on smoothing that BMW gap filling stuff that is throughout the engine bay?

[rbartongrimley]

^^^ Your actually better off sanding the whole bay with a red 3m scuff pad.

Went through all the same steps with my 90..

Awesome information man, with the pictures and everything. That is pretty much what I have envisioned in my plan. I believe your color is just Schwarz correct? That is the color I am going for in the engine bay. I think I will do what koole30 suggested about color matching at a paint supply company. Do you have any more pictures of the engine bay on this black one? If you do not want to post them up, I would sure love a PM with them! Thanks again guys.

[Hey-U]

Great shots of the engine bay paint. I'm itching to do this but not ready for the engine swap yet.